Bi-Amping with Adcom GFA 5500 and GFA 555

[tojohndillonesq]

I have a pair of PSB Stratus Gold that I want to bi-amp. Right now I have an Adcom 5500 that sounds great with the speakers. I have a chance to get an Adcom 555. Would the 555 pair up nicely with the 5500? Anyone have experience Bi-Amping with different Adcom? (I also have a set of Magnepan MG IIC that I would run from this set up.)

[Mr Peabody]

If you horizontally biamp with one amp on bass and the other on highs the set up would work. The amps are both around 200x2 per channel but different enough you wouldn't want to vertical biamp. You will also want to be sure one of those amps have a gain control, if not, that's a deal breaker. The bottom end will require more power then the top so you will need a way to turn the top amp down.

I helped a guy biamp a pair of Paradigm Studio 100's putting the 5500 on bottom end and a NAD amp on top. The 5500 rocked those speakers. That's a great amp with a unique sonic signature. I wish I had kept mine. If the 555 doesn't have a gain control just look for a smooth amp for your top end that does have gain.

To truly biamp you'd need an outboard crossover and require modifying your speaker to bypass their internal crossover. For this reason most don't go to this extreme. May be an easier set up for Maggie's though.

[harley .guy07]

there are ways to incorporate a pro sound electronic crossover into a biamp setup and have the gain controls needed and those crossovers do not cost that much the only thing I would look for is quality construction since the signal could get degraded by a crossover as well if it uses cheap parts. I would also consider looking for a second 5500 since they would have most likely the same stock gain setting and be a good pair to work together. Keep in mind though that you might check your preamp to make sure it has the voltage output that is able to handle both amps or two outputs or you will likely have to either crank the hell out of your preamp to get the normal volume you play your system or you will not have enough voltage to get the amps fed the right signal to get the amps really going.

[Mr Peabody]

That USP-1 from Emotiva would be a great preamp for biamping, it has built in crossovers and Emo likes to provide high voltage output on their gear. I'd like to get a chance to play with one.