What are the benefits of bi-amping?

[andy13]

I have Monitor Audio S6 speakers. They are run by a Musical Fidelity A3.2 integrated amp. Would there be a noticeable diference if I buy the matching amplifier and bi-amp the speakers? My room is 11x14 and I don't know if the diference would justify the $$$$. I also have another amplifier (Ashly Audio FTX-1501). If I use this amp for the bass, will there be a difference in sound? Will I be able to tell the difference in quality of the amplifiers? Thanks.

[musicoverall]

I have Monitor Audio S6 speakers. They are run by a Musical Fidelity A3.2 integrated amp. Would there be a noticeable diference if I buy the matching amplifier and bi-amp the speakers? My room is 11x14 and I don't know if the diference would justify the $$$$. I also have another amplifier (Ashly Audio FTX-1501). If I use this amp for the bass, will there be a difference in sound? Will I be able to tell the difference in quality of the amplifiers? Thanks.

Your questions are impossible to answer without you trying this scenario. I'm a big proponent of bi-amping and I use monoblocks as a result. I find it gives my system a noticeable improvement. But I use different gear and there's no way I or anyone else could possibly say what will work in your system, in your room, with your ears. Try it out before you buy. I'm not familiar with the Ashly amp at all so I don't know how it will work. Hopefully, someone more familiar with specs can chime in here to make sure the two units are mechanically and electrically compatible.

[jbangelfish]

I certainly got it with my system. I would think that biamping any speakers that allow for it is definately the way to go. I like loud music to be loud and as unrestricted as it can be. With biamping, you are putting less demand on each amp and allowing your speakers and amplifiers to be more likely to reach their full potential.
I listen to old AR9 speakers and with only one amp in the system, I was getting popping sounds during the more demanding passages. I now use two identical amps (Parasound HCA2200 II's) and the system will play as loud as I care to listen and with no distortion and or popping. It seems that these old AR9's are rather power hungry but that's OK with me. I've always had the philosophy of giving them what they can handle for optimum results.
In your room, you may not need the added power but if I were you, I'd try it and see what you find. I'm guessing you'd like it. I would expect the music to become richer, fuller, and have better bass. Try it.
Bill

[topspeed]

I have Monitor Audio S6 speakers. They are run by a Musical Fidelity A3.2 integrated amp. Would there be a noticeable diference if I buy the matching amplifier and bi-amp the speakers? My room is 11x14 and I don't know if the diference would justify the $$$$. I also have another amplifier (Ashly Audio FTX-1501). If I use this amp for the bass, will there be a difference in sound? Will I be able to tell the difference in quality of the amplifiers? Thanks.

As you already have the equipment, it's not like it will be hard to try bi-amping to see if there is an improvement. Why not give it a shot?

Personally, I feel bi-amping is usually a waste of time and resources. This is particularly true when using the same amps. I can understand the argument when people use different amps, usually tubes for the highs and ss for the lows, but the same amp? If you are using an amp that is capable of properly driving your speakers in the first place, I doubt you'll hear any difference and if you did, it would be so subtle that the cost effectiveness would come into serious question. I know Kal Rubinson of Stereophile feels this way and indeed, this concurs with my experience (which is not to say I've heard anything close to the number of components that Kal has).

Still, to each their own. If you've got the dough and feel it makes a cost worthy improvement, go for it.

Hope this helps.

[thepogue]

try it....you like it!!!

Peace, Pogue

[markw]

If you're gonna biamp, don't use the same amp chassis for both low freq speakers.

Ideally,you would have two identical stereo amps and you would use one amp for each side, with one channel of the two going to the lows and the other to the mid/high drivers.

The reasonig fpr my saying this is that bass is more demanding of power than the upper freqs and where the draw for the highs might be less, a bit more power should be available for the lows.

[sam9]

I have Monitor Audio S6 speakers. They are run by a Musical Fidelity A3.2 integrated amp. Would there be a noticeable diference if I buy the matching amplifier and bi-amp the speakers? My room is 11x14 and I don't know if the diference would justify the $$$$. I also have another amplifier (Ashly Audio FTX-1501). If I use this amp for the bass, will there be a difference in sound? Will I be able to tell the difference in quality of the amplifiers? Thanks.

Go to www.rane.com They have library of whitepapers and articles. Find it and look for an article on bi-amping. The practice started in professional applications as a way to put more power to work. However, in a famous article ca 1976 Linkwitz and Reily while still at HP discovered that the major benefit was actually the potential for much more even spectral radiation in the listening area. They identified the problem as non-alignment of phase in the XO region due to the way passive XO filters inherently work. Using an active XO made itpossible (if correctly implemented) for both drivers in the XO region to always be in phase with on another. You may have heard the term "Linkwitz-Reily Alignment" or something similar. Well those are the guys. The pratical result is more even and homogeneous frequency response through out the listening area and better imaging. For home use the additional amplifiers may not so much be the benefit or even the cause of the benefit as much as simply the price you pay for the potential of getting a nearly perfect XO.

[markw]

...most home applications for biamping choose the "passive" method, whereby there is NO active equalizer. Simply a split after the preamp.