Who Here is Vertical Bi-Amping?

I have been bi-amping for 5 years now and can't see going back. I agree using an active crossover is the way to go. I started with a 2-way active crossover and now have a 3-way. I removed the passive crossovers from my current speakers and instead rely on the filters in the active crossover. I use an Acoustat TNT-200 for everything below 100 Hz and they power up to 8 woofers in a distributed array. A pair of Music Reference RM-200s are horizontally bi-amped on the mains and each drives a mid-range ribbon (100 Hz to 650 Hz) and treble ribbon (650 Hz and up).

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I have all three of his last systems. Bought the Orion, built the LXmini and the LX521.4. One feature they share is the following equipment architecture: source>pre-amp>(crossover/equalizer)>amplifier channel>driver. The Orion has two tweeters (one forward and one backward facing), one mid-range, and two woofers (one forward and one backward facing) per side. A minimum of 6 channels of amplification are required, 8 channels makes more sense so the woofers can be fed by pairs of bridged channels. To allow flexibility, a 12-channel amplifier (ATI AT6012) is recommended. The LXmini has fewer drivers than the Orion, the LX521.4 has more.

The benefit of the approach is that each driver has the optimal crossover points, roll off and amplitude relative to the other drivers. Analog solutions for the crossover exist as do digital solutions to allow you to dial in the set of curves that works best in your room. I never thought to refer to it as ‘vertical’ or ‘horizontal’; it’s just every driver getting exactly the set of frequencies where it performs optimally.

IF (and this is a big IF) you have the time and inclination to fuss around with your system to make it sound just right in your room and some budget to try a few different solutions, you might find the Linkwitz path fruitful. This is not plug-and-play gear; it takes time and a lot of listening, moving things, and swapping gear to get it right – and every little component and every wire matters. After living with 'oct-amped' (is that even a word?) dipoles I’ll never buy a 2-way speaker in a box again.

my jbl 4435 studio monitor sound better bi-amped bi-amping  and bi-wiring is not the same horizontal bi-amping is better bass less I M D better  woofer damping less T H D and it is not hard to do

I don't mean to give the impression this isn't a serious subject worthy of discussion. I tried very hard to get my speakers to go bi. But it just wouldn't work. Turns out they are trans.

Hi mkgus. You asked for responses from people who have done vertical bi-amping. I have, and I liked it. I tried passive hi and low pass filters for the inputs of the amps (easy and cheap: $5-$10). That was better. Keep the lows off the tweeter wires, etc. Then I thought about the passive crossovers between the amps and the speakers. That prevents the amp from exerting control over the speaker's movements made possible by negative feedback and good speaker wires. Why not eliminate the passive parts? They can be quite expensive and an electronic crossover (miniDSP) can be had for under $100 (but you need a computer to set it up). I first tried it with the Linkwitz LXmini speakers (Madisound has a "package" kit) and the result was wonderful. [Tweeters should be protected by a capacitor double the size you'd use in a simple crossover just in case the amp bows up or a cable ground goes bad at high volume levels.] If you use a stereo amp for the woofers and a different one for the mid/tweeters (horizontally?), clipping in the lows will not be very audible as the distortions will not be going to the mid/tweeters. This lets you use a great, but low powered, tube amp for the tweeters and a perhaps powerful but cheap solid state amp for the woofers. The value of the direct connection between the amps and the drivers cannot be overestimated. I've since built the Linkwitz 521-4 system with a four way electronic crossover for each stereo side. Eight channels of amps for stereo, what fun! The results are worth it. If you're in the Southern California area, come by and hear the systems. I can loan you an electronic crossover to experiment with. I'm working on a three way setup for my home studio. You can use DBX 223 type units and have manual control over crossover frequencies and levels, extremely useful! Keep smiling.