Which Mc better Mid/High performance in BiAmp set up?


1)From which will I get better performance driving mid & high's through my
B & W 801 Nautilus in BiAmp set up?
*One of the repro McIntosh MC275's or a good McIntosh Transistor Amp?

2)Which is best of type ?

Will use my old McIntosh 7270 for lows.

Thanks
athana

Showing 3 responses by zd542

If you cant try everything first, I wouldn't even consider doing it. Biamping like that, using different amps never sounds right. Every once in a while you may get lucky, but that's not the norm. If you're trying to deal with the tweeters on your 801's, there's more effective ways to do it.
"So till this day speakers sit there wrapped up and unconnected as it has taken me this long to decide and bring myself to sell my unused new in box MA6500 Integrated Amp to buy the other amp required for biAmping.I never even knew what BiAmping meant and still barely do. I thought the alternative was just getting another Amp & run em in Mono..but I dont really need any more power. The 801F's i've have had since 1987 and about to replace,were much more inefficient but way loud enough with the 270 Watts per Channel."

Given the above, you really need to just hook everything up and see how it sounds. You're not going to hurt anything. Just connect a pair of speaker cables to either the top or bottom set of binding posts on each speaker. I usually use the top, but it really doesn't matter. And then just jump the 2 pairs of binding posts with small pieces of speaker wires. You're not doing anything that's wrong, or will harm the speaker. If you were to ask B&W, they would tell you that fine to connect them this way. Then, I would just unbox your MA6500 and let everything warm up and break in. Spend some time with it and just see how it all sounds. I've heard B&W with McIntosh many times, and while I don't really care for B&W, its one of the better matches I've heard for those speakers.

As far as using separate tube amps for the highs, its still a bad idea. Its like buying an EQ with only 1 setting. If it doesn't work, its becomes a trap. You'll just keep buying stuff to try and make it sound OK. The tone controls on your MA6500 will be far more effective at dealing with the highs. If you take the time to hook all this up and give it a chance, I think you'll be pretty happy with the results. After you've had a chance to spend some time with your system, assess where you think the system needs improvements, and make whatever adjustments you need to (if any). More likely than not, I think you'll get away with spending little, to no money.
B&W's advice is very good. They explain the sound that you will get very well. As long as you have an amp that has no problem driving your speakers, and doesn't make any big mistakes sonically, you should bet a much bigger jump in sound quality be upgrading your preamp. It makes a very big difference.