Benefits of Bi-Amping - Advice please

[admin_exported]

I am finally considering allowing my aged Arcam delta 290 Amp to go into a well earned retirement and I am thinking of going down the Bi-amping route for my upgrade.

This is where the confusion kicks in. I've been looking at the products from the Audiolab range and would like advice on the best combination, What the benefits of Bi-amping are likely to be, and whether I would be better simply sticking to an integrated Amp for similar money.

The possible audiolab combos i'm thinking of are 8000Q preamp and 2 x 8000M Monoblocs.

alternatively an 8000s with an 8000p.

Which is better and what alternative manufacturers would you suggest.(Budget circa £1000 to £1200)

Any help would really be appreciated as this is a whole new area for me.

Current system. Arcam CD17. Delta 290, Kef IQ70. QED silver Anniversary XT Bi-Wire

Many Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Well biamping is commonly used as an integrated amp driving tweeters and a power amp driving woofers, or visa versa. Monoblocking is using a pre with a pair of power amps, one for each side.

I think biamping became popular because it allows people to buy an integrated amp and then to add a power amp later without losing the use of the integrated amp's power amp. I wouldn't directly aim for biamping as the optimal amp solution unless there's an economic reason to do so. Instead, I'd go for a pre/power solution.

Biamping will allow you to increase the available current drive to the speakers. If you have a 60W integrated and a 60W power, you will not double the volume but will instead increase the current available to grip the speakers. The downside to this over using a dedicated pre/power is that the pre inside the integrated amp will sound inferior to a dedicated pre, ceteris paribus. The power amp circuits will adversely affect the delicate, low-level signals. This might make it's performance less detailed or clear.

There's no simple answer to this when in context of what amps are available on the market at the time, what's on offer, etc. Aim for pre/power if you can, monoblocking is even better. If you want to upgrade later then perhaps buy a good integrated with a view to getting a power for biamping later.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Darrell G:The possible audiolab combos i'm thinking of are 8000Q preamp and 2 x 8000M Monoblocs.

alternatively an 8000s with an 8000p.

Just to clarify, you won't be biamping with the 8000Q/2x8000M, as you'll still only have two amp channels, and biamping requires an amp channel per drive-unit, or at least per section of the crossover when using speakers with more than two drive-units.

The 8000S/P route will give you that - I'd run the HF sections of the speakers from the 8000S, and the LF from the 8000P - and should work well with the speakers you have. But as already mentioned, I'd try to get a demonstration of both this and the Q/2M configuration, as you may prefer the sound of the pre/monoblocs route.

And of course you could always add two more monoblocs later to biamp!

Then again, if your 290 is still working well, you could always look around for a 290P power amp, or indeed another 290 integrated (given that you can connect straight into the power amp section), and use that set-up to biamp your speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify, you won't be biamping with the 8000Q/2x8000M, as you'll still only have two amp channels, and biamping requires an amp channel per drive-unit, or at least per section of the crossover when using speakers with more than two drive-units.

Sorry, if I am being really stupid, but I thought with the above described configuration you would be able to use one Mono-bloc for the HF's and the other for LF's, Obviously this is not the case.

Thanks for the advice. Learning new things every day !

 

[Andrew Everard]

No probs, but the 8000M is a mono amp, so can only drive one channel. If you used the preamp with a pair of 8000Ps, which are stereo amps, you'd be able to do as you plan.

 

[Anonymous]

Please keep us updated on this, as I am seriously considering the 8000S/8000P route for my next upgrade.

 

[Dan Turner]

This is where a good dealer comes in so that you can try all the available configurations. Definitely see how an integrated amp around your max budget fares too.