Bi-Amping older CDM

[MuShu007]

I am planning on getting a new Marantz AV8003 preamp and was thinking of bi-amping an older CDM7 special edition as mains.This is via XLR balanced inputs,question is will there be any significant difference in the sound? I wiil be running the preamp with a Rotel RMB 1095 amp....I would appreciate any input.Thanks!

[MuShu007]

Anyone? :cry: Are the CDM's even worth bi-amping?

[Kal Rubinson]

Anyone? :cry: Are the CDM's even worth bi-amping?

IMHO, no. But, then again, I would say that about almost any speaker. :W

[audioqueso]

From my experience (only tested on bookshelves) bi-amping hasn't made much of a difference if you're using a good dedicated amp. It has however helped when using only a receivers where the amp section is not as a good as a dedicated amp.

i.e., my B&W 805 and 601 S3 (previously owned) were powered off of a Marantz receiver (two different models). Connecting the speakers to both A & B channels, and using both, improved the clarity a bit, but more improvement was noticeable on the bass. However, when I had a Rotel and Parasound amp (200 watts), using the Marantz as a pre, using a single channel for each speaker resulted in a better sound compared to the receiver "bi-amp". If I used two channels from the Parasound (Rotel was only two-channel) for the 805, I didn't really hear any difference.

So what I'm saying is that I found it advantageous to bi-amp only when using a receiver because the power from a receiver is not up to par compared to a dedicated amp. With a dedicated power amp, I've never heard a difference in bi-amping.

If you already have a Rotel RMD-1095 (200 watts right?), in don't think bi-amping will give you any more improvement compared to a single channel feed from your 200watt Rotel.

[htsteve]

From my experience (only tested on bookshelves) bi-amping hasn't made much of a difference if you're using a good dedicated amp. It has however helped when using only a receivers where the amp section is not as a good as a dedicated amp.

MuShu007,

I agree with this statement.


Your 1095 is a beast (I used to own one. It worked very well on everything I had), it should work well. It should drive your speakers quite nicely.

I have bi-amped with Rotel amps. It was an improvement, mostly in definition and some better bass. But the extra cost in cables was a fair amount. It wasn't a great upgrade for me, only a bit incremental.

I ultimately decided to go with a dedicated stereo amp for my mains (N804's). I got a Rotel 1080. I personally very much liked the improvement that 1080 gave me vs. bi-amping. Much better soundstage. Tighter bass, smooth midrange and highs.

I now have 802D's. I initially ran them from a 5 channel Mac amp. It sounded quite awesome. I then got a dedicated 2 channel amp. The same thing happened. Better soundstage, bass and awesome mid's and highs. Definitely consider a 2 channel amp.

I've found that balanced inputs (XLR) are quieter than RCA connections. I used XLR's for my front three channels. For some, they work great, especially with long runs. For some, it hasn't been as noticeable. One thing to validate is that the Marantz is truly balanced. It may have XLR connections, but it may convert to single ended inside the box. It may not be truly balanced. Something to consider before dropping funds on XLR cables.


Hope this helps.

[MuShu007]

Thanks for the response :T