Mark has given a great
My system was passively bi-amped for a few years. At first I used a pair of SS amps, one on each speaker. Then, just like Blindjim, I wanted to add tube amps to the mix since I was enjoying having a tubed preamp. So, I sold off one SS amp and then added a pair of tubed mono-blocks that drove the mid and high freq. and let the SS handle the woofers on both. A horizontal configuration. The gains where within 1 dB, not perfect but a pretty good match. Now I was getting closer to what I wanted to hear, but there was still something missing. I could not put my finger on exactly what it was. Music sounded better, but still there was some lack of even delivery across the spectrum.
I kept listen and also kept researching. It finally occured to me that what I was really trying to do was compensate for the short-comings of the cross-over circuitry and in-efficiency of the speakers. I have sinced moved to a single, high quality single amp and a much more efficient 2-way speaker. The dynamics, clarity, speed, timbre, pretty much everything is much, much better. I can play the sweetest chamber music or the hardest rock or the fastest jazz and hear so much more musically.
Our listening preferences and system goals may be quite different, but I offer my experiences since it sounds like you may be looking for what I was looking for. Hopefully, you can find something useful in what I've written hear.
Best of luck in your search,
Dan
My system was passively bi-amped for a few years. At first I used a pair of SS amps, one on each speaker. Then, just like Blindjim, I wanted to add tube amps to the mix since I was enjoying having a tubed preamp. So, I sold off one SS amp and then added a pair of tubed mono-blocks that drove the mid and high freq. and let the SS handle the woofers on both. A horizontal configuration. The gains where within 1 dB, not perfect but a pretty good match. Now I was getting closer to what I wanted to hear, but there was still something missing. I could not put my finger on exactly what it was. Music sounded better, but still there was some lack of even delivery across the spectrum.
I kept listen and also kept researching. It finally occured to me that what I was really trying to do was compensate for the short-comings of the cross-over circuitry and in-efficiency of the speakers. I have sinced moved to a single, high quality single amp and a much more efficient 2-way speaker. The dynamics, clarity, speed, timbre, pretty much everything is much, much better. I can play the sweetest chamber music or the hardest rock or the fastest jazz and hear so much more musically.
Our listening preferences and system goals may be quite different, but I offer my experiences since it sounds like you may be looking for what I was looking for. Hopefully, you can find something useful in what I've written hear.
Best of luck in your search,
Dan