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If bi-amping is so great, why do some high end speakers not support it?

I’m sure a number of you have much more technical knowledge than I. so I’m wondering: a lot of people stress the value of bi-amping. My speakers (B&W CM9, and Monitor Audio PL100II) both offer the option. I use it on the Monitors, and I think it helps.

But I’ve noticed many speakers upward of $5k, and some more than $50k (e.g., some of Magico) aren’t set up for it.

Am I missing something? Or is this just one of the issues on which there are very different opinions with no way to settle the disagreement?

Thanks folks…


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Showing 6 responses by kalali

kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
I tied vertical biamping my ML Aerius i speakers using two different amps - one with volume control, and could not get them to sound good/better even when the volumes were carefully matched. I think a monoblock set up using identical amps yields better results.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
So, shardorne, are you saying those of us who've been listening and continue to listen to gear with (only) single ended connections, been hearing crappy sound with ground loop hiss mixed with RF noise all this time? We must be deaf... for sure. Sorry, completely off topic.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
In the manual for my new (to me) Vandersteen 2Ci speakers, their recommended version of (vertical) bi-amping is using two stereo amplifiers each driving one speaker with the left output driving the tweeter/midrange and the right connected to the bass. Maybe this is common but I'd not seen this sort of configuration before.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
Sorry I caused some confusion by writing bi-wire where I meant (vertical) bi-amping. I asked a more specific question in a Vandersteen thread I had already started.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
ctsooner, the only scientific logic I can intuitively understand about the benefits of bi-wiring is the reduction in the cable resistance by doubling the length of the cables. The downside being the proportional increase in the cable capacitance, inductance, etc. The net effect could of course yield improvement in the SQ. Do you know what other design considerations might be in play that could further strengthen the argument for bi-wiring?
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
I submitted an email question on the subject to Richard Vandersteen and he kindly responded. My question was specific to my 2Ci speakers and his response was he no longer recommends bi-amping for model 2s, including new models. No additional explanation was provided.
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