Has anyone tried 2 amps in stereo mode?

It's not a bad idea. You will hear a more effortless presentation. And biamping this way allows the amp to direct more power and current to the channel driving the woofer, and will completely eliminate any chance of crosstalk between amp channels. It works quite well.

Neil

You'll be delighted with the results. This is called vertical biamping. It is an easy way to bring your system up at least a couple of levels. It is a little on the expensive side to buy two identical amps. Be advised that you will need exactly the same speaker cables and exactly the same interconnects to get the full benefit. There are many people who claim that using less expensive cables for the low frequencies makes sense and saves money, but in my experiences (see my system) it makes a profound difference. Using the same stands, isolation, etc is just as important.

Hi,
I'm currently running two Parasound 1500's in a Vertical bi-amp setup to a pair of Kestrels.
I've tried running them in mono as well as the present setup and at odds what config. is better.
For the money, It dosen't pay for it's self to buy a second amp. I'd go with a better two channel amp or true mono amps.

Neil,

I have tried vertical bi-amping and using my two stero amps (crown DCA300's) which can be switched to mono in a true bi amp setup. As stated above vertical bi-amping will certainly improve your system. There are two ways of doing it if your speakers support bi-amping. You could dedicate one amp to each speaker and using a Y cable from your pre you feed the same channel to both theleft and right side of your amp which would supply he top and bottom of one speaker. You could also use one amp to drive the bottom of your speakers while the second amp would drive the top portion with either configuration you need could Y splitter cables. With either setup all cables should match and your amps must be exactly the same. The third option if your amps are capable of being switched from stereo to mono would be to use one amp to drive each speaker in a true mono setup. Chances are when you switch your amps to mono you will be doubling the wattage so check that your speakers can handle the additional power which usually isn't a problem if you have decent speakers. The only draw back to using a stereo amp in mono modes is that when a stereo amp switches to mono it couples the positive side from both channels by inverting the signal. Some feel that it compremises the sound of the amp, it also may require altering your speaker cables depending on how far apart the post are separated. In any eveent I have tried mines both ways and settled on using two amps one driving the low range and the other driving the top range of my speakers. I have to add that I didn't go out and buy another amp I had it from another system. If I was buying I would just go with two true mono amps an the best cable I could aford with jumpers between the top and bottom. I think that is what most audiophiles and manufactors would recommend. As usual just my experience your results may vary. Happy listening.

Thank you all for you response. I think I will go for the second amp. A second Rotel amp will cost me less than a $1,000. The next level stereo amp that my dealer recommends would cost $3,000.So this would be the most cost effective way for me to get some improvement. I'm also double bi-wiring now, so I have two pairs of the same cable, so I'm covered there. I would need to buy an extra set of interconnects. I won't use a Y splitter. My pre-amp has 2 sets of outputs, so I can feed each amp directly, That should be better.no?

Thanks again.

yes, don't use the y-adaptort.

I agree with everything that has been said up to this point and would add one thing. My bi-amp rig really did not come to life until I got serious about the power side of my system. I have tried several configurations with the best results using Richard Gray units and Audio Magic high-end cables.

Yes I'm in need of some power cord upgrades. I'm still using the factory cords, and a cheezy power strip.

I would not plug the amp into a power strip...plug it into the wall outlet. Cheap power strip will limit current when your amp needs it most.

Dave

The amp is currently in the wall socket directly. The pre-amp and cd player are on the power strip.