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Monoblocks vs Vertical bi-amping vs Horizontal bia

In attemps to raise the sonic bar of my system, I'm considering my options which includes using a single stereo amp, mono blocks, or 2 stereo amps in either a vertical or horizontal biamped configuration.

Q1: Who out there has experience in how each of the above scenarios differs from one another. If you read Dennis Had's article on vertical biamping at his Cary web site, you'd think that that is the way to go but how does this differ from monoblocks which accomplish the same thing (i.e. one amp used per channel for all frequencies)?

Q2: In which situations do the various amp scenarios best lend themselves (room size, listening levels, speaker sensitivity and ohm rating etc. etc.)?

Thanks for your input.

Kevinzoe
kevinzoe

Showing 3 responses by viggen

viggen
838 posts
 
I am not sure which is which, vertical and horizontal. But, I believe it is best to use two stereo amps one on the HF and the other on the LF.

I think it is much more "sexy" to have monoblocks right next to each speaker. But, I believe it is more efficient for the amp to amplify a narrower range of frequency.

So, one stereo amp will be amping everything above 3k hz (or whatever your speaker is crossed at), and the other amp amping frequencies below that.
viggen
838 posts
 
Like Rick Martin, I've also used a tube on top and solid state on bottom. It sounded really great, but I didn't want to keep so much money tied up in amps. So, I've moved along....
viggen
838 posts
 
It would be hard to combine SET with SS I think since SS usully has more wattage than SET.

I was using ARC CA50 (45watts)on HF and Aleph 3 (30 watts) on LF. Theoretically, the HF should be 1.5 db louder, and I definitely can tell the difference. Good thing I am not a bass freak.

Anyways, in most cases, I would think horizontal bi-amping sounds better since each amp has a narrower frequency range to work with. This allows the PSU and whatever filters in the amp to perform more efficienty. In actual practice, you'd have a smoother sound and more realistic transients between HF and LF.
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