Need advice: Biamping vs. dual bridged monos


I am now the proud owner of two Classe CA-100 power amps. I had one, loved it, then saw another available at an excellent price and couldn't walk away without it. So now I've got two.

...But now I need some guidance. With two 2-channel amps, what is the best way to power my speakers (Magnepan 3.5 in stock form, no modifications)?

I could use the CA-100s in mono mode; in mono mode they are rated (per the manufacturer's specs) for 350 watts each into 8 ohms, or 600W into 4 ohms.

Or I could use them in stereo mode and bi-amp my Maggies.

Which method is generally regarded as the better method?

If I go with bi-amping, then I need to get a new preamp because my old Denon preamp has only one set of pre-outs. Or is there a suitable way around that too?

Any insight you all can provide is greatly appreciated. As you can tell, I didn't put a lot of planning and forethought into this, I just saw a great deal on a Classe CA-100 and couldn't walk away from it.

Thanks!
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Showing 2 responses by minorl

are your speakers set up whereby you can biamp them easily? In other words, does the input connectors have two separate connectors for high and low that are jumpered? If yes, then disconnect the connectors and simply connect the amps accordingly. one 2-channel amp for the high input of each speaker and the other 2-channel amp for the low input of each speaker. This assumes that you will be using the internal passive crossovers in your speakers. If your speakers do not have the twin connectors as I mentioned previously, then biamping is not possible. But, most speakers are designed and constructed being capable of biamping this way. You will immediately notice better clarity. The amps will not have to work as hard driving high, mid bass and low end signals.

enjoy
You can still use the passive crossover that came with your speakers to biamp. You will need an extra set of interconnect cables and speaker cables to go from the amps to the crossover and from the crossover to the speakers. The speaker's owner's manual should describe this in detail. Your passive crossover "should" have a jumpered high and low output connectors similar to your speaker's jumpered high and low connectors. To biamp, turn everything off, disconnect the jumpers on the crossover and the speakers. Then connect both amp's inputs to the outputs of the pre-amp. use "Y" connectors if your pre-amp only has one set of output terminals. Then connect one amp's output to the high input of the crossover for the right and left speakers, and the other amp's output to the low input of the crossover for the right and left speakers. Then take the high outputs of the crossover and run those over to the high inputs of the right and left speaker and take the low outputs of the crossover and run those over to the low inputs of the right and left speakers. you will need one additional set of interconnect cables for the second amp and short speaker cables (four sets) from the amps to the crossovers of the speakers. Place the amps as close to the speakers as you can to minimize cable lenght. It is better to have as short speaker cables as possible (much more signal loss) than interconnect cables. you will then need four sets of speaker cables from the crossover outputs to the inputs of each speakers. Again, the crossovers should be sitting right next to or on each speaker, so the cable length should be really short. You will also find that with really short speaker cable lenghts, the type of speaker cable really will not effect the sound much. In other words, try 10 gauge Mogami before you spend a large amount on expensive speaker cables. 10 gauge Mogami is really good stuff and as I said, with really short lengths, it doesn't matter much. Use decent to very good interconnect cables.

enjoy