Bi Amp JM Lab 936's


I just bought a pair of 936's. I've got 2 Parasound HCA 1200II's. I wasnt totaly thrilled to hear them with the Parasound amps bridged in mono. Would it be better to run only one amp in stereo? Or would it be wise to get a Y adaptor and run two amps in stereo, one to the top end and one to the bottom end?
buckbo44
You need to experiment and determine what sounds the best. Really depends on the amp, cables, and how the overall sonics sound from the 936s.

When in mono what didn't you like about the sound?

Did you use jumpers on the amps and 936's?

Bi-wire. If done properly it is more beneficial than bi-amping. The best way to bi-wire is with separate wires (not bundled with bi-wire tails). I have 8 wires connecting the speakers.
You can setup for Bi-wiring using Jumpers and speaker cables.

Use a Jumper on speakers top terminal connected to the high frequency section and the bottom terminal connected to the bass section.

Take the speaker cable and connect positive side (via banana)to the high frequency section and the negative side (via banana) connected to the bass section.
Do NOT use jumpers and do NOT use bananas. Both ruin the sound. If you do not follow my suggestion for bi-wiring, there will be no benefit. You must have seperate wires for it to work properly. For a thorough explanation go to Vandersteen.com. Richard explains it there.
>>Bi-wire. If done properly it is more beneficial than bi-amping.<<

That is completely untrue and demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of bi-amping and bi-wiring.

It depends on the speaker.

Check with the manufacturer and/or retailer for a recommendation.
>>Do NOT use jumpers and do NOT use bananas<<

This is also an erroneous statement. In many cases bananas are preferred as the termination of choice.

There is some very bad information contained in this thread.

Undoubtedly a result of inexperience. Ignore it.
Hello i owned the same model 936...remember this speaker is efficient.I paired this with 2 mc-225 (tube) at mono ( 50 watts )and result are excellent..sometimes driven by a single mc-2100 (s/s)..same ..very musical.
I do bi-amping by using a single mc-225 on stereo to drive the hf/mf and mc-2100 (s/s) to drive the lower part and the result very musical and detailed of course paired with Cary SLP-98 tube pre-amp.
Buck44,single amp will do the job and can drive your 936 at no ease.
Recommendation:
Single amp.......5 *****
bi-amp...........5 *****+ headroom & dynamic range.
Enjoy your music.
These pages are open for anyone to offer any advice, both good and bad - both in the quest of friendship, and also to be mean spirited. I stand by my statement as I posted above. I also encourage you to drop by the Vandersteen website as I said above for a more complete explanation. Richard Vandersteen himself gave me this advice and I find it to be true.