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Is it ok to Bi-amp using different Brand/model of

amps or is it best to use the identical model for muliti-amping? I like to add another SS stereo amp, to get more snap, quickness, detail, and more power to the sound.

Currently I’m horizontally bi-amping my Hales Concept 5 speakers, which are a 3-way, with a pair of BAT VK-60s. One amp is driving the mid-tweeter (passive XO still being used here) section of the main speakers and the second VK-60 amp is directly powering the woofers. A Marchand active XO has the woofers set between 80-550Hz. A pair of self-powered sub-woofers handles below 80 hz.

The VK-60s can easily become monoblocs. As monoblocs, each amp will drive each speaker’s mid-tweeter section and a third amp, stereo, used to power the woofers.


On the BAT website, specifications for solid-state & tube amps such as; input sensitivity, frequency response, THD.... are all different. Will these differences in specs harm the sound if I were to join SS & valve amps together in the same system? Will timing and coherency be affected? Thank you for your inputs.
128x128norm
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Would you please elaborate further on your 3rd paragraph (“complicates things a bit further, because the crossover will introduce some loss at mid/hi frequencies but not at low frequencies”), didn’t get what you mean. Thanks.
Hi Norm,

I'm envisioning that resistors which may be present in the speaker's crossover, and/or to a much lesser degree the dc resistances of its inductors, may be significant contributors to the relative balance of lows and mid/hi's.

Since you have bypassed the low frequency section of the speaker's crossover, but not the mid/hi section, you may therefore be raising the sensitivity of the speaker to low frequencies relative to its sensitivity to mid/hi frequencies. If so, the level matching you would have to accomplish with the active crossover would have to reflect that difference, in addition to the difference in amplifier gains.

Regards,
-- Al
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norm OP
52 posts
 
Hi Al,

Ok, gotcha. Thanks.

Regards,

Norm
norm's avatar
norm OP
52 posts
 
Hi Magfan,

You raise a valid point. Perhaps, Marchand (the xo manufacturer) has some insight to this. I will post my findings once I have the answer. Thanks.

Regards,

Norm
ngjockey
1,042 posts
 
Looks like you're getting covered technically. I can add is the quality of the level controls affects the amount of fiddling. When I first tried biamping with pots to control the more sensitive amp, I was constantly going back and forth. Upgraded to an attenuator and it was set and forget. Wouldn't worry about the Marchand.

Different amps is my favorite method. More complex to set up but it allows selecting the right amp for the specific job. Whether it's SS/tube or NFB/no NFB, or whatever criteria, there are different demands through the frequency/driver spectrum.
stewie
187 posts
 
My two cents: I've bi-amped using a 170 wpc ss power amp (with volume control; but an attenuator would work as well) on the bass cabinets, and a pair Dynaco 60 wpc monoblocs on the mids and highs. They're run through a Juicy music peach ii preamp, which has a setting for "low" impedence. Anyway, with the pots on the ss amp turned back to about 4, the set up sounds great from low volume to high. Best of both worlds, with the possibility of adjusting the bass/mid-treble ratio to taste with particular kinds of music.
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