Anyone Actively Bi-Amp?

[the hand of boredom]

Just a poll to see how many of the audiophiles on this site have a bi-amplified speaker system with an external crossover.

For those of you with this configuration, what differences did you notice (if any) when going from traditional to bi-wire to bi-amp?

[JoeE SP9]

Just a poll to see how many of the audiophiles on this site have a bi-amplified speaker system with an external crossover.

For those of you with this configuration, what differences did you notice (if any) when going from traditional to bi-wire to bi-amp?

I actively bi-amp both my front and rear speakers. My fronts are Acoustat Model 2's with 2 12" Woofers in sealed boxes. I use a Paradigm X30 Crossover set to 85hz. My modified Dynaco MK3's drive the ES panels and one of my Hafler DH100's drives the subs. One channel for each sub. For my rears I use Acoustat Model 1's and the sub that originally came with the Model 2's. I use the Adcom GFA-545 to drive the ES panels and my other Hafler DH100 to drive the Acoustat sub (it is a dual sub in one cabinet with 4 6" speakers, 2 per channel). As with the fronts I am using a Paradigm X30 Crossover set to 85hz. When I first went to bi-amping I noticed a lot of differences. The biggest difference was the sound of my Model 2's. With nothing but my radically modified tube amps driving them they sound much sweeter with a midrange to die for. Of course the bass is deeper and cleaner with my modified Hafler to drive the subs. My Dyna tubes had insufficient power to drive the ES panels and the original sub and I had never been happy with the sound of the Model 2's panels driven by solid state gear. I have never really listened to the Model 1's as front speakers so I'm not really sure how much difference bi-amping makes with them. I am reasonably sure that one of my Hafler's or my Adcom has sufficient power to drive them even with the addition of the sub from the model 2's. There is a dedicated woofer for the model 1's. I just haven't found one yet. Of course when I do I'll have an extra sub. If I get really critical I suppose I'll switch to tubes to drive my rear panels. That is not really a big issue for me as I am primarily concerned with 2 channel music reproduction. I really hate 2 channel music buggered up with a processor to play over a multi-channel system. Movies on DVD do sound spectacular with all these ES panels and plenty of power.