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Bi Amping

Hello, I have (2) vintage tube amps. A Dynaco St70 with a van alsteen driver board (30 wpc) and a HK citation 2 with upgraded caps and grounding, wired in triode mode and produces about 30 wpc as well. 

Thinking about bi Amping a pair of Audio Physics virgos. Plan on using the HK for mids and tweet and letting the Dynaco drive the (2) bass drivers in each speaker.

my pre amp has (2) main outs so I think it's doable.

Wondering from you guys if I'm wasting time with this idea. The Citation 2 sounds more refined than the Dynaco. Dynaco seems more dynamic.

what say you?  

kellymack
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

For straight bi-amping, you need a level control on the amp with the highest gain, so you can level match them to each other. Neither of these amps you want to use has a level control, and it’s highly unlikely that they are identical in gain.

You could do it by having a passive external volume control on the amp with the highest gain so you can bring it back to match the other one. And then still use your preamp volume control for the master volume control.


Cheers George

kellymack OP
19 posts
 
Hats a good point, thank you
dentdog's avatar
dentdog
506 posts
 
Bi amp with identical amps. 2 stereo amps, or 4 identical monos. If you do otherwise you will introduce phase, frequency response variations, gain variations under different input voltages, and will never get the coherence you might otherwise achieve.
I toyed with idea for a good while, talked to many people more knowledgable than I. If you're like me with a limited ability to modify and electronically alter equipment you won't outsmart electricity. Here's what I found to be successful
Focus on phase coherence, time aligned speakers with minimal crossovers and balanced, differential equipment all the way through to balanced power in the electricity. That's where the magic is allowed to enter.
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