Bi-Amp or Bi-Wire Denon 4308

[Pell]

Greetings All,
I am new to the concept of Bi-Amp and Bi-Wire . The Denon 4308 has "both" but I am confused on which to use and I have never owned a denon so dont know if somethings wrong.

I have set it to Bi-Amp which states that if you use the AMP/2 port (there are two ports like that) it will Bi-Amp. There is also a setting that does the exact same thing with Bi-Wire. Wires don't move, only an amp noise clicks on.

I am using them on Paradigm Studio 40's which does have dual inputs at the back.



So to my actual question, should i Bi-WIRE or BI-AMP on this specific receiver? I always thought Bi-Amping meant you had 2 seperate amps (not 2 amps in the same receiver) and bi-wire from the same amp, the thing is since this amp has a few seperate power sources i thought perhaps it could bi-amp.

I have tried both and I am unsure of which sounds better. Bi-Wire seems to be a bit louder especially with speech but with bi-amping the bass seems to have a bit more punch, perhaps the ambient sounds sound better but I dunno if I have it set up properly. Just seems weird that with bi-amping the speech and some effects dont seem as loud and especially a bit less bassy.

Lastly, if you do suggest bi-amping, do you have a recommended set-up? Has anyone tried this and if so what did YOU decide on?
THanks in advance.

 

[mazersteven]

Bi-Wiring speakers does nothing. There is no benefit to this.

 

[fmw]

In my opinion you should do neither.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Greetings All,
I am new to the concept of Bi-Amp and Bi-Wire . The Denon 4308 has "both" but I am confused on which to use and I have never owned a denon so dont know if somethings wrong.
I have set it to Bi-Amp which states that if you use the AMP/2 port (there are two ports like that) it will Bi-Amp. There is also a setting that does the exact same thing with Bi-Wire. Wires don't move, only an amp noise clicks on.
I am using them on Paradigm Studio 40's which does have dual inputs at the back.
So to my actual question, should i Bi-WIRE or BI-AMP on this specific receiver? I always thought Bi-Amping meant you had 2 seperate amps (not 2 amps in the same receiver) and bi-wire from the same amp, the thing is since this amp has a few seperate power sources i thought perhaps it could bi-amp.
I have tried both and I am unsure of which sounds better. Bi-Wire seems to be a bit louder especially with speech but with bi-amping the bass seems to have a bit more punch, perhaps the ambient sounds sound better but I dunno if I have it set up properly. Just seems weird that with bi-amping the speech and some effects dont seem as loud and especially a bit less bassy.
Lastly, if you do suggest bi-amping, do you have a recommended set-up? Has anyone tried this and if so what did YOU decide on?
THanks in advance.

Do you have problems/issues now with your setup as is?

 

[Pell]

In my opinion you should do neither.

care to elaborate? I am curious as to why you say this.

Also I think I found a solution, which I have yet to try but it is so stupid I didnt think of it before.

I think the reason bi-wire sounds better is because I had calibrated the speakers using audyssey (so it built a room EQ for bi-wire), but I have not done the same with BI-Amp so it is set to off or manual. I will post my findings but I am pretty sure that is why there is an audible difference.

 

[fmw]

Don't take it wrong, Pell, but you didn't experience any audible difference with a biwired speaker. You think you did because you felt good about it but the reality is that biwiring does absolutely nothing to the sound of a speaker system and that's a scientifically proven fact, not an opinion.

Bi-amping might help in some fairly rare circumstances but usually makes no difference at all in a typical home theather environment. Home theater is intended to be used with a powered subwoofer. While the powered subwoofer isn't necessary, it is still an integral part of way systems are designed to be put together. The powered sub removes the very great majority of the amplifier's power requirement. Low frequencies need way, way, way, way more power than the mids and highs. So, if you use a powered subwoofer, almost any kind of amplifier should take care of the rest and, in my experience does so in my typical home theater in an 18X22 room.

If you don't use a powered sub and you have a listening room that is far larger than is typical in a home, then you might need the additional power. The reason I recommended against it is that you are doing the project just to experiment, not because you have some valid reason to believe it will improve the sound of your system.

 

[rnatalli]

Like others have already said, there's no objective evidence that supports bi-wiring making a difference that's audible in any way. Just another way to sell more wire.

 

[Pell]

Don't take it wrong, Pell, but you didn't experience any audible difference with a biwired speaker.

Well to be honest, i never tried bi-wire vs. single wire, i was testing bi-wire vs. bi-amp (it was already bi-wired) . Like I said,I think the difference was simply due to the EQ, bi-wire was set up but bi-amp is not.

There was a difference between the two but again I believe simply due to the equalizer settings rather than the amp settings itself.

Thanks for all the responses, interesting to get peoples perspective. All in all i am not impressed with the Denon 4308, it may be better for those who can EQ it manually properly, I however can not. I still prefer NAD.

 

[mazersteven]

IMO you shouldn't be EQing anything.

 

[BobSD]

Just a quick question for "fmw", you said that the powered sub removes a very great majority of the Amplifiers power, I have Definitive Super cube 2, and it has 1250 watts of its ownpower a/c plug in, so would this not take the load off the receiver thus giving more amp power to the mids and highs???

 

[fmw]

Just a quick question for "fmw", you said that the powered sub removes a very great majority of the Amplifiers power, I have Definitive Super cube 2, and it has 1250 watts of its ownpower a/c plug in, so would this not take the load off the receiver thus giving more amp power to the mids and highs???

You bet. That was my point exactly. I said it removes most of its power requirement, not its power.