YYZ - what a system! Thanks for chiming in. I landed on Benchmark for my use and love it. thielrules is correct that low impedance loads are harder to drive when bridged. John Siau, the designer. evaluated all Thiel performance curves and chose only the early models plus the 7.2 as suitable for mono. But so much depends on particulars. My (odd) room is effectively fairly large; I listen in the 85dB range max (except for short bursts of stress testing.) The AHB-2 has excellent protection and excellent LED monitoring. I overdrive far more in stereo mode than mono on the PowerPoint, SCS4, CS2.2, 3.5 and 3.6 (all I have.) Additionally, the internal protection is so good and so fast that there is little if any danger of a distorted signal passing through. They are a different type of amp entirely. I land on bridged mono to stay out of clipping almost entirely.
Awhile back some of us on this forum (perhaps behind the curtain, I don't remember) compared AHB-2s in mono vs stereo and agreed that stereo sounds somehow purer/more delicate - subtle difference. John Siau is convinced that we are hearing the halving of damping factor in mono and that halving the cable length would make them 'sonically identical'. I'm skeptical of identical, but he has a valid point.
Today's tri-amping experiment hasn't lifted off, but I hope to be ready for Natasha's visit tomorrow afternoon. We'll be comparing different amp setups through the outboard crossover. I'll report after I've gathered some experience.
