Musical Fidelity A300 Integrated

Nice!!! I got a set of Harmonic Technology Pro 9 Reference shotgun bi-wires and just plugged them into play. I was expecting a big boost to the bass to balance the brightness that was troubling me. I did open up the LF but the biggest notable difference is in the mid range. It simply sounds balanced and so much fuller! Exactly the right fix and thanks to all that posted. You saved me running down the wrong road!

Ok. Thanks to all and I'll certainly investigate that before going any further. Great feedback and thanks again!

My experience with Nordost Cables, Blue Heaven and SPM, is that they were lean in the bass and a somewhat bright/harsh in the treble. A good friend got the same results with his Red Dawn.

As far as the bi-wire, myself and a few friends tried this against single wire with jumpers of the same cable on various speakers, and we all liked the single wire better, as it was more coherent. Here is an interesting read about bi-wire,

http://www.sonicdesign.se/biwire.html

If you search the forms, you'll find many different opinions on bi-wire, but I do believe it is best to do a true bi-wire, this is what Vandersteen recommends, which is 2 separate runs of identical cable. You don't need extra terminals on the amp, you just make 2 connections on each positive and negative post. I do encourage you to try before you buy.

Based on my experience and what many others say in the forums, the effects of bi-wire are more obvious in the midrange and treble.

Not necessarily. Check out this link.

http://www.brilliancehifi.co.uk/how-to-bi-wire-speakers.htm

That may be where I run into a problem as my amp only has the left and right terminals (excuss my ignorance if I'm mistaken but to bi-wire do I not need 4 terminals?).

Yes, the Red Dawn did add to brightness. I am bi-wiring with
the GF and the results have been good. Look, the N804s
inherently are never going to be bass beasts, so you will have
to accept that. Nonetheless, bi-wiring them brings out a nice,
tuneful bass that is not overpowering.

Did you find the Nordost added to the brightness? I'll need to find a set of Golden Reference to audition... Are you Bi-wiring the golden reference and is that an improvement verses jumping them?

The N804s are a bit lean in the bass, although I agree that
the Golden Reference cables should make a big difference; I
use 'em and really like them. I have never liked the sound of
Nordost cables with Musical Fidelity or B&W. Also, you may
want to try bi-wiring the N804s as that should help with the
bass issue.

I have a Rega Apollo CD and PS Audio 3 Dac via a PAD digital feeding the N804's. I'm using Nordost Red Dawn IC's and SC with Atlas jumpers. I'd describe this system as very defined and boardering on a bit brite (almost as a good thing). I really don't want to warm it too much but maybe bring a bit more bass out. Not sure if that might just be a trait of the N804's??

Try Cardas cables in your system, get the Golden Reference, if you can swing it. Used Golden anything they make should add the mellow sound you seek and cool off your tweeters . Other than that you run into major structural changes in your system. That might mean no more Musical Fidelity SS gear which tends to be a little hot in some systems.

No, no no. I own the N804s, and they are meant to be "bi-wired," NOT bi-amped. The A300 should provide plenty of power to drive the N804s.

I am very familiar with your amp and speakers, and the A300 should have plenty of power to drive the 804's. I don't see bi-amp doing anything to calm the treble. What is your source, interconnects, and speaker cables? A change there makes more sense to calm the treble.

I love the amp and sound. I'm experimenting with the speakers with a resistor to calm the dome tweeter down a bit but otherwise just investigating what my local HiFi store guys were saying about the bi-amp. Just don't want to spend $$ chasing ghosts if they aren't there. :)

Are you sure you really want to biamp. I have never heard that before, about your speakers. Do the speakers sound good now? I owned a 308 integrated a few years ago, it is a powerful amp maybe you just want to try more power, with one amp.