Question about Active Bi-amping


Curious about Active Bi-Amping.

My understanding is that to setup an actual active Bi-Amp (with compatible speakers), you would need either 2 mono block amps per speaker or 2 stereo amps and a External Crossover?

Would the Crossover in the Speaker need to be bypassed or removed?

OR

If you were to do Passive Bi-Amping, you would connect each amp directly to the speaker terminals but how would you connect the Amp Signal connections back to a pre-amp or Integrated since most are only have a a simple left and right output?

Thanks

 

128x128jay73

Showing 1 response by phusis

@jay73 --

Active bi-amping, for the term to make sense at least, requires bypassing the passive cross-over and moving instead this part to function prior to amplification on signal level as a DSP or electronic XO for direct amp-driver control. As has been pointed to already, I too would suggest getting your bearings with this approach via a second setup, unless you’re the industrious and courageous type that jumps head first into these affairs with your main rig.

With similar stereo amps and 2-way main speakers you could further experiment with vertical vs. horizontal bi-amping. Or, using different amps to their respective driver segments in a horizontal configuration and see how that fares for you, like tube amps for the MF/HF section and solid state ditto for the lower frequencies; class A lower wattage SS for the highs and high power class D for the lows, etc. Try challenging any accepted thoughts here and turn things on their head, if nothing else to be the wiser with first-hand knowledge according to your own ears. Sometimes things turn out differently than one would’ve expected or has been told.