Bi-amp method correct?

Quick question for you.
When bi-amping a system is it better to have the amps
seperated;

Amp 1) Bass amp
Amp 2) Treble amp

or is it better to have;
Amp 1) Left speaker
Amp 2) Right speaker

 

I'd probably go for the latter if the amps are identical as you can locate the amps near the speakers and thus cut down on the length of the speaker cables. Also because the bass end of things is likely to be more demanding on the amp and in your second option you're sharing that out between the two. On the other hand with your first option you could have a more powerful amp feeding the bass as long as the gain of both is the same.

Cheers

Gordon

 

Every manufacturer I have asked has said first amp for the HF the second for the LF.

This is to do with equal loading on the outputs

Running one channel HF and one channel LF, buts an unbalanced load on the amp, making it prone to failure.

 

Depends on the amps and the system. If the amps can be bridged to mono then B if not then A.

 

Does it not depend on the amp? The manual for mine only shows one amp per speaker rather than HF/ LF.

 

I'd personally have one amp for treble and another (much more powerful one) for bass duties. Obviously both need to be gain matched.

 

If using identical amplifiers then I'd favour the second option. It will reduce crosstalk significantly without disadvantage (no idea what Levi 501 is referring to... it will not affect the amplifier's reliability).

However, since bi-amping with identical amplifiers is extremely ineffective, I'd be more inclined to go with Dev's suggestion of amplifiers optimised for their specific roles.

Personally though, I'm most inclined to use one better amplifier across the board.

 

I have bridged power amps as monoblocks, therefore 1 amp per channel. All I have ever read has suggested the pecking order as monoblocks>Bi-amping>Pre-power>integrated. Just MHO

 

Linn are renowned/notorious for offering/tempting users of their speakers to active-multiamp, and I've been a heavy user until recently. Usually, their stereo cards for fitting in amps were within speaker, e.g., a treble-mid card for one stereo amp, but they also offered between-speaker, e.g., a bass-bass card. Their most recent range (Chakra amps) is only the former type, IIRC. I don't think there's much difference in practice, but these days I prefer to use monoblocks, which has a certin logic, as already noted.

 

I am not an electronics technician, but going on what manufactures have said to me when I have called their technical support team.

They have all concluded, along the lines of having an unequal loads on the two channels, causes one channel to heat up up more than the other, also one channel will wear out before the other as the LF are harder to drive.

Although I must confess I do not think of any wearing parts in an amp ???

 

One will heat up more than the other (unless class A), but in a well designed amplifier this should not be problematic. Maybe the caps will age a bit faster, but no more than an amp where both channels are used for LF or LF+HF (both of which would be hotter overall).

This is clutching at straws I feel, whilst the benefits in channel isolation of using separate amps for left and right are much more tangible.

 

My Speakers are Bi amped with 2 Monarchy Audio SM70 Pro's. I have connected them as per the manual. One amp for left the other for right. The amps in Mono Block mode Hi frequency speakers connected with phase reversed.

 

"The amps in Mono Block mode Hi frequency speakers connected with phase reversed."

Am I getting confused by terminology here? You have 2 monoblocks per speaker (one for HF, one for LF)? The SM70 manual is a masterpiece of confusing diagrams.

What pre-amp do you use with your SM70s?

 

I use one sm70 pro per speaker and connect as the bi wired speaker as shown on the diagram in the manual. Input from pre amp into Channel A - HiGH frequency connected in phase ie positive to Positive, Low Frequency connected to Channel B (Left Open) and reversed phase ie positive to negative.

The Input switch is up for mono block operation

The Pre Amp that I am using at the moment is the Tag MacLaren PA 10. One day I am Hoping to try out a passive pre amp with balanced outputs.