biamplification wiring how-to

When biamping, does the interconnects need to be the same length to both amps, such as the rule for speaker cable?

Nomadicslacker
Both methods are passive kind of bi-amping.The second is known as vertical.In first method we allow the internal crossover to do the signal spliting and send it to the various drivers for reproduction.So we use one pair of speaker cables per channel and keep the straps on.The interconnects are connected on the back of the pre-amp out L,R and before they connect on the back of the power amps they get a Y spliter.Therefore Left pre out to the left power amp inputs with a Y RCA spliter in place.Right channel the same way.Then the speaker cables for each channel go from RED of power-amps to RED of speakers for each channel and BLACKS to BLACKS.Straps ON.
The other method is a little different .We choose to by-pass the crossover's spliting task.We use TWO pairs of speaker cables per channel.Shotgun cables.The ends near the power amp get twisted together.All positives together and all negatives together.The positives connect with the RED terminal and the negatives with the BLACK terminal.From there they run to both speakers inputs.STRAPS OFF.The one pair of positive/negative goes to the left speaker LOW inputs .Keep the polarity the same.Positive to positive and negative to negative connections.The other amp will do the HIGHS of both speakers with same connection method.Straps off.
There is also the active bi-amplification but it is more costly and needs an active crossover with it's own power supply and all.Usually the crossover that comes in every speaker is optimized by the manufacturer for top performance.Therefore passive is more popular way of bi-amplification.
A lot of people in the hobby go for tube monoblocks for mids-highs and solid state dual mono power amp or monoblocks for the lows.That is my preffered method.
Best
George

Dq10tom
It i always better to keep all speaker cables the same length for each channel.8 feet is the normal.6 is nicer.No problem though if someone needs extra long runs.Interconnects follow the same rules.Others try for longer interconnects and shorter speaker cables,that way the amp is closer to the speakers.Physical and electrical.My speaker runs are 6 fet and my interconnects 25.I didn't need a 25 feet interconnect run but found a good deal in the used cables market.
Best
George

Would you need the y splitters if you already have two sets of preamp outs. Also, do the forte amps have a mono switch. Will you have 100wpc class a with two 50 watt stereo amps?

Cmpromo,

If your pre has 2 sets of outputs you can either use 2 pairs of IC's out to the amps or splitters and just 1 pair of IC's. From George's, Yioryos, posts I gather that he and I are bi-amping in very similar fashion. My IC's out to the amps are perhaps 1 meter shorter than his. As you can imagine, a quality IC of this length will not be cheap so I elected to use only one set of outputs and a single pair of IC's out to the amps. I then use a Cobalt Cable XLR-XLR y-connector to feed each channel of the amps. There could be a slight degredation with this setup vs. using a pair of IC's, but with truely balanced components I doubt it would be much.

I'm using the vertical bi-amp configuration that Tripper described. I found that in my system this had the best sound vs. the horizontal method. I have also found that the amps I have owned have sounded best when not used in bridged mode. I have not owned true monoblocks to date. Maybe someday.

George, if you're still following this thread, did you need to use an active x-over with the ML and Rogue amps?