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Which amp to Bi-amp my Maggie 20.1

I am considering bi-amping my Maggie 20.1s’ I have two amps, one has 1,000 watts into 4 Ohms and the other has 500 into 4 Ohms (both ICE amps). The Maggies are 4 Ohm speakers. I will be bypassing the low pass crossovers with an active crossover at 130 Hz. 15 dB/oct., but I will be sending a full range signal into the mid / upper crossovers to power the upper half. My question is should I use the 500 watt on the bass panel and the 1,000 to the upper so that I won’t risk clipping into the mids and tweeter? I don’t think clipping will damage the bass panels. Please don’t think I going to “blast” the sound at killer high volumes, the amps my never clip, it’s just that the Maggies are very inefficient. Also since I am bypassing the low crossovers doesn’t that make the bass panel easier to drive? So anyway please give me your opinions and reasoning over which amp goes where? Thanks.
koestner

Showing 2 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,682 posts
 
Try it one way, then switch, then keep switching until you can decide which sounds better to you.

I'm curious if there is much difference, i would expect either ice amp has the power and juice to handle either task very well.

My guess is that there is a significant difference, it will work better with the bigger amp on the low end.

But it really sounds like a win/win scenario to me regardless.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,682 posts
 
Agree with Chadaffect.

HAving owned Maggies and researched the Ice amp units, I seriously doubt clipping will be an issue. I believe they double in power pretty well from 8 to 4 to 2 ohms, so load should not be a problem.

If one sounds inherently cleaner or better for some reason listening at typical SPLs , I'd put that to the high end first most likely regardless of power.

I'm not certain more power makes as big a difference in the low end with maggies as with say equivalent dynamic box designs, so power to the bass may not be as much a factor in the Maggie case.

I wish I knew about the latest ICE power amps before I sold my Maggies a year or so back because my impression researching them is that their cost effectiveness and ability to deliver current to handle difficult loads may have been just what the doctor ordered.
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