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Passive and active biamp together

Hi guys, I have a question for those of you with experience in both passive and active biamp.

Preamble 1: I was using passive biamp with 4 identical monoblocks, but, especially after a fine tuning in room acoustics, found out I got no significant advantage, so I reverted to single amp, putting the extra pair of monos for sale.

Preamble 2: my loudspeakers have double inputs (binding posts) for lows and mid-highs (xover freq 350hz@24db/oct), but the xover network, for what I can read in the manufacurer user manual, is pretty complex, making its removal unfeasible for going active.

Question: somebody told me that putting an active xover between pre and power amps, would be of great advantage anyway, even though the passive xover is not removed, because the amps would only take care their part, and especially because there would be much less energy dissipated in the passive xover, of course provided the active one is set at the same freq and slope, and its quality matches the rest of the system.

Haven't sold the monos yet, do you guys think there could be a point in this, worth getting a, say, Marchand XM126 tube xover to try?

Thanks to all,
Marco
128x128cptaz
cptaz's avatar
cptaz OP
29 posts
 
Michael, thanks for your advice, yes my speakers sound great to my ears, I don't think I will at this point, but if I do contact Marchand and follow that route, I'll definitely share the experience.

Ivan, I'm glad you found an improvement by simplifying things in your system, actually I don't feel wildly experimental, just mildly, and only because selling those monos is taking a lot longer than I'd like, you know these are not easy times for selling or buying where I am.
In fact, I love the way my system sounds as it is, I was just hoping to get more of what I have without messing up too much, but apparently that's not likely to happen.

Thanks to all,
Marco
rodman99999
6,158 posts
 
Marco- The 48db/oct slope will result, because what is left, after the 24db/oct attenuation of the freqs(by the active X-over), is indeed, a SLOPE(the freqs are not completely eliminated). The passives continue that attenuation. Just as holding a horizontal straightedge, first at a 45 degree angle, then- holding it at a further 45 degrees, results in a 90 degree angle from it's original position. Enjoy your experiments, and- happy listening.
iramirez
68 posts
 
Marco,

I finally took a good look at your system. Wow, I bet it sounds amazing as it is. I also had a look at your speaker's specifications and I don't believe that you need to bi-amp with a 50 watt amp. I have never heard an 845 tube amp, but in my opinion single ended zero feedback set designs are the cream of the crop. Congratulations on all that beauty.

Kudos and Cheers,

Ivan
cptaz's avatar
cptaz OP
29 posts
 
Rodman, thanks for clarifying, guess I'm done experimenting...:)

Ivan, thanks for your kind words, and for your advice, in the end I think I'll keep it simple and enjoy it as it is, hoping those monos will go asap....:)

Marco
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