2. amps-preamps
  3. 1316325440

Details for bi-amping

I am going for a horizontal bi-amping of my system intending to use two tube monoblocs for the mids and the highs and two SS monoblocks for the lows. The issue is that I have to have the same gain of the Pre-amps driving all the four monos in order to avoid a difference. Some Pre-amps have a pair of outputs allowing them to drive two pairs of monoblocks. Would that be a good solution? Would that be a solution at all giving that the tube monos and the SS monos would most probably have different output power? Would the use of a single Pre-amp with two pairs of monos negatively affect the sound quality? Or I should go for two Pre-amps trying to match theeir gains? I will very much apreciate any hint. Tnx.
nikmilkov

Showing 2 responses by ngjockey

ngjockey
1,042 posts
 
Parts Express carries the Harrison Labs fixed inline attenuators in 3, 6 and 12 dB versions. Right now, your guess is as good as mine which you might require but you only need them for the amp with higher gain.

My experience would advise to stay away from variable, potentiometer based units.

Passive volume control attenuators, such as Goldpoint, can be too rough for fine tuning biamping configurations and have fixed input impedance. Which brings up the other consideration of parallel amp impedance getting reduced and whether the preamp can handle that. Usually not a problem for solid state preamps.

Fair warning: Many biamping experiments, passive or active, end in failure because it's far more complicated than most people anticipate or are prepared to understand.
ngjockey
1,042 posts
 
Magfan is right. If you're dealing with a 2-way with a 2K crossover we could have saved a lot of time and called you nuts to begin with. On the other hand, if you're talking about an Infinity Kappa9, that's another kettle of fish.
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