2 stereo amps in a mono-block config = 2 x power?


I wish to double the power of my system. I have a stereo integrated amp with two sets of pre-outs. One set of pre-outs is connected to my sub. The amp manufacturer offers the power amp portion in my integrated as a stand-alone stereo power amp. If I drive one channel with my integrated, and connect the other channel via one pre-out into one channel of the stand-alone, will I effectively be doubling my power? I cannot bi-amp in the traditional sense, as my speakers have only one set of binding posts. Also, by keeping the one interconnect to the stand-alone amp as short as possible, will I be introducing problems with coherency between the two speakers (time and phase) or cause other problems?
rockadanny
No, you'll still get only 90w per channel with the setup you describe, though having an extra power supply may make things sound a bit better. Not using one of the channels doesn't double the power rating of the remaining channel.

If you want more power you'll have to replace the integrated.
If the integrated's internal amp's two channels can be bridged into one channel driven by one of the integrated's preamp channels, then yes, you can benefit from more power as a single channel amp here. I highly doubt the integrated has such a feature....but you never know. Maybe there are jumpers in the unit to provide this.

If the above is possible, you have one channel down, one to go. The problem now is to find another amp with exactly the same sonics as the newly bridged amp in the integrated. This is even less likely than the bridging option to begin with. The last thing you want to do is drive the speakers with "different" amps. And yes, the one IC to the external amp would certainly botch up the match between the two channels even if the two amps were the "same". And locking yourself into an amp that matches the one in the integrated is simply too limiting. This is a goofy proposition all the way.

I would consider any number of other possibilities before I went through the pain of what you have proposed:

1: If you want to upgrade a little at a time, find an amp that will drive your speakers to the musicality that you desire. I suspect that the integrated's preamp section will drive all but the lowest sensitive amps (typically matched with high output tube preamps) just fine.

2: Ultimately determine which is more important to you, the speaker or the integrated, and look to find a more suitable mate to the piece you decide to keep.

3: It looks like you are using a subwoofer. Is this not buying you a lot of headroom for the amp in the integrated to give the presentation more dynamics, control and slam? If you are driving the main speakers full range, perhaps you can crossover the speakers with a high pass filter as the sub is handling the bottom 2 octaves or so. This would free up a lot for the amp to more easily drive the the remaining frequencies in the main speakers.

4: Investigate other reasons why you do not have the dynamics and/or control in the sound that you anticipate is lacking now. As my sources have become more refined and resolving, I find that I play the music lower in volume.

Hope this gives you some ideas to consider.

John
John - Thank you for the detailed explanation. It is much help. The proposition sounded goofy to me too. I cannot insert an external crossover for my mains as my integrated does not have any power inputs, therefore the mains run full-range. I am pleased with the dynamics of my system and usually do not require higher volumes. But sometimes I do, like when I play rock. So it would be nice to have some extra power on occasion.
The second (power) amp is a duplicate of the power section that is in my integrated.
As you suggested, I think I'll be better off just getting a more desireable power amp. A new power amp would then also provide the capability of inserting a crossover to ease the demand of my main speakers. Thanks again.
And just for the record ... I misunderstood my dealer's suggestion completely! A follow-up contact with him revealed that he meant for me to simply bi-amp my speakers (which I cannot do since my speakers have only one set of binding posts). So all of this confusion was for not. I am the Mayor of Stupidville. And for my punishment I will dump my current system and get a Bose Wave Radio ;>}