Thanks for all of the comments. I certainly have some experimentation ahead of me. I've thought about an active crossover but am trying to keep this simple as possible. In the end, however, that may be the route to go to get the best performance from the speakers. I'm still looking for suggestions for a good Y. You guys that are bi-amping now, do you have a pre with double outs or are you splitting the signal with a Y? If so, what are you using?? Sean, I'll look in to the partsexpress. Thanks everyone!
To Bi or not to Bi? That is the question
I have recently purchased a pair of Dahlquist CA2 and W2 speakers. These were/are a fabulous speaker designed to be bi-wired or bi-amped. For those not familiar, there are two cabinets, one for the highs (D'appollito array) and the other cabinet contains 2 6.5" woofers. The two cabinets stack one on top of the other and are bridged together. I currently am using the same amp I had to drive my old speakers which is a "modest" Hafler 9180 (105wpc). Needless to say, I'm not getting the best from my new speakers. What I am looking for help with is in the biamping process. I really like the 9180 which has that warm MOSFET sound and am thinking of keeping the amp to run the top cabinets. I would then like to get a stronger amp (looking at Hafler or Bryston)to drive the bass cabinets. I am a little concerned because I have read differing opinions on using two different powered amps in this configuration - some say they should be the same amp while others say a combo produces good results. What do you think? Also, my pre-amp only has only one set of outs for the mains, so a Y would be needed here - which brings me to another problem - where to fing a high quality Y (I am currently using AQ Opal to go to the main amp)? Thanks for the help in advance! BTW: I do not use an external crossover. Tony