Bi-Wire/Bridge help? Help

[CougarCruiser]

Ok guys... So I am looking a 1075 amplifier and I would like to hook up using a 3 channel (L, C, R) for now. Is there any way I can take the 2 spare channels on the amp and wire them in with the Left and Right channels? (This would hopefully double the power going to my mains)

This may be a basic question, but I'm at a loss here. Would I "bridge" the amp to do this, or run a Y on the interconnect to split the signal to L and R?

Am I completely on crack and this is a horrible idea? I'm still learning, so please feel free to make fun of me. =)

Thanks!

[NonSense]

The 1075 is not a bridgeable amp.

You may bi-amp your main speakers if they are bi-wireable (ie: have 2 separate sets of binding posts). This will give a separate amp to drive each of the high and low frequencies to the speakers, but it won't give you double the power. Some claim to have seen good improvements in sound quality with this configuration, while others have seen less improvement. With everything, it will likely be system dependant. This can be done by splitting the outputs from the pre-amp using the y splitter and feeding two amps with each output.

If you do not currently own the amp, and you do not wish to ever use the 5 channels, you may be better off looking at somthing like a 1080 for the mains and a 1070 for the center. The 1080 will give you more power for the mains and the 1070 is brigeable, although at a penalty of sonic performance.

The other option is to look at another amp manufacture that do sell 3ch amps with a higher output wattage.

[gd]

I'm still learning, so please feel free to make fun of me. =)

Hmmm, tempting... just kidding...

What NonSense said... to which I'd add:

May not apply to everyone, but there does seem to be a growing opinion that bridging introduces some amount of distortion... this has been the case in my one attempt at it.

Not many 3-channel amps out there, but Cinenova and Odyssey are a couple makes to look into... or you might occasionally find a used Rotel RB993 on Audiogon... or you might up the ante and try 3 monoblocks – available from low$ (Outlaw) to not-so-low$ (NuForce) to crazy$ (many)... meanwhile, the 1075 is a solid-enough performer that I'd suggest adding a pair of surround speakers rather than looking for bridging or bi-amping solutions, esp if you're a newbie.

If you really are keen to try bi-amping, do a search on this forum for info and advice on the several threads on that topic... done thoroughly, bi-amping can become very involved, and as suggested, may yield underwhelming results... (haven't tried it myself, as I don't care to fiddle with my speakers' crossovers).

Happy hunting.