No, You Cannot Bi-Amp

Bi-amping provides more flexibility in circumstances where more flexibility is warranted. While that flexibility MIGHT provide improvements it can provide problems. The Nigels of the world read this forum and will take advantage of the fact that the electronic crossover goes to eleven - or twelve.

As I read it, Elizabeth was telling the OP not to get involved if he doesn't know what he's doing -- and, if he's asking here, he plainly does not.

I have owned and used actively bi-amped systems at least 3 times over the years. To me, they have held great potential that I never felt I fully realized. I even went so far this last time around to hire a professional sound man to come in and set it up for me. The results were very good -far better than what I was able to accomplish on my own, but in the end, I commissioned Bill Woods to design passive crossovers for my system. I'm much happier knowing the crossovers were custom designed for my cabinets and drivers and not having so many cables and components cluttering my life.

My experience supports the KISS principle. There is way too much fantasy out there about DIY and mods. Some of us have the skills to know what's an improvement and what's just a way to spend money kidding ourselves. Most don't.

Elizabeth - I have always found your comments to be informed, opinionated and reasonable. In short, you are one of the better, more entertaining contributors. Perhaps Bombay's problem with you is not in your commentary but in your pants. You got to remember you're just a girl and keep your place instead of butting into important man stuff. So why don't you just trundle yourself off to the kitchen and whip him up a mess a grits and eggs and quit trying to act like you know something about man thangs? Sheeesh!!

Jeffreybehr - Nigel Tufnel is (was?) the immortal lead guitarist from the mythical British rock group, Spinal Tap. He reached an amazing level of fame for being the owner of a guitar amp that went to ELEVEN. As he pointed out repeatedly, other guitar amplifiers only went to ten and were therefore inferior to his.
Last November we celebrated Tufnel Day on 11/11/11.

Nottop - I gather from your description that you simply removed the jumpers from your speaker binding posts and bi-amped your Maggies with the passive crossover already onboard. That approach maintains the integrity that Magnepan built into them.

If you had bypassed the integral passive crossovers and introduced an active crossover between your preamp and your two amplifiers, you would have opened a can of worms because of all the variables you would have had to match to restore the original balance. This is why amateurs are warned against jumping into bi-amping too eagerly. It is extremely difficult to get it right.

It is entirely possible that some speaker manufacturers discourage or outright deny bi-amping because of the warranty problems and damage to their products and their reputations that result from misunderstanding of the process. Our hobby and our websites are alive with unqualified opinions from self-appointed experts who start rumors and create confusion either mischievously, maliciously or naively. It all works out the same, however, with sometimes irreversible rumors perpetrated to no good effect.

The key to this discussion is the crossover itself. If that isn't right, amp matching remains meaningless. A good pair of properly designed crossovers can cost a couple of thousand dollars. When these are included in a repeatable speaker model and sold in volume the costs are amortized, but in my case the designer spent over 50 hours getting it right. He used the same horn and driver that I have and the same woofer in the same size cabinet. This was all done outdoors to provide anechoic conditions with microphones, instruments and a computer. There is a lot of trial and error involved if you have 30 years experience as he does. What would it take for you to pull it off?
I ask that question because when you try to set up your digital speaker management system in your own little bi-amp arrangement, you will need to create all the alignment and compensation that Bill worked out for me on your own. Not only is it not easy, it will prove to be impossible for most of you.
So, we go back to Elizabeth who indicated that it is a fool's errand, too often taken lightly by duffers and conceited neophytes. Some of them will arrive as I have with something they think sounds pretty good, Some will, as I did become frustrated and some will do real damage. None will get it right. Even if you use the thousand monkeys with typewriters logic, the odds of a happy accident are too extreme to be calculated and would require a much longer life than any of us can reasonably anticipate. It is your money and your gear, though , so have at it.