So having stared at those bare bottom terminals on my 684s since I bought them, and curious about the benefits of bi-amping, I set out this past weekend to begin an experiment on it. I grabbed some extra speaker wire I had (Monster In-Wall cable, nothing particularly special or nice, just cheap) and Monster Banana Plugs (Again, nothing nice, just the cheapest I could find), some scissors, and my SR6003 manual, and set out to bi-amp my front speakers and put them through their paces.
After some initial confusion with the receiver and brackets on the speakers (I wound up taking apart half of the entire assembly before I realized simply loosening the top nut and sliding the bracket off to the side would suffice), I had the speakers properly bi-wired. Outside of engaging "Speaker C" mode on the rear of the receiver, a re-calibration was not performed. Both fronts were detected as Full Range by the initial setup, and the crossover frequency was kept at 100Hz, also detected by the receiver during setup. I wanted to make sure any improvements I heard were a direct result of the extra power and headroom afforded by the receiver's amplifier, not of calibration.
Source Components:
Sony Playstation 3 60GB (HDMI up to 24/192)
Microsoft Xbox 360 (HDMI w/ bitstream DD/DTS)
Nintendo Wii (Component Video)
Dish Network Satellite TV (HDMI w/ bitstream DD)
Initial Tests:
The Killers - Hot Fuss (CD, 16/44.1)
The wasn't really a fair first test. I had just bought the CD earlier in the evening, and hadn't given it a good listen yet. Mr. Brightside sounded relatively clear, though the DD version by Harmonix in Rock Band had better instrument isolation and atmosphere. Overall, the CD sounded muddy, which was disappointing. I quickly moved on to more familiar material.
Paul Van Dyk - Volume (CD, 16/44.1)
This was the first real proof of the benefits of the extra headroom provided by bi-amping. I skipped ahead to "Let Go", and listening to a clear roll from the deepest bass to the crispest highs without any gaps or muddying was nothing short of spine shivering. Bass had more punch and crispness, even though the subwoofer was not engaged (Since the speakers are Full Range). For the first time since I bought the speakers, it felt and sounded identical to when I heard them back at the dealer that first time - environment, presence, positioning, everything was fantastic.
Halo Legends (Blu-Ray, various Dolby Digital Mixes)
I didn't finish the film, since I had to turn down the speakers due to the time of night. However, I did make it through Origins I & II, The Duel, Prototype, and Tales of Spartan 1337. In particular, Prototype provided an admirable test of the speakers, with heavy bouts of gunfire and plasma discharges covering the soundfields. Once again, everything sounded crisp, but with unfamiliar source material, I was unable to pick out any unique differences or advantages.
First Impressions:
Bi-amping my 684s definitely seems to have some benefits with regards to clarity of the sound. My Marantz AVR barely has the power to drive the speakers from one channel, so bi-amping them gives the speakers a lot more headroom to breathe. Clarity and imaging has markedly improved, and frequency rolls in Electronica come off smoother than melted butter. Still, I don't know if it's worth the investment in a second pair of cables when I do get some nice ones, or if an investment in an external, more powerful amplifier would achieve similar results. In other words, I can't really confirm that the improvements I've heard thus far are a result of bi-wiring versus the extra power from bi-amping, though I can at least confirm an increase in overall quality.
This upcoming weekend, I plan on putting them through their paces with familiar source material including video games, anime (great test for two channel audio), and a healthy mixture of DVDs and BDs. When I do, I'll post the updated impressions here.
After some initial confusion with the receiver and brackets on the speakers (I wound up taking apart half of the entire assembly before I realized simply loosening the top nut and sliding the bracket off to the side would suffice), I had the speakers properly bi-wired. Outside of engaging "Speaker C" mode on the rear of the receiver, a re-calibration was not performed. Both fronts were detected as Full Range by the initial setup, and the crossover frequency was kept at 100Hz, also detected by the receiver during setup. I wanted to make sure any improvements I heard were a direct result of the extra power and headroom afforded by the receiver's amplifier, not of calibration.
Source Components:
Sony Playstation 3 60GB (HDMI up to 24/192)
Microsoft Xbox 360 (HDMI w/ bitstream DD/DTS)
Nintendo Wii (Component Video)
Dish Network Satellite TV (HDMI w/ bitstream DD)
Initial Tests:
The Killers - Hot Fuss (CD, 16/44.1)
The wasn't really a fair first test. I had just bought the CD earlier in the evening, and hadn't given it a good listen yet. Mr. Brightside sounded relatively clear, though the DD version by Harmonix in Rock Band had better instrument isolation and atmosphere. Overall, the CD sounded muddy, which was disappointing. I quickly moved on to more familiar material.
Paul Van Dyk - Volume (CD, 16/44.1)
This was the first real proof of the benefits of the extra headroom provided by bi-amping. I skipped ahead to "Let Go", and listening to a clear roll from the deepest bass to the crispest highs without any gaps or muddying was nothing short of spine shivering. Bass had more punch and crispness, even though the subwoofer was not engaged (Since the speakers are Full Range). For the first time since I bought the speakers, it felt and sounded identical to when I heard them back at the dealer that first time - environment, presence, positioning, everything was fantastic.
Halo Legends (Blu-Ray, various Dolby Digital Mixes)
I didn't finish the film, since I had to turn down the speakers due to the time of night. However, I did make it through Origins I & II, The Duel, Prototype, and Tales of Spartan 1337. In particular, Prototype provided an admirable test of the speakers, with heavy bouts of gunfire and plasma discharges covering the soundfields. Once again, everything sounded crisp, but with unfamiliar source material, I was unable to pick out any unique differences or advantages.
First Impressions:
Bi-amping my 684s definitely seems to have some benefits with regards to clarity of the sound. My Marantz AVR barely has the power to drive the speakers from one channel, so bi-amping them gives the speakers a lot more headroom to breathe. Clarity and imaging has markedly improved, and frequency rolls in Electronica come off smoother than melted butter. Still, I don't know if it's worth the investment in a second pair of cables when I do get some nice ones, or if an investment in an external, more powerful amplifier would achieve similar results. In other words, I can't really confirm that the improvements I've heard thus far are a result of bi-wiring versus the extra power from bi-amping, though I can at least confirm an increase in overall quality.
This upcoming weekend, I plan on putting them through their paces with familiar source material including video games, anime (great test for two channel audio), and a healthy mixture of DVDs and BDs. When I do, I'll post the updated impressions here.
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