Unless you are bypassing the internal passive crossovers of the 804 you will not need an active crossover such as the Marchand. Typically there are two sets of binding posts on the back of the speakers that are strapped together for single amp use. One set goes to the internal high pass filter and the other set goes to the internal low pass filter. You biamp by separating the terminals from each other on the back and using two amplfiers that have the same gain or one of the amps will need to have variable output to control the gain.
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jpahere Don’t go digital to me it only led to sterility no matter what I tried. And I lost the sound of my favorite dac for whatever rubbish dac is in the digital dsp/xovers ones. If you want the best analog domain xover that’s discrete and that doesn’t use opamps, get a Nelson Pass designed First Watt B4, probably have to find a used one Or what I would do with those speakers is to go horizontal Bi-amping with the apms you have as the B&W internal xovers are of very high quality and well sorted. Or with something like a nice Pass Labs Class-A XA30.5 (amp1) on the mids and highs and a cheap Class-D (amp2) on the bass https://www.av2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/biamp1.jpg Just put a $49 Schiit Sys passive on the input of louder amp to even out the gains, and drive all that from your preamp. Cheers George |
Old thread - oh well, as poster @jaystereo said. @georgehifi -- Don’t go digital to me it only led to sterility no matter what I tried. And I lost the sound of my favorite dac for whatever rubbish dac is in the digital dsp/xovers ones. Not my experience. Recently went all-active with my existing Xilica digital cross-over, and it’s a bliss. Indeed, once clear what can be done with a quality digital cross-over (and the Xilica is that), even very early in the tuning process, there’s the strong sensation of not wanting to go back to a passive filter - like, ever. There are caveats, however; an amp channel is needed for every driver or drivers that are coupled in parallel, and in my case a 110dB sensitivity horn/driver combo can lead to a degree of background noise depending on the amp/filter used. Moreover, unless the filtering has been preset by the manufacturer (like Sanders Sound Systems) one will have to do this him- or herself, and to do this accurately measurements will have to be made, though only as a guideline; remember to let your ears be the final judge with every step taken, because measurements need to be interpreted in light of their specific implementation, and often what is measured isn’t the direct link to its audible "equivalent," so to speak. Although, audiophiles invest their time in many a thing when it comes to their stereo set-up, and I don’t see an active approach being an insurmountable task with care and attention to detail. Doing the filtering ahead of the amplification on the signal-side, and hereby letting each amp channel see its respective driver(s) directly without the interference of passive components, can have obvious advantages. To my ears passive filters invariably infuse some degree of softness or smear, whereas with a quality active configuration transient cleanness, clarity, resolution and dynamic prowess is enhanced. Actually I also find the overall presentation with active to be easier and smoother on the ear. Done right going active is the real and preferable deal, I’d say. Or what I would do with those speakers is to go horizontal Bi-amping with the apms you have as the B&W internal xovers are of very high quality and well sorted. I’ve tried bi-amping both horizontally and vertically, yet every time I’ve preferred bridged mode configuration with two identical amps, where possible (and where not I usually preferred vertical bi-amp config.). To each their own, but bridging is seriously underrated in hifi. |
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