Bi-amping Paradigm Reference 100's - good idea?

Thanks guys.

The consensus of opinion seems to be that a better stereo amp will give me a better sound. Exactly the information I was looking for! Since the merits of bi-amping are mostly agreed upon is it therefore fair, all things being equal, that 2 stereo amps bi-amped is better than 1 biwired is better than 4 monoblocs? Also, what's the weakness of doing this via monoblocs rather than 2-ch amp's?

Sorry for so many questions, this site is great and I'm just trying to learn.

I previously had the Paradigm Studio 60's and was bi-amping them with the Marantz MA500's. Sounded great and was a big step up from my Onkyo receiver.

I subsequently sold the monoblocks and bought a used Conrad Johnson MF2250 amp and just bi-wired the 'digms. This was a small jump better than the Marantz Mono's.

So my experience was that a better amp and bi-wiring is preferable to the 4 Marantz monoblocks. Remember the money of an extra set of interconnects( total of 2 pairs needed for 4 mono's) can be added to the money you'd buy a better amp with. The MA500's didn't do any harm to my tweeters in the 3 years they ran and I occasionally cranked it up good.

Right, thanks Kal and Mr hosehead. I'll try to see if there's anyway I could audition a better 2 channel before making any decisions.

Just from my very limited personal experience I'd have to side w/ Kal. I kinda tried it for a while (though not quite at 200W per connection) and the biggest difference I noticed was probably due to my expectation that there would be a difference. Then I got the chance to hook up another amp (straight 2-ch, no bi-amp) and can honestly say that we all heard a significant and positive difference from "just" those two quality channels. It's not very precise nor measurable term, but the 100s just came alive. The other amp was an Odyssey, and for the first time I decided that there actually could be an occasional something to all the discussion of synergy.

It's not that bi-amping, done properly, is a bad idea (see Elliot Sound Products, etc. for a good description). It just seems that getting enough power w/ the qualities provided by that 2-ch was a more straightforward and satisfying solution for the 100s, at least to this boy.

Biamping will not change that. Getting the best power amp for your budget (and good placement and good room acoustics) will.

Kal

Thanks for your response. I guess my real question is if the Paradigm's will sound better bi-amped? I'm looking for greater detail and clarity.
The MA-700's were a rated A component up until a few years ago so they should be up to it, rather are the speakers?

IMHO, it is a waste of time. There's no significant power advantage over a 200WPC stereo amp and, for the same money, you might get a better 2 channel than 4 monoblocs. (Of course, I do not know what you are paying for these, but comparable stereo amps or pairs of monoblocs should exist.

Kal