Bi-amped my speakers, and wow!

[audioflyer]

So I bi-amped my Energy RC-50 speakers with my back surround channels on Denon 2308 receiver which I was not otherwise utilizing, and Wow! What a difference it seems to have made. I really didn't know what to expect because nobody seemed to have anything good to say about doing it, like it was a waste of speaker wire, but I am very glad I tried it. The RC-50s seem to have more highs, though still would not consider it bright by any means, while the bass is still there, it just seems to sound more alive and I think the vocals sound more warm. I think these speakers just needed more power to bring out their best, and while I know it is not like I double the power and driving the speaker with 200 watts vs 100 watts but rather I effectively split the speaker in half and driving each half with 100 watts. Anybody else have a notice a similar result or is my imagination just running wild? I would love to hear some stories of other folks who have done it and their opinions on the results.

Thanks in advance.

 

[chadnliz]

Nobody can tell you its your imagination, and besides what do you really care what others think? I believe in this technique and only have not been able to hear a change 1 time out of several, when you Bi-amp you free up the bass driver from the rest of the signal so the mid-range power is going to be clean and more effortless, glad to hear you like it, keep experimenting as it can be alot fo fun.

 

[mike c]

i bi-amped my BETA 50's with 4 channels of my Rotel RMB1077 100wpc amp. no difference.

but that's good for you, it's all about enjoying your system more.

 

[highfihoney]

Oh boy

I feel sorry for you & whats commin next

 

[mike c]

Oh boy

I feel sorry for you & whats commin next

 

[rnatalli]

I've bi-amped my speakers using the LPA-1. No audible difference.

 

[audioflyer]

More on bi-amping

After bi-amping, the speakers are also louder than before with the same amount of gain. My Denon receiver doesn't have to work so hard, used to be I really had turn it up to get loud and now I don't seem to have to turn it up some much to get good volume. And I think the highs frequencies are more clear and pronounced, so my bass heavy speakers even sound a little better at lower volumes if that makes any sense (used to be I had to have it pretty loud for these neutral sounding speakers to sound good because you couldn't really hear the highs at lower volumes. When I unplugged the low inputs I could hear just what was coming through on the amp powering just the highs, 100 watts was just powering the tweeter, so without that amp having to also power the more inefficient woofers it seems I am getting more out of the higher frequencies, as they seem more clear and pronounced. It could just be my imagination I suppose, but it sounds pretty real to me.

 

[trnqk7]

I am amazed, and happy, that so far, this has not gotten ugly. Maybe we are growing up a little bit highfihoney, as you suggested a while back? Honestly though, I am considering "biamping" my new dalis with unused channels on my 2807, or at least trying it to see if it makes a difference once they finally get here...no way to know until I try it, right?

 

[Swerd]

I am amazed, and happy, that so far, this has not gotten ugly. Maybe we are growing up a little bit highfihoney, as you suggested a while back? Honestly though, I am considering "biamping" my new dalis with unused channels on my 2807, or at least trying it to see if it makes a difference once they finally get here...no way to know until I try it, right?

People forget that bi-amping is not the same as bi-wiring. Bi-wiring is of little or no value, but bi-amping can, under the right circumstances, make a difference.

Because the load and power handling can vary greatly among different speakers, and people have amps or receivers with different power supplies, some people may hear a difference from bi-amping and others will not.

The lesson here is - don't generalize from your own limited experience.

 

[Davemcc]

I've got a 2307 and found that it wasn't driving my speakers all that well when I tried to really drive them. It's an adequate amp for most uses but nowhere near high end. I could see bi-amping helping if you like loud music. My speakers don't bi-amp so I went with an external amp and found an improvement at the listening levels I prefer.

 

[mike c]

forgot to add that although I did not hear a difference the first time, I would still bi-amp the next pair of speakers that I purchase (and even buy a second pair of speaker wire)

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I might have expected a slight but audible difference. I would definitely not have expected a difference worthy of a "wow", though.

 

[rnatalli]

I have left my speakers bi-amped since I had spare channels and wires. It certainly doesn't do any harm. With a receiver, it's unlikely any difference can be heard, but not impossible. It's always worth trying. I say if you have the channels and wires, then leave your speakers bi-amped.

 

[mtrycrafts]

So I bi-amped my Energy RC-50 speakers with my back surround channels on Denon 2308 receiver which I was not otherwise utilizing, and Wow! What a difference it seems to have made. I really didn't know what to expect because nobody seemed to have anything good to say about doing it, like it was a waste of speaker wire, but I am very glad I tried it. The RC-50s seem to have more highs, though still would not consider it bright by any means, while the bass is still there, it just seems to sound more alive and I think the vocals sound more warm. I think these speakers just needed more power to bring out their best, and while I know it is not like I double the power and driving the speaker with 200 watts vs 100 watts but rather I effectively split the speaker in half and driving each half with 100 watts. Anybody else have a notice a similar result or is my imagination just running wild? I would love to hear some stories of other folks who have done it and their opinions on the results.

Thanks in advance.

Well, it is like this. Your speaker has a 94 dB spl sensitivity with 1 watts of power applied, nominal 8 ohms and 4 minimum.

Your receiver is rated at 100 watts from 20kHz to 20kHz continuous operation, meaning that it can and should output 100 watts when a full frequency band is applied to it. It doesn't care if it is 20 Hz to 2 kHz or all the way to 20kHz. Also, music is constantly changing in frequency and level, so the speaker will not have such a demand.
Now, 100 watts will drive that speaker to 114 dB spl, if indeed it can do such an spl on a continuous basis with inaudible distortion at those spl levels.
So, your receiver would be just working at its design level.

I just don't see any reason why that speaker would not be loud enough to cause hearing damage on its own without outside help.
It matters not or, it doesn't care, no emotions, to that amp if it is working to its design limits or not.

 

[mouettus]

Funny. I have nearly the same speakers (RC-70) and I have the ability to bi-amp the mains with the surround back channels. Haven't tried it yet because seemed to me that my 1800 was pushing them very well. Note that I upgraded from a Yammie HTR-5740 to a RX-V1800 so the leap was fairly big. I was listening to some Godsmack in 2 channel and to me it sounded so good that I didn't even think about bi-amping it.

The only thing I don't understand is that it all comes from the same power supply. How many capacitors are in a receiver? 1 per channel? Then it could explain why people are hearing a difference even on a receiver that has the ability to bi-amp.

 

[audioflyer]

Thanks

Congrats on the RC-70s, those are awesome speakers to be sure and I enjoyed reading your story about how you managed to get the money together to get those home. But now you need to save for an RC-LCR to match! I just picked up mine this past weekend and I am very happy with it. And I do love my 50s but now that I have them home I can't help but think what if I had paid the extra $500 for the 70s - to own the flagship! So of course I had to try bi-amping my 50s to get the most out of them.