[dodgerammer]

There seems to be a lot of confusion when it comes to : Bi-Amp, Bi-Wire, Passive Bi-Amp, Fools Bi-Amp, etc..


I am one of those that doesn't quite understand the differences. Most of the posts I read get responses like, "Use the search feature before you make a new thread because it has been discussed to death." I have not seen a definitive thread to date.


Will those of you that have such knowledge explain the differences and benefits of each of these methods and help clear up the confusion for the rest of us?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I doubt this thread will be any more lucid than the others. Too many misunderstandings and biases. The truths tend to be diluted by the untruths.


Good luck.

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

Kal, can you help give us a simple overview or point us to a thread or article for more accurate information.


-Robert

 

[cpcat]

Bi-wire= simply running dual wires from the amp terminal to separate hi/lo speaker terminals


Passive Bi-amp=Using separate amplifiers (or separate channels in a stereo amp) for hi/lo speaker sections and utilizing the internal crossover in the speaker. This requires two separate line level inputs for amplification per channel (commonly done by splitting the signal with RCA or XLR Y-cables).


Active Bi-amp=same as above but using an external electronic crossover and disabling the passive crossovers inside the speaker.

 

[Kal Rubinson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by DTV TiVo Dealer /forum/post/14230348


Kal, can you help give us a simple overview or point us to a thread or article for more accurate information.


-Robert

The post that follows yours has adequate definitions. As to the advantages/disadvantages, that's where the controversies bloom.

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

Kal, I am honestly asking as for my personal use in my basement home cinema. I'm deciding on Denon's AVP/POA or Pioneer's SC09 connected to my Polk tower LSi25s for the front channels.


Personally, I am well trained in video and my high end audio skills are not 100% up to par with many of the advanced members on the forum so for once I actually want to use the forum for my personal help and advice.


Please give me your short version.


Much appreciated!


-Robert

 

[Kal Rubinson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by DTV TiVo Dealer /forum/post/14233543


Please give me your short version.

IMHO, biwiring and biamping are completely unnecessary if the single wires and single amps are adequate for the task. Active bi-amping can be useful but requires customized crossovers and speakers.

 

[MichaelJHuman]

There's a lot of articles out there you can find by googling. My conclusion after reading a number of different articles is that it's probably not worth your time biwiring or biamping.


bi-wiring smacks of one of the tweaky kinds of things that does not seem to have much basis in physics.


It seems much cheaper and simpler to buy a big enough amplifier(s) to power your speakers without resorting to biamping. Biamping sounds like something you would do to try to impress people - 'Dude, I am powering that speaker with TWO amps!! Two!'


Active biamping sounds like something you would do for a rock show. I can't figure out why you would need to do this at home.

 

[cpcat]

It all depends on what you have on hand and what you are trying to do. Starting from scratch, most wouldn't recommend biamping as it's probably better just to spend the money on a larger higher quality amp or even monoblocks. However, say you have a high quality medium power stereo amp running your mains and are looking to upgrade. It certainly can make sense to buy a second identical stereo amp and biamp your main speakers.


OTOH, you could also move the medium power amp to the center or rears and buy a bigger single amp for the fronts. The possibilities are endless.

In my system, I use dual Pass x150's in a passive biamp configuration for the fronts and a Pass X5 (5-channel) finishes out the amplification for a 7.0 system.

 

[Kal Rubinson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by cpcat /forum/post/14238757


It all depends on what you have on hand and what you are trying to do. Starting from scratch, most wouldn't recommend biamping as it's probably better just to spend the money on a larger higher quality amp or even monoblocks. However, say you have a high quality medium power stereo amp running your mains and are looking to upgrade. It certainly can make sense to buy a second identical stereo amp and biamp your main speakers.

The problem with this is that you get less than a 3dB increase in effective power for a 3dB increase in cost.

 

[dodgerammer]

I have an Onkyo 805 (130W X 7). Will I get any benefit by Bi-wiring my fronts (Klpisch F2s 100W). I'm not necessarily looking to make them louder - just looking for the ability to bring out some of the nuances and increase the soundstage a little. The 805 is made to use the unused surrounds to Bi-Wire and the Klipchs have two pairs of posts. Is this just marketing or is there really something to it? But more importantly, why? I think most of us here have spent anywhere from $5K-$20K on our setups because we are always trying to make small improvements here and there. I/We are just looking for some answers whether they are subjective or controversial to better help us understand.

 

[cpcat]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson /forum/post/14238815


The problem with this is that you get less than a 3dB increase in effective power for a 3dB increase in cost.

That's why I said I wouldn't do it from scratch. If I already have a medium power amp though, buying another identical one would certainly be cheaper than buying another one 2x as powerful.