Biamping home theater mains

[Hayes]

I watched Gene’s video on biamping, which seems to say if you have strong enough receivers then biamp away especially for two channel audio with tower speakers. But what about biamping mains in a home theater set up… will it matter and enhance your listening experience? I ask because in many HT systems, including mine, a sub or subs are used and the mains are set to small so that the sub(s) carry the majority of the lows. So, why biamp the mains if the woofers are not receiving much of a workout since the lows are all going to the sub(s)? Am I right that biamping towers in a HT using towers and subs is pointless OR am I missing something important when I make that assertion? Please weigh in and help. Thanks!

 

[ryanosaur]

There is no evidence I have seen that bi-amping does anything. All the subjective claims aside, there are no double blind tests where setups are level matched…

If done properly, you won’t harm anything, however, to properly bi-amp, you should Not use your AVR, rather separate stereo amps. On every AVR I’ve looked at, the more amp channels you use, the less power available across each channel.

Regardless, it seems a silly thing to do for no proven gain.

 

[Hayes]

Thanks Ryanosaur, I would love to see a blind test using biamped speakers. I am using three external amps in my HT.

 

[Pogre]

I've never seen Gene suggest to bi amp away. Maybe along the lines of it won't hurt anything if done right (remove the straps!). The videos I watched he says there really isn't anything to gain, and might make your avr run warmer.

What speakers do you have?

 

[ryanosaur]

I've never seen Gene suggest to bi amp away. Maybe along the lines of it won't hurt anything if done right (remove the straps!). The videos I watched he says there really isn't anything to gain, and might make your avr run warmer.

What speakers do you have?

it was a more recent video, but not a recommendation as I recall.

 

[Golfx]

I did read a review where Shadyj was recommending bi-amping high end speakers like the perlisten s7t.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Pogre]

From gene's article there are some tiny technical advantages but as far as sq-

"However, in terms of basic audible differences, there’s not much to write home about, and what improvements do exist could typically be gained by simply utilizing a single more powerful amplifier with similar or better performance metrics than the two smaller amplifiers."

And if I read that right what few advantages there are can be achieved with just a bigger amp or higher gauge cord. Plus if using your avr's spare amp channels you're still drawing from the same power supply so you're not likely even gaining anything at all.

*Edit: Link to article.

Bi-amping vs Bi-wiring: What's the Difference and is it Audible?

There are various ways to connect loudspeakers. Bi-amping vs bi-wiring, active vs passive bi-ampling; what kind of effect can it have on your audio system and is it audible? Read on.

www.audioholics.com

 

[Pogre]

it was a more recent video, but not a recommendation as I recall.

Yeah I can see him saying there's no harm in it "so bi amp away", but not necessarily a recommendation.

 

[Pogre]

I did read a review where Shadyj was recommending bi-amping high end speakers like the perlisten s7t.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Right, depending on the design and intended use. Those are some pretty special, very powerful speakers and might even be actively bi amped.

 

[Hayes]

My HT 4 mains speakers are nothing “special,” just some old Polk RTA9s.

 

[Golfx]

I had RTA9s. Big presence big sound loved lots of power. I liked them.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Pogre]

I had RTA9s. Big presence big sound loved lots of power. I liked them.

The RTI A9s? Those were top of the line for Polk I believe. Good sounding speakers by all accounts.

 

[lovinthehd]

As you mention, you're already somewhat actively bi-amping using a sub, and that's better than trying to use an avr's passive "bi-amp" feature in most cases already The terminals on speakers to accommodate two sets of speaker wires as well as avrs with "bi-amp" features is mostly about marketing to fantasies

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

As you mention, you're already somewhat actively bi-amping using a sub, and that's better than trying to use an avr's passive "bi-amp" feature in most cases already The terminals on speakers to accommodate two sets of speaker wires as well as avrs with "bi-amp" features is mostly about marketing to fantasies

Don’t they mostly all go through the same internal XO anyway?

 

[Verdinut]

Don’t they mostly all go through the same internal XO anyway?

With active bi-amping for a 2-way speaker, you use an electronic crossover between the preamp and the power amps, to divide the frequencies between a woofer and a high frequency driver. In a 3-way system, you can use 3 power amps and that becomes tri-amping, but you also can as an alternative, bi-amp between a woofer or a sub and a mid-range driver, and use a passive crossover between the mid-range driver and the tweeter. This last configuration is what I do with my 3 front speakers.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

With active bi-amping for a 2-way speaker, you use an electronic crossover between the preamp and the power amps, to divide the frequencies between a woofer and a high frequency driver. In a 3-way system, you can use 3 power amps and that becomes tri-amping, but you also can as an alternative, bi-amp between a woofer or a sub and a mid-range driver, and use a passive crossover between the mid-range driver and the tweeter. This last configuration is what I do with my 3 front speakers.

Yes I am aware of that practice. But afaik, the OP was not talking about active biamping, but rather passive biamping, which imo has little if any use. Did I miss something?

 

[Verdinut]

Yes I am aware of that practice. But afaik, the OP was not talking about active biamping, but rather passive biamping, which imo has little if any use. Did I miss something?

No, you didn't miss anything. I was the one who missed here. In fact, when passively bi-amping with amps in an AVR, the passive crossovers in the speaker cabinets definitely have to be used.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

No, you didn't miss anything. I was the one who missed here. In fact, when passively bi-amping with amps in an AVR, the passive crossovers in the speaker cabinets still have to be used.

That’s what I thought. Imo that furthers the case against passive biamping. Seems we all agree there?

 

[Verdinut]

That’s what I thought. Imo that furthers the case against passive biamping. Seems we all agree there?

I entirely agree. If the amp is not powerful enough, you just replace it.

 

[j_garcia]

I have always said, if you need more power then biamping is not the answer, a bigger, better, badder amp is

The tweeter isn't using as much power as the other drivers to achieve its levels, so it is sort of a waste to throw a whole channel at it in most cases. Sure it will never run out of power then, but it also doesn't need it. Do I need 700HP to go 65mph down the highway? (we know the answer is yes, but that's a different conversation). Just beefing it up to the appropriate level of power for the SPL you are after is usually going to do it for most people. Of course, you do have those exotics where this might be a benefit and you're looking for extreme SPL in a large space with low impedance, low sensitivity speakers. Average listeners I don't see needing more than (an actual) 150-200w for peaks.

I had five 4 ohm speakers on a flagship AVR in a large room and it wasn't enough power to get adequate SPL. I had to move them to amps. Now that I am all 8 ohm, typical sensitivity speakers, my amp will never break a sweat.