bi-amping question

[carter]

im bi amping my fronts from two rotel 2 chanel power amps either side of my center speaker but im not sure if im doing it corectley ive got it set up mid base from one amp treble from secound and im using double runs of qed.

so i went to have a look at some fancy biwire witch had a shielded jacket(think it was chord company) but then i got thinking how do i use this without striping back loads of the shield as two cores would go to one amp and two will go to another the only way around it i could think off was to power each speaker from its own amp(ie one amp does one speaker one chanel for mid and one for treble)i no this would meen swaping around the power amp inputs but would that be the way it should be done

it would be a pitty to buy nice shilded cable and cut off half the shield

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Don't buy Bi-wire - I would stick with two runs or normal. Biwire cable is really designed for twin runs from the same amp, esp if it's shielded.

If it's just four-in-line, like the Linn LK400 or Nordost cables, then you should be fine, and it makes little difference.

I would avoid cables where the cores are twisted together when bi-amping though - the Van Damme 4x4mm for example...

Some people even go to the extremes of different types of cable for each - maybe QED SAXT on the HF and a thick copper multistrand on the LF.

There's no real right or wrong - just whatever works for you...

 

[jc.com]

nodnarb4444:

im bi amping my fronts from two rotel 2 chanel power amps either side of my center speaker but im not sure if im doing it corectley ive got it set up mid base from one amp treble from secound and im using double runs of qed.

so i went to have a look at some fancy biwire witch had a shielded jacket(think it was chord company) but then i got thinking how do i use this without striping back loads of the shield as two cores would go to one amp and two will go to another the only way around it i could think off was to power each speaker from its own amp(ie one amp does one speaker one chanel for mid and one for treble)i no this would meen swaping around the power amp inputs but would that be the way it should be done

it would be a pitty to buy nice shilded cable and cut off half the shield

As you say: use one amp for one speaker.

 

[Dougal1331]

You could do that, but if your power amps are bridgable then it would be better to use each as a mono power amp, with standard biwire runs to the speakers. The extra power (bridging usually triples output power) will be of much greater benefit than separate channels for each driver.

I have biamped in the past, and preferred to use one amp for bass and one for treble. Never had any problems with it!

 

[pwiles1968]

fatboyslimfast: I would avoid cables where the cores are twisted together when bi-amping though - the Van Damme 4x4mm for example...Some people even go to the extremes of different types of cable for each -

I have Van Damme 4x4 I did not think the cores were twisted they definitely did not appear to be when I stripped the sheaths, It is a very good Bi-Wire for the money and works with my 805's Nicely.

With respect to the Original question I do not see any reason not to have 1 amp per speaker if the Amp has a single power supply it could actually be beneficial to spread the two base stages between amps as these are more demanding then the treble. Bridging the amps to mono as suggested if they support it would also be worth a try, I would experiment to see which one you prefer sonically.

I do have a thought though, If you have your amps next to your speakers how long are your interconnects between pre and power amplifiers? If these are quite long I would have thought they would have a much larger influence than the speaker cable or amp configuration.

 

[carter]

fatboyslimfast:Don't buy Bi-wire - I would stick with two runs or normal. Biwire cable is really designed for twin runs from the same amp, esp if it's shielded. If it's just four-in-line, like the Linn LK400 or Nordost cables, then you should be fine, and it makes little difference. I would avoid cables where the cores are twisted together when bi-amping though - the Van Damme 4x4mm for example... Some people even go to the extremes of different types of cable for each - maybe QED SAXT on the HF and a thick copper multistrand on the LF. There's no real right or wrong - just whatever works for you...

never heard off diferant types of speaker cable for hi and low speakers before intresting,i will do a search on it

 

[carter]

Dougal1331:

You could do that, but if your power amps are bridgable then it would be better to use each as a mono power amp, with standard biwire runs to the speakers. The extra power (bridging usually triples output power) will be of much greater benefit than separate channels for each driver.

I have biamped in the past, and preferred to use one amp for bass and one for treble. Never had any problems with it!

dont think thay are bridgable im afraid

 

[carter]

pwiles1968:

fatboyslimfast: I would avoid cables where the cores are twisted together when bi-amping though - the Van Damme 4x4mm for example...Some people even go to the extremes of different types of cable for each -

I have Van Damme 4x4 I did not think the cores were twisted they definitely did not appear to be when I stripped the sheaths, It is a very good Bi-Wire for the money and works with my 805's Nicely.

With respect to the Original question I do not see any reason not to have 1 amp per speaker if the Amp has a single power supply it could actually be beneficial to spread the two base stages between amps as these are more demanding then the treble. Bridging the amps to mono as suggested if they support it would also be worth a try, I would experiment to see which one you prefer sonically.

I do have a thought though, If you have your amps next to your speakers how long are your interconnects between pre and power amplifiers? If these are quite long I would have thought they would have a much larger influence than the speaker cable or amp configuration.
the runs are not long center speaker in the midle with a power amp on each side and the pre amp is below the center speaker,there are pics in my system thread if that helps(my system it is what it is pt1 &pt2)think it is on pg 2 now

 

[carter]

thanx to all replys so far i did a search but could not find that much on diferant ways of using power amps.

 

[carter]

oh and the cable i was looking at was the chord carnival silverscreen biwire(i think)

 

[carter]

after doing a quick bit of digging it would seem that it is called vertical bi amping(one 2 chanel amp one speaker x2)horizontal bi amping(two amps two speakers, amp one for low,amp two for high)

 

[carter]

any one out there tried vertical and horizontal amping i would be intrested to hear about your findings ,argumants for and against or if it is just a matter of choice.

cheers

 

[carter]

im also intrested in fbsf coments about mixing the cable for mid and high freq,any one else done this and what sort of combo would suit rotel /mordaunt short set up .i no it comes down to trial and error but i would be intrested to hear what other people have found work for them before i start buying expensive cable

thanx again