Matrix: Can use zillion amps one per driver per frequency in a 4D matrix.
Unless you take the red pill in which case you wake up and say, "Tube integrated!"
Unless you take the red pill in which case you wake up and say, "Tube integrated!"
Who Here is Vertical Bi-Amping?
“...We have been vertically biamping the speakers here in our mastering studios for 25 years and have yet to find a monoblock that delivers better performance than a pair of stereo amps.
Going back almost 20 years we were looking for a big solid state amp to drive the brand new at the time B&W 801 II. What we found at the time was that the larger monoblock amps from B&W (MPA-810) and Threshold (SA-1000) did not sound nearly as good as the similar stereo amps in a vertical biamp configuration. Every couple of years we would try out the new big monoblock de jour (Krell, Spectral, Cello.....) and every time we found that the stereo sibling of the big monoblock yielded better imaging and lower overall distortion.
Recently we went through the entire routine again. I finally had to retire my five trusty old Threshold S-500 series II due to the need for true balanced inputs. I tried the Classe CAM400 and was underwhelmed with the imaging and clarity. I then replaced them with the (Less Expensive!!) CA-2200 stereo amp and the difference was shocking. Better imaging, better impact and smoother frequency response from my Dunlavy SCV’s.”
Generally, with gain matching two amplifiers, which would be important for any success, the more sensitive amplifier ( louder ) would need to be attenuated, which can be done if the amp has input level controls ( as most pro amps do ), or, you can connect a passive volume control, such as a Schiit SYS ( often mentioned, by my good friend, georgehifi, here on these pages ), connected to the inputs of the more sensitive amp ( xtra set of ICs required ). The Schiit is single ended only, but other passives are available ( ex. Douk audio ), available in balanced configuration. Easy peezy, lol.... |
twoleftears Horizontal: how easy is it to truly gain-match two different amps? How much does it limit your choice of components?If you really want to have success biamplifying, it's best to use an active crossover. That solves level and amplifier matching problems, and allows fairly easy horizontal biamplification. |