To Biamp or not. (1 Viewer)

[James Mudler]

I am new to the DIY world, and could use some help.
I have (2) Six channel THX certified amplifiers rated at 135 watts 8ohm and plan on using the Audax HT system (Kit from Madisound). The sides and rears will be dipoles, and two subs will be added. I was going to put the sides/rears and subs on one amp and the L/C/R on the other. My question is with the three extra channels should I bi-amp the fronts? I hope I am using the correct term. I am thinking the woofers on one channel and highs (the center channel would have 5.25 and tweeter) on the other. Any thoughts or suggestions? Would their be a sonic improvement? Thanks in advance.
James
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Luke, I'm your father

 

[Joe Casey]

Try it out and see what you like. Play around, get your feet wet

. What sort of crossover will you use?
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Q

 

[James Mudler]

Thanks for the reply. Will do. I will be using the passive x-o's suppied in the kit from Madisound.

 

[Dustin Haug]

What kind of subs? Reason I ask is that if they are DVC or if the amps are bridgeable you could either bridge 2 channels to each sub or you could run a channel to each voice coil. The subs will need the extra power a lot more than the mains will anyway. Just an idea.
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My DIY sub page

 

[Philip Hamm]

If you can biamp, do it. It is cool to do. Some of the best audio I've heard is from self powered biamped Genelec pro studio monitors.
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Philip Hamm
AIM: PhilBiker

 

[Paul Ward]

I would say yes, that Bi-amping your speakers is an improvement.
I am certain that to fully take advantage of having your speakers bi-amped you will need an ACTIVE crossover. That is, a cross over in place BEFORE the amps. You would take the pre outs from your preamp into the active crossover, which separates the signal into the different frequencies. then from the active crossover to the amp and then to each driver.
I have my Carver AL-III bi-amped using a Furman active crossover into a Carver 705x thx amp. I bought the Furman off of ebay for 50 bucks. I wanted to see if the improvement was real. After spending another 50 bucks on cables, and had it all hooked up and tweaked I am an strong supporter of bi-amping. The sound was cleaner, smoother, and had a more open sound. Dynamics are now even more stunning, sound stage has opened a little, and depth, stayed about the same. Head room is greatly improved because the amp is only drive the band that it is being sent.
There are a lot of different crossovers to choice from. I choose a pro/industrial because it was cheep. I'll try and find a few of the site that talk about bi-amping and repost on Tuesday.
Paul

 

[Greg Monfort]

That's a big 10-4!

Link Removed
GM
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Loud is beautiful, if it's clean

 

[James Mudler]

Thanks for all the valueable input. I'm thinking of scraping in passive xo's and going completely active. I would spend about the same going passive vs active (good caps and coils aren't cheap). I found a cool site for pro audio gear at http://www.digibid.com/ Kinda like ebay may be useful. Thanks again.
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Luke, I'm your father

 

[James Mudler]

Last question. I was thinking of using the Crate active xo's. Specs below. Do I have to concern myself with passive slopes, and active orders/slopes? I as hoping to order drivers today. Thnaks in advance.
The LS4-XO is Crate's completely New and Improved Electronic Crossover. Featuring, among other things, an internal power supply, two way stereo/mono three way crossover with 24 db per octave Linkwitz-Riley state variable filters, and variable frequency on each channel from 80Hz to 9.2 kHz. Designed with the features that audio professionals throughout the world have come to expect, the three Graphic EQ's have been engineered with both stage and studio in mind. From simple feedback control, to complex room equalization, to creative recording effects, precise tonal control has never been easier or more affordable.

 

[Mark Wilcock]

Go DIY!
I built 24dB Linkwitz-Riley active crossovers using circuits and PCB's from Rod Elliot's site (the link Greg posted above). John Pomanns site is great too.
members.xoom.com/activecross/index.htm
The results are amazing. It is the biggest improvement in the sound I have ever made, much bigger than upgrading the electronics numerous times.
Ripping the passive crossovers out of speakers may(will) cause changes in the frequency response, and you may throw away some things like notch filters/correction for rising tweeter response, that the passive crossover designer included in the design. But your ears soon get used to a slightly different frequency response, and the improvements are well worth it (and you get to use all your amp channels, nothings more annoying than an unused channel).
You get big improvements in dynamics and clarity, and I got a really big improvement in imaging. It's really easy adjust the sound by turning the tweeters, etc. up and down.
Got to go
Mark