2 Bi-Amp or Not Bi-Amp

Y

yamahapaiste

Enthusiast
I have a Yamaha RX-V1500 and will be purchasing Axiom M80's in the not to distant future. The M80's have a 4 ohm load. I plan on getting a separate amp at some point, but until then.......

Does it make sense to bi-amp the M80's? Will this place too much stress on the receiver?

The Yamaha allows me to use the "B" speaker amp as the "bi-amp" amplifier so I just run A/B for the mains. This is currently unused.
Thoughts?
 
Nomo

Nomo

Audioholic Samurai
Using the A/B configuration will get you no where. You would be limited by both sets of speaker outputs using the same power supply.

Depending on how loud you listen to music or movies you may get some benefit from a separate amp driving those front speakers. While the 1500 has a good amount of power it will not drive low efficiency speakers as well a a power amp such as one of Emotiva's offerings.

There have been numerous debates here on Bi-amping. IMO, if the cost is simply an extra set of speakers wires, then it's worth the effort. But only you already have an external amp in the mix.
 
M

metronet

Audiophyte
I have a Yamaha RX-V1500 and will be purchasing Axiom M80's in the not to distant future. The M80's have a 4 ohm load. I plan on getting a separate amp at some point, but until then.......

Does it make sense to bi-amp the M80's? Will this place too much stress on the receiver?

The Yamaha allows me to use the "B" speaker amp as the "bi-amp" amplifier so I just run A/B for the mains. This is currently unused.
Thoughts?
I have a Yamaha RX-V1700 and also the Axiom M80v2s.
I tested the m80s bi-amped with the yamaha, it works fine even though the yamaha is not recommended by Axiom folks.

In comparison, the m80v2s still performs much better when an external amps are used. Currently I am using a pair of Audiosource amp5.3 mono-blocks from the rx-v1700's pre-out for front speakers.

From what I read the class-d amp 7 Tripath is also an excellent choice for a 4 ohm speaker (search ebay for AudioSource 2 CH Class T)

and Nomo is right, A/B will not give you the power you want.
 
F

fmw

Audioholic Ninja
Just to prevent any misinformation, note that power is not the issue. Tweeters, as an example need only milliwatts of power so adding a separate amplifier for a tweeter is on the silly side. The receiver has way more than enough power to do the job. And, as mentioned above, adding amplifiers that draw from the same power supply doesn't add any power. It only adds connections.

I don't know that it is the case in your case but the only potential problem is that of the receiver power supply being incapable of providing enough current for the impedance level of the speakers. As impedance decreases, current draw increases. Your receiver may be perfectly capable of handling the job or it might not be. That's a different issue. But biamplification won't cause it to handle a job it can't handle mono-amplified. That's a promise and a guarantee.
 
Y

yamahapaiste

Enthusiast
Thanks fello geeks!

Thanks for the info ! I'll keep them mono-amped for now. I need to move one small step at a time so first thing is the M80's, second the Axiom center for timber matching. Third will be the Emotiva 5 channel amp and 4th is the Surrounds. My speakers are 12 years old. I bought Paradigms when the best you could get was Dolby surround and DVD didn't exist! I had a 35" Sony Trin-a-tron and was the envy of all! My how the times have changed!

So I'll get the core system all Axiom driven by the Emotiva, Use the existing Paradigms for presence or rear surrounds powered by the Yamaha. Or maybe use the paradigms in another room, or the bedroom, or maybe get another Yamaha with 7.2 capability and move the 1500 elsewhere. or maybe..................
 
F

fmw

Audioholic Ninja
I bought Paradigms when the best you could get was Dolby surround and DVD didn't exist! I had a 35" Sony Trin-a-tron and was the envy of all! My how the times have changed!
You bet. I had a 36" tube TV and it weighed over 250 lbs. When I finally scrapped it in favor of a flat screen HDTV I had to get a neighbor come help me lift it off the stand. I don't miss it at all. The technology really has improved.
 
Midcow2

Midcow2

Banned
You bet. I had a 36" tube TV and it weighed over 250 lbs. When I finally scrapped it in favor of a flat screen HDTV I had to get a neighbor come help me lift it off the stand. I don't miss it at all. The technology really has improved.
LOL my 36' Sony is still in the bedroom, not used very much , and I have begun think of a way to get rid of it. You are right it is one heavy son-of-a-gun. But it just keeps on going on and on .... :rolleyes:
 
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