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Who Here is Vertical Bi-Amping?

I recently tried vertical bi-amping and I am very impressed with the results. For the record, I am using “vertical” to refer to using two stereo amplifiers (one amp per speaker) where each amp uses one channel for the midrange/bass driver(s) and the other channel for the tweeter. I am using passive crossovers between the amps and speakers.

My first impression is that there is a noticeable increase in detail and a large reduction in treble harshness at higher listening levels. This makes sense to me because now the tweeter is independent of what the midrange/bass driver is doing. (Technically its “independence” is equal to the channel separation spec of the amplifier.) When the mids call for lots of power which can stress the performance of that channel, the tweeter performance isn’t affected. 

After reading what I could online, I was hesitant to even try vertical bi-amping since I saw lots of mixed reviews on bi-amping in general. I decided I had to try it after reading this post on another forum by Mark Donahue of Sound/mirror Inc. (no affiliation):

“...We have been vertically biamping the speakers here in our mastering studios for 25 years and have yet to find a monoblock that delivers better performance than a pair of stereo amps.
Going back almost 20 years we were looking for a big solid state amp to drive the brand new at the time B&W 801 II. What we found at the time was that the larger monoblock amps from B&W (MPA-810) and Threshold (SA-1000) did not sound nearly as good as the similar stereo amps in a vertical biamp configuration. Every couple of years we would try out the new big monoblock de jour (Krell, Spectral, Cello.....) and every time we found that the stereo sibling of the big monoblock yielded better imaging and lower overall distortion.
Recently we went through the entire routine again. I finally had to retire my five trusty old Threshold S-500 series II due to the need for true balanced inputs. I tried the Classe CAM400 and was underwhelmed with the imaging and clarity. I then replaced them with the (Less Expensive!!) CA-2200 stereo amp and the difference was shocking. Better imaging, better impact and smoother frequency response from my Dunlavy SCV’s.”

I’m very glad I tried it as my system is sounding much better! Does anyone here vertically bi-amp their speakers? If so, what has been your experience and do you find it better/the same/worse than monoblocks, stereo amps, horizontal bi-amping, etc.?
mkgus

Showing 1 response by mahlman

mahlman
433 posts
 
My main system is a two way vertically bi-amped. There are no passive crossovers and I use a Xilica 3060 and two Crown XLI800 amps. The Xilica does time alignment, gain, crossover points, crossover types, and slopes and EQ. It will store up to 30 presets so if you want to tailor your system to specific genres you can do so. Critical setup is done with a calibrated UMike and REW, a free audio analyzing program.

I was forced into doing this because my single fold horn has a 108" throat depth and I wanted clarity. I fought the idea of going active for years and instead tried things like Audyssey room correction and recapping crossovers. I could no longer do this, and succeed with this 108" throat system, and what I discovered is there are so many tools in there to correct things with that I will never go back no matter what I own in the future.
A bit complicated to get going on but once you do you can work on any speaker known to man and never buy another crossover and have tuning capabilities others can only dream of.
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