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Bi-amping Rules

I wasn't sure if this question belongs in the amp or the speaker section but I figured I'll post it here. Those of you who have bi-amped your speakers, what's the general rule for deciding which amplifiers are better for low frequency vs. the high frequency drivers. I recognize an accurate answer will depend on the particular speakers and amp combinations but I'm looking for general rules of thumb from personal experiences and not application specific recommendations. For the sake of the argument, let's assume the amps are different but the gains on both amps can be adjusted if that matters. Thanks.
128x128kalali
erik_squires
16,118 posts
 
Since 80% of the power/voltage is in the bass, AND speakers tend to have an impedance dip in the 100-150 Hz range you want the bigger, stiffer amp in the bass.

However, since most amps are fixed gain (26 dB) if you mismatch by a lot, say, 200 W bass, 10 W tweeter/midrange, you can still overload the top end amp with too much required voltage swing, you'll have clipping anyway.

So try to keep your amp power ratio at most 2:1


georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Vertical bi-amping with identical amps.
👍 Yes vertical bi-amping is the way if the amps are identical.
The reason for this is that the whole shared power supply of one stereo amp can be used by the one bass driver of one channel on transients and will make for better transients and bass.
This is why vertical bi-amping is the very best, but only with identical amps. (unless the stereo amp is "true dual mono" with "two separate power transformers".)
http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/uploads/monthly_2016_03/7_Vertical_Bi-Amp.jpg.ba97802ae9...

And if bi-amping with different amps it has to be horizontal bi-amping, and you’ll need a volume control on the amp with the highest gain, (a passive like the $39 Shitt Sys will do)
http://www.av2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/biamp1.jpg

Cheers George
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
The only place where biamping makes sense is with subwoofers. You can use any amp you like up top but you want a powerful class AB bruiser with a damping factor over 500 below. IMHO plate amps do not cut it. I prefer passive subs with outboard amps. 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,816 posts
 

"The only place where biamping makes sense is with subwoofers." Siegfried Linkwitz and owners of older Magneplanars disagree. The .6 and earlier Maggies had parallel crossovers, and a simple 2-way electronic x/o can duplicate the "textbook" stock speaker-level x/o. Those of us who have done it have experienced significant increases in sound quality, for a number of reasons, all well known.

Speaker-level parts are many times greater in value than the line-level ones required to duplicate their functions, with resulting sonic penalties. In their Tympani model owner’s manuals, Magnepan RECOMMENDED bi-amping for maximum sound quality. Having the midrange/tweeter amplifier unaffected by the speaker’s woofer alone can provide considerable benefits.

Seigfried’s excellent LX521 loudspeaker requires four channels of amplification, and Nelson Pass has designed an analog x/o specifically for it.

"IMHO plate amps do not cut." I take it you haven’t heard a Rythmik sub, ;-)

gibalok
17 posts
 
Im willing to buy the second ayre vx-5 twenty for bi-amp. Im not sure they are close by production date. How about Ayre sustainability of tech parameters of gear?

im at least able to to use 1 amp for HF and second one for LF. But initial idea was to use amps for left/right spearation
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