To bi-amp B&W 802n or not

N802 owner here.  The crossover to the lower bass terminals is at 350 Hz so two disparate amps will sound exactly like that, a disparate mess.  I've found no advantage to biamping either vertically or horizontally when I had a pair of Classe amps.  One good stereo tube amp of around 100 w works fine or solid state of around 250 w.

Well, there IS a good reason to bi-amp, but may be this combo of amps is not it.

You could add a DSP / EQ to the bass section, which can pay big dividends, while leaving your mid/treble untouched. A beefy class D amp for instance would work really really well there.

For this to work well though you should have the ability to measure the current performance and set EQ parameters. Also, as always, bass EQ works best in concert with bass traps.

Best,

E

Erik, seriously do you have any experience with N802's?  You give bad advice re this post.  

RH, be a little more specific. Have you ever tried my suggestion?

Almost all true full-range speakers benefit from EQ in the bass, but keeping the EQ out of the mid/treble is often desirable by purists.

Best,

E

@vwquest, 

Congratulations on your upgrade. While I don’t own 802N but I have some experience with bi-amping my 800D2’s.  As you know, 800D’s is a slightly bigger speaker and best driven with a higher output Amplifier. 

To further add to @rhljazz point, simply adding two separate brand of amps would not yield the desired results. Did you check the gain on these amps? I have tried and failed to achieve desired sound by feeding the bass region of B&W’s with a Class A/B amps in bi-amping mode. The amps were McIntosh 601’s mono. The MC601’s just didn’t had the enough juice to drive down the bass with authority. I tried this with McIntosh MEN crossover in the chain. However, 601’s performed admirably well when they were bi-wired to single speaker. 

If you must bi-amp, try a Class D amp with at least 400W in 4ohm load spec for bass and put MC252 for mid’s and high’s duties. The MC252 is a very clean, detailed sounding amp. It will drive your mid’s and high’s fabulously. I would recommend trying Red Dragon S500 or Bel Canto 600M’s to drive the bass of your 802N. 

If you chose not to bi-amp, then I would suggest the MC252 in a Stereo mode with a one or two subs for desired sound. 

FWIW, I end up pairing my 800D’s with ARC VT-80 and Merrill Audio THOR’s Class D mono’s and I can say unequivocally that my speakers never sounded so good. BTW, I am not using an external crossover. 

Through the whole process, I was patient and knew the kind of sound I am after....the key is to be patient, most people gives up easily 😊