Horizontal vs Vertical biamping

Not only that, but it's my experience that while the physical XO Hz & order may be known, they are only a starting point. Better performance may be obtained with active XO Hz & order quite different from stock params.

Not only that, but it's my experience that while the physical XO Hz & order may be known, they are only a starting point. Better performance may be obtained with active XO Hz & order quite different from stock parameters.

Good point, most have found this to be true with the apogee speakers.

I tried both horizontal and vertical bi-amping with identical 2 channel amplifiers. Couldn't really tell a difference or even a difference from a single amplifier.. Stayed vertical, the wiring is cleaner. After I got my set of Magnepan 1.6's, bi-amped vertically for a couple years, then took the plunge into an active crossover with a Bryston 10B removing the passive crossovers. Huge difference, for the better. Started with close to stock frequencies and slopes, but after fiddling around, ended up preferring different settings.

Two points - the 1.6's of that era were known for cheap passive crossover components. Not sure your Legacy's would see the same dramatic improvement. The second point is - I'm electrically challenged. Although the 1.6's are very simple, I had to do a lot of research to implement active, and if I can do it, anyone can.

Jim S.

Not sure your Legacy’s would see the same dramatic improvement.

Read the active vs passive XO link above.

With amp connected directly to the driver, the amplifier is in total control of the motion. If there is ’iron’ and ’paper’ in the circuit, the driver sees a very high impedance at the XO Hz and is "flopping about like a fish out of water" 😉

Bryston makes a good active x/o, but Nelson Pass makes a great one. If it is too rich for your blood, look for his also very fine First Watt B4. MUCH more versatile than the Bryston, and no op-amps or integrated circuits (100 percent discrete circuitry). Completely analogue as well. No longer available assembled (kit only), but very occasionally available used.