I have a question about biamping actively and whether its worth it to go that route. Currently, I have a pair of Dynaco MKIII mono amps powering the mids and highs on a pair of Kef Reference Series Model 1's. The lows are being powered by an Integra DTR 10.5 receiver. I am using the built in crossovers in the Kefs.
I read from a few different places that if you want to biamp, you really have to use active crossovers, which is odd, considering a large amount of high end speakers have biamping posts. You'd think if they made them with the intention of biamping, you would not have to void your warranty to do it properly. Anyways, it seems to me that gutting the passive crossover in favor of an active crossover is basically setting fire to all the manufacturers hard work. The manufacturer, I would imagine, makes these measurements in an anechoic chamber, with extremely expensive measuring tools, a fat budget and a guy with a PhD in something pushing buttons. So who am i to presume that I can buy a couple pieces of measuring equipment, come in, and expect to do anywhere near as good of a job as they do? Am I correct that the real benefit of doing active crossovers is reduced stress on my amps? If that's the case, I think I have plenty of power to spare, and besides, those filtered out frequencies are attenuated away by my passive x-over, and cause very little strain on my amp, right?
What do you guys who biamp do? Passive or active?
I read from a few different places that if you want to biamp, you really have to use active crossovers, which is odd, considering a large amount of high end speakers have biamping posts. You'd think if they made them with the intention of biamping, you would not have to void your warranty to do it properly. Anyways, it seems to me that gutting the passive crossover in favor of an active crossover is basically setting fire to all the manufacturers hard work. The manufacturer, I would imagine, makes these measurements in an anechoic chamber, with extremely expensive measuring tools, a fat budget and a guy with a PhD in something pushing buttons. So who am i to presume that I can buy a couple pieces of measuring equipment, come in, and expect to do anywhere near as good of a job as they do? Am I correct that the real benefit of doing active crossovers is reduced stress on my amps? If that's the case, I think I have plenty of power to spare, and besides, those filtered out frequencies are attenuated away by my passive x-over, and cause very little strain on my amp, right?
What do you guys who biamp do? Passive or active?