Biamp speakers is it a day & night difference?

heliumflight

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Hi Audiogurus,


After reading few articles on the net for biamping, Im considering doing this to B&W DM4 speakers.

How to Wire Biamp Speaker Connectors | eHow.com

Few questions around this are-

  • What are the purchase I need to make in this regards?
  • Also what are the improvements Im likely to notice?
  • What Im hoping or longing for is more grunt and force. ?
  • Please enlighten those who have actualy biamped and notice a day & night difference?
  • Which group of people make the use of biamping?
  • Is biamping just another eye wash for the curious audiophile upgrade bug?
Kindest regards
 
Night and day difference is subjective.
For real biamping you would need an active crossover. One such item was on sale on hifivision once - not sure about dealer's credentials.

Bi-amping/ tri-amping would mean that you get rid of the passive crossover inside your speaker. it is better if the frequency split is done in the digital domain - there is 2496 from behringer that does the job. Search amazon and you will find the product.

You may even triamp if it is a 3 way speaker.
For each speaker, you would need 2 (or biamp) amp channels. Basically 2 stereo amps to run a pair of speakers if you biamp.

I am not sure how to compensate for BSC etc that is taken care of in passive crossover. Cranky - are you around?

regards
 
Hi Audiogurus,


After reading few articles on the net for biamping, Im considering doing this to B&W DM4 speakers.

How to Wire Biamp Speaker Connectors | eHow.com

Few questions around this are-

  • What are the purchase I need to make in this regards?
  • Also what are the improvements Im likely to notice?
  • What Im hoping or longing for is more grunt and force. ?
  • Please enlighten those who have actualy biamped and notice a day & night difference?
  • Which group of people make the use of biamping?
  • Is biamping just another eye wash for the curious audiophile upgrade bug?
Kindest regards

If you haven't been here already check it out. When you actually implement, implementation details and findings would be appreciated.
 
Hi Audiogurus,


After reading few articles on the net for biamping, Im considering doing this to B&W DM4 speakers.

How to Wire Biamp Speaker Connectors | eHow.com

Few questions around this are-

  • What are the purchase I need to make in this regards?
  • Also what are the improvements Im likely to notice?
  • What Im hoping or longing for is more grunt and force. ?
  • Please enlighten those who have actualy biamped and notice a day & night difference?
  • Which group of people make the use of biamping?
  • Is biamping just another eye wash for the curious audiophile upgrade bug?
Kindest regards

OK helium I guess u know how to biamp.
So u need to purchase another amplifier and another IC and another pair of speaker cables.
U should get more grunt and force and improved dynamics as the duties are shared by two amps but will the difference justify cost incurred is debatable and varies from situation to situation.
Yes i have bi amped (without active Crossovers too) with arcams and had positive differences but at double the cost. Differences are more than subtle but not NIGHT & DAY.
Lastly its not an eyewash. I dont know if i would go down the Behringer route though.
Stick to the bryston u have and upgrade to a contemporary, sensitive speaker and IMO that is a wiser spend.
Rgds
 
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Have tried both biamping and biwiring lots of time whenever I could get hold of multiple amps, cables and had the luxury of experimenting. I uphold the superiority of biamping over biwiring. For me its a no brainer that biamping does make a difference in the presentation especially with cleaner bass, wider soundstage and better clarity. But then again, its just me and my perception. YMMV. Probably, if there are followup posts questioning my believes, i really dont have any comments.

Personally i like to keep my system as simple as possible hence follow the equation of the best cdp, int-amp and speakers (I can afford) as my forte. :)

Stick to the bryston u have and upgrade to a contemporary, sensitive speaker and IMO that is a wiser spend.
Rgds

Helium, I couldn't agree more with Dinyaar's points above; especially this one.

You have a good amp, get a suitable speaker and enjoy the music. fwiw, i think you are at serious risk of becoming a victim of information overload.

Take it easy. Cheers.
 
cranky these vintage speakers are perfect only that I wish to extract more grunt juice.

But I will be keeping my fingers crossed if you visit Delhi, then this baby is yours for R&D
 
OK helium I guess u know how to biamp.

