Onkyo TX-SR606/B&W DM602 S2 bi-amping/crossover questions

[dakster]

I've seen a multitude of threads all over talking about bi-amping, and I just wanted to get a small clarification in regards to the speakers themselves. The TX-SR606 supports Bi-amping, and dictates which speaker outputs to hook up to the tweeters and woofers on your bi-ampable speakers (in this case, I'm considering purchasing the B&W DM602 S2's).

Given that the Onkyo manual specifically states which speaker outputs to connect to the tweeter/woofers, I'm guessing that these separate amps have already passed through a crossover within the receiver itself to separate out the frequencies (i.e., the onkyo's do active bi-amping), and also dampen the power output to the tweeters?

I also see in a number of these threads the statement that bi-amping is pointless unless you bypass the crossover within the speaker itself, however I see no reference to this in the B&W speaker manual. I know you have to remove the jumper between the two sets of terminals on the back of the speaker for obvious reasons, but do you also have to somehow modify the speaker to disable it's internal crossovers? I'm not familiar with the internals of speakers, but it seems perfectly reasonable to me that they would have passive crossovers within them, but I don't really know. These other posts that say you should disable the internal speaker crossover could have easily have been referring to removing the jumper on the terminals.

There just seems to be a lack of technical information in either the Onkyo manual, or the B&W speaker manuals to properly evaluate what's going on under the hood, imho. Could a guru out there enlighten me? Thanks!

[dakster]

The more I think about this, the more it seems pointless unless the Onkyo is actually doing active bi-amping, or as I understand it, filtering the frequencies through a crossover prior to the amplifier section of the receiver. But none of the reviews I've read about the Onkyo receivers actually delves into any technical detail as to how this works under the hood.

Even if the passive crossovers within the speakers are left in place, I could see a marginal benefit if the receiver amps are focusing on the particular frequencies of the tweeter/woofer.

Maybe if the amps just work that much better only having to work on a limited range of frequencies. I dunno.

[BradH]

The more I think about this, the more it seems pointless unless the Onkyo is actually doing active bi-amping, or as I understand it, filtering the frequencies through a crossover prior to the amplifier section of the receiver..

That's exactly how it's supposed to be done. Onkyo is a little vague in their literature but it would appear that setting the Speaker Setting to Bi-Amp kicks in the active x-over - if it has one (it's not listed as a feature). If it does not have a crossover then Onkyo is probably providing bi-wiring which is not the same as bi-amping.


I also see in a number of these threads the statement that bi-amping is pointless unless you bypass the crossover within the speaker itself, however I see no reference to this in the B&W speaker manual.

If the B&W's are made for bi-amping then they should be bypassing their crossover for you, at least when it's in bi-amp mode.