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Bi-amp with same sort of amp?

Talked to a man today about my loudspeaker project(that never gets ready).He ment that it´s preferable to use the
same type of amps for the subs and the rest of the system.
According to him, using different types of amps, with different slew-rates ("speed" -if you want) often ends up in a mess.
I use Volt 12" woofers, in separate enclosures, and I will run them up to about 65 Hz,only, using a VMPS electronic crossover(only low-pass filtering). I will use a 8" and two 3.5" Accutone ceramic drivers and an Eton ER 4 tweeter per channel.
Having built some speakers in my days, this is my first time
using an electronic crossover for Hi-Fi.(I used the word bi-amp for convenience, in the title).
Any opinions are welcome!

Regards
Håkan in Sweden
dinos
dinos OP
36 posts
 
Well, I carried out an experiment yesterday. I connected
one channel of the big class A amp to a full-range speaker,
the other speaker was connected to one of my homebuilt mono-blocks. Yes, the amps in question have different gain,and one inverts the signal and the other does not.They also have
different tonal characters, and as I mentioned before, to me
they have different timing or pace, especially in the lower register.
The result of the study: it didn´t sound good at all!
I tried to be open-minded when listening, but the sound was
confusing, in my ears. Interesting is, that I used one of
the monoblocks together with a smaller monoblock for a period(as I was updating the other home-brewn monoblock),and while they too had different gains(my tube preamp doesn´t have abalance control), the result was quite nice!And, to me, those amps have almost the same pace in their presentation.
The VMPS electronic crossover that I own, has gain as well
as attenuation,for each cannel, therefore different gain
in the amps that I will use for the lowest register, and the rest of the system, should not be a problem.

I think I begin with a good amp for the upper register,
i.e. from about 65 Hz and uppwards. Then I will try different amps for the lowest register, thus checking if the
registers blend together.Patmatt,I fully agree to your last sentence!

Regards
Håkan
patmatt
86 posts
 
Thanks for the response! I've just recently purchased a pair of the Monarchy SE100 Deluxe amps, and I'm very satisfied with their performance. I was using a Muse model 160 before, which is also excellent, but nowhere near as open as the Monarchys'. At $1200.00 for the pair (used 10 mos.), I couldn't resist. I'm thinking of Bi-Amping with the Muse on the bottom, so I'm very interested in how your results turn out. Thanks for the info about inverting/non-inverting. I can't believe I overlooked that issue. ROOKIE MISTAKE!
johnny7
16 posts
 
A friend of mine has bi-amped his b&w monitor with an acurus amp for the highs and an adcom for the lows.
This is one incredible combination!
The imaging is as engaging as any I have ever seen.
The music comes through as if the stereo has been replaced by the artist!
Experiment as much as you can.This is fun!
Good luck.
johnny7
sqjudge
96 posts
 
I am using a 15 year old amp and have friends with 30+ year old amps. I would not think twice about using the homebrew amp if you can make them work! In most cases the sub is the "slowest" of the speakers. The larger cone has more mass, so it is harder to start and stop. An amp with a high damping factor and a lot of current reserve should help to bring synergy to your system.
Chris
kira
83 posts
 
My previous speakers were NHT 2.9s. I used an NHT SA-3 subwoofer amp on the bottom end with Atmasphere M60 mk2's on the top. The NHT sub amp has a volume control. I now have Legacy Signature IIIs for speakers and I will be experimenting with two SA-3s on the bottom end. To me this is the best of both worlds - solid state with volume control on the bottom and tubes on the top.
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