Stick to the bryston u have and upgrade to a contemporary, sensitive speaker and IMO that is a wiser spend.
Rgds



Ok I have taken the advice of audio gurus that I'm not going for Biamping. But another twist in the tale...

What do you think a Bryston power amp 4BST or sensitive speakers will resolve my want of grunt since I listen to vol levels of 2 0' clock position and want more...:sad: but it clips
 
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Ok I have taken the advice of audio gurus that I'm not going for Biamping. But another twist in the tale...

What do you think a Bryston power amp 4BST or sensitive speakers will resolve my want of grunt since I listen to vol levels of 12 0' clock position and want more...:sad: but it clips

Hi again,
If u want to spend (and later feel that the speakers are the bottleneck) then using the B60 as a pre and adding a 4BSST or even an old 4BST or in the least a 3BSST is the way to go.
Now 12' O " clock on a bryston is not a problem. Simply put its a different type of volume where u can actually use most of it (as a refreshing change!!!). When i had these amps i even played it beyond that and that too at the 1V gain (max gain) and there were no problems.
Lastly if a person is consistently driving an amplifier into clipping then HE NEEDS A BIGGER AMP. U dont reach the desired SPL with your components and hence keep turning up the volume. Either buy a power amp or upgrade to sensitive speakers as both options will work. Actually pretty simple Helium.
RGDS
 
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Hi All,

Please clarify the following.

In normal case, when Stereo Mode is selected output is supplied to only front speakers and SW. When an AVR's Surround back channels used for bi-amping (No separate AMP), will it impact on Stereo Listening mode?

Thanks in advance.
KBS
 
In normal case, when Stereo Mode is selected output is supplied to only front speakers and SW. When an AVR's Surround back channels used for bi-amping (No separate AMP), will it impact on Stereo Listening mode?

AVRs have various sound processing modes. In addition, modern AVRs have 'Pure', 'Direct', or 'Stereo' mode. Irrespective of the way you connect your source, when you use one of these modes, the AVR will pump data only to the front L&R. No other channels will be active. Actually some AVRs shut down everything and go into simulated stereo mode.

If you don't have speakers for Rear (or back) channels, some AVRs allow you to bi-amp the front L&R with the Rear or Back L&R. In this mode, when you watch movies in 5.1, certain frequencies are sent to one set of speaker drivers, and others to the remaining drivers. Both sets of drivers are fed only with data meant for the front L&R. Data that is meant for the Rear or Back speakers are cut off completely.

Thus bi-amping an AVR will have no effect when you use it in stereo mode.

Cheers
 
modern AVRs have 'Pure', 'Direct', or 'Stereo' mode. Irrespective of the way you connect your source, when you use one of these modes, the AVR will pump data only to the front L&R. No other channels will be active. Cheers

Venkat,

Actually the Denon 1507 (and I presume all models in that series) output data to front L/R and subwoofer when in "Direct" mode. I have tried this at my friend's place, connecting the sub through the LFE output.
Marantz and Yamaha, from my experiments, do exactly as you say, outputting only to fronts. Has anyone else experienced this Direct mode with the Denon AVRs?
 
AVRs have various sound processing modes. In addition, modern AVRs have 'Pure', 'Direct', or 'Stereo' mode. Irrespective of the way you connect your source, when you use one of these modes, the AVR will pump data only to the front L&R. No other channels will be active. Actually some AVRs shut down everything and go into simulated stereo mode.

If you don't have speakers for Rear (or back) channels, some AVRs allow you to bi-amp the front L&R with the Rear or Back L&R. In this mode, when you watch movies in 5.1, certain frequencies are sent to one set of speaker drivers, and others to the remaining drivers. Both sets of drivers are fed only with data meant for the front L&R. Data that is meant for the Rear or Back speakers are cut off completely.

Thus bi-amping an AVR will have no effect when you use it in stereo mode.

Cheers

Thanks a ton, Venkat.

I was thinking otherwise. I had thought that, since AVR do not drive back(rear) channels in Stereo Mode (and jumpers of speakers are removed for bi-amping) only one set of speakers are driven and other remain idle.

Thanks for the clarification.

Now that, I should seriously think of bi-amping (once I get my HT, still hunting... :) )
 
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