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Help with bi-amping

Can some of you help me to understand bi-amping?
I'm considering bi-amping my speakers, but I would like to know more about what's involved. Obviously, my speakers are bi-ampable, so my question is surrounding the amps. If I have 2 100w stereo amps, one for each speaker, does each speaker then get 200w of power, since I'm feeding one speaker with both channels? And what about the preamp/amp - does the amp have to be a "biampable" amp, or will any amplifier be capable of doing this, and does my preamp have to be biampable? Right now, my preamp only has 1 pair of front outputs - do I need 2 pairs? And lastly, do any of you have experience with both bi-amping and bi-wiring, and how do they compare, musically, logistically, financially, etc.
Thanks for any help with this topic.
ktsteamer
ljgj
955 posts
 
I recently biamped my Martin Logan Odysseys using a tube amp on top and solid state on the bottom - I really liked the effect but even more after adding an active crossover - since it allows for better control of gain and frequency separation.
ktsteamer OP
7 posts
 
Thanks to everybody for the help. And thanks for the very informative post, Greg. I will be trying out both horizontal and vertical methods and seeing which one works best. One question that I don't think anyone mentioned- how does the power work when you bi-amp? Does a 100w stereo amp then become 200w, since you're using it to drive just 1 speaker?
Thanks again.
awdeeofyle
95 posts
 
Its my opinion that Ktsteamer's thread & your responses begin to beg the question: Should mono amplifiers be a consideration?

Who of you have (at one time or another)bi-amped or mono amped? ...have you experienced both? Which do you like best? What are/were the benefits in your system?

If you were building a new system what route would you go (Present systems notwithstanding)?

Thanks for the indulgence,
Mike
ljgj
955 posts
 
A 100 watt amp is still only a 100 watt amp. In biamping it becomes somewhat like multichannel amps and though the power of the amp is the same - each amp works less than it would to handle all of the speakers in the load that it is presented.
blues_man
133 posts
 
I tried vertical bi-amping, by borrowing a VT-200 to match with my VT-100. It didn't fare that well. I suspect it was due to the lack of an active crossover to balance the signals. Who makes good crossovers? Has anyone done a real comparison? That is not 2 amps against your old amp but 2 amps against one amp which is the equivalent of the 2. Have you compared 2 100 watt amps against a similar 200 watt model?
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