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Monoblocks, passive bi-amped or passive tri-amped?

I have been doing lots of research, but to no avail. Some writers & speaker builders say you will get sonic benefits from passive bi or tri amping, some say you get nothing. Some say running 2 identical amps will give a 50% increase in power to the speaker…some say zero. IMO it seems logical that an amp pushing 1 driver, as opposed to many, would have an easier load, and thus more headroom, control, speed, detail, etc.

The options I’m considering:
250W D monoblocks
220W D bi-amped
140W A/B tri-amped

I can’t active amp…so need technical info on which of these would sound best, and why. Thanks!
manoterror
fastxr
7 posts
 
Please report back with your findings, I would be interested in what the results were.
poprhetor
61 posts
 
No report back yet?

I thought I'd weigh in, since I'm vertically passively biamping a very bare-bones system right now. Like others, I lurk the forums looking for firsthand experiences, so I may as well share mine. It just so happened that a couple of two-channel amps and a preamp kind of showed up one day. I got some biampable speakers off of craigslist and started playing.

Anyway, for me, the difference between two-channel with the bridge and four-channel sans-bridge (biamped) was undeniable. I won't say one is better than the other, necessarily. The definition increased a lot, but one person's separation is another loss-of-connection, so . . . Anyway, I liked it so much that I didn't even switch back and forth for detailed testing. I may play around again one day, but I like it for now.

Nothing Special Sony Blu-Ray Player
Lexicon DC-1
Two Rotel RB-980BX ss power amps (2x120 each)
Sony SS M3 two-ways

I've pretty much just assumed that all the untapped power, especially at the tweeters, doesn't really hurt anything. Under-stressed gear often performs better, right? I was surprised to find the volume drop when I switched to a biamp config. I expected the opposite. Turning up the volume, however, I was immensely pleased. All those intangible platitudes came up: separation, forward, lively, etc. I plan to experiment as funds allow, which is to say, gradually. For the sake of this thread, though, I just wanted to add my two cents as someone who has a simple budget setup with just enough gear to try one way and then the other.
manoterror OP
216 posts
 
Hey thanks for the input @Poprhetor, I haven't had the chance to do much testing yet, as I am a snowbird and away from my main system for the winter. :-(

Before I left, I did try single amping and passive bi-amping from my Marantz. I felt there was a clear improvement when bi-amping. I know that is blasphemy on this forum...but it was a very clear improvement to me. I will definitely bi-amp whenever I have the opportunity.
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