Do speakers with bass drivers need to have an amp?

[captain_tinker]

Folks,
I have been pondering some things while ravenously inhaling your collective wisdom on several subjects over the last few months. In a recent thread on something completely different, it was mentioned that the Polk RTi12's needed a lot of power to play any bass properly. That got me thinking. I have been considering maybe going and listening to some Paradigm Monitor 11's and maybe the Studio Reference 60's. I trying to decide if I want to get a pair of floorstanding speakers or put my Titan's on stands to get them out of my entertainment center. The positioning is kind of making them sound odd, and boxy. I need to lower them closer to ear level. Right now, they are about 6 ft off the floor. That and I wanted to move my Titan's to the rear so I can have surround sound finally.

My question is this, the Monitor 11's and the Studio 60's both have tweeter, midrange, and bass drivers in them. The Monitor 11's have 3 while the Studio 60's have one. I am assuming by what I have read that it may take some more power to run large speakers like this. I am unsure that I would have enough power from my Marantz SR5600 to power both the larger floorstanding speakers, my center channel, and the Titan's as surrounds. Would I need to invest in an amplifier for the mains if I get something larger like that, or is that unnecessary?

Or would bi-amping be the best thing to do in this case? (that is, if I understand the concept of bi-amping correctly...) If I understand the concept, it is that the tweeter and the midrange driver can be run by one line to the top posts and then removing the clip between them, you can run another wire to the lower posts to drive the bass driver(s). Is this correct?

I am mainly looking for clear crisp bass with a nice kick, I am not looking to shake the glasses off of the neighbors shelves... Think bass drum sound, think classical music.

-capT

 

[j_garcia]

5600 will not be enough power for the 11s or 60s unless you have a small room. They will both play, but neither will be playing at their potential.

Your assessment is actually bi-wiring. Bi-amping would be the same thing only you would be using a separate amp channel for the highs and lows.

11s should give you plenty of kick, and the 60s will likely be a little less but still have pretty good bass. IMO, the 60s are the better speaker.

 

[captain_tinker]

j_garcia,
Thank you for the response. Let me make sure I understand correctly then. Bi-amping is having a separate amp for the tweet and mid, and another one for the bass, that is what I was thinking. So bi-wiring would be simply putting the same signal from the same amp to both the sets of posts? Not sure what that would accomplish... But okay.

As for the size of room, if I remember correctly, and I will have to get out my tape measure again when I get home, it is 29 ft long, and 15 ft wide, with 10 foot ceilings. The stereo and entertainment center sits at one end of the rectangle, and the couch right about in the middle facing it. The positioning of the surrounds may end up being a bit tricky, but that is something for another post altogether. Is this what you would consider a "small" room? It sure seems small to me.

I guess if nothing else, I could go ahead and get the larger speakers, run them on the receiver I have currently, and then at a later date, (think next tax return) I could look into an amp for the front speakers? I think that may work ok... Man, what an expensive and absorbing hobby I've gotten myself into!

-capT

 

[j_garcia]

It is certainly not a cheap hobby

Most people come to the conclusion that bi-wring is basically pointless.

I would call that room medium to large. My previous room was 14x25x10 and I was able to fill it adequately with a Marantz 6200 and some Paradigm Monitor 5s/CC370/Titans+Carver sub. 60s or 11s will have no problem in that room.

 

[captain_tinker]

J_Garcia,
Ok, again I just want to verify that I am understanding (I certainly don't want to sound like a troll... ) If I understand what you just said then, either the 60's or the 11's would be fine without the amp, and just using the SR5600 for now? If that is the case, I am ok with that. If I am going to need an amp to run them with any amount of good sound, then I guess I will just have to wait until I can afford them... Oh and try to explain to the wife just why it is that I need an amp to begin with.

I guess now I just need to figure out how to mount my titans in the rear, but like I said, that's probably a good topic for another post. I'll need to get some pictures and some layouts to show. I've got kind of an odd back part of the room.

Thanks for your help so far...

-capT

 

[j_garcia]

Yes, they should be OK for a while, just don't go cranking it like we all like to do with new toys

 

[mtrycrafts]

I am mainly looking for clear crisp bass with a nice kick, I am not looking to shake the glasses off of the neighbors shelves... Think bass drum sound, think classical music.

-capT

Why not get a nice sub and your problem is solved. You don't have to shake the neighbors with it; it has a volume setting on them too.

 

[Sheep]

I think he wants tower so he can use the previous mains as surrounds.

SheepStar