Bi-Amping with a 1065

[steveB]

Hi Guys,

I am thinking of biamping my mains . I run a RSX1065 and want to purchase another power amp biamp my fronts.

Can I use the 1065 to power the HF drivers and the poweramp to power the LF drivers? ( I am hoping to get away with a 2 channel amp
or mayber a bridged RMB 1066.....that way a get a rear center channel)

My set up is :

RSX 1065
B&W 604S3 front
B&W LCR600S3 center
B&W 602S3 rear
MK MX105II Sub


Thanks
SteveB :?:

[Brent]

IMHO don't waste your $. If you want to add another amp to move toward 7.1 fine but I think that to buy an additional power amp just for Bi-amping would definately fall into the "law of diminishing return" category. I have bi-amped and I noticed no diff. Again if it's a move toward 7.1 later and extra speaker wire isn't going to cost an arm and a leg go ahead and give it a try.

[princeoliver]

I, on the other hand, believes that bi-amping really improves the sound. I now bi-amp my front speakers with the 985mkII. The sound is just more stable and clear. It is like going from a 4 cylinder to a V6. But in order to bi-amp, your amps have to have the same gain. At first I bi-amp using a RSX972 going to the HF and the 985 going to the LF. It did not work The amp in the 972 is no match for the 985. The high in my system just roll off. Then I decided to use the strange configuration of bi-amping my fronts with the 985, bi-amping my centre with the 985 and 972 snd runing the rears with the 972. I believe this is the best set up as I listen to music much more than HT. I would bi-amp all my speakers if I could but that would have to wait for another day...

[mazuly]

OK, now I am curious. How would you bi-amp a speaker using a 2 channel amp that does not have a line output ?

Say for left channel, output of RSP-1066 goes to say RB-1080 left channel. You use that for LF of your left speaker. You would then need a line output to send the left channel signal to the right channel of the amp to power the HF of the left speaker. Well, RB-1080 does not have a line output.

Am I missing something here?

As for receivers like RSX-1065, I am really drawing a blank. Can someone please, in the lamest term, explain how this could be done?

Thanks for your help,
Maziar

[Greg Johnson]

Maziar,
To biamp using a prepro like the 1066 you would use a Y connector on the preout. Then you would run one interconnect to LF amp and one interconnect to the HF amp.
With a receiver like the 1065 you would run speaker wire to the HF binding posts of the speaker. Then you would run an interconnect from the 1065 preout to the second amp. From that amp you would run speaker wire to the LF binding posts of the speaker.
IMHO this is a frivolous upgrade at best except for those who are running huge floor standing speakers. Ask yourself, does a tweeter really need over a 100 watts of dedicated power to sound good.
Greg

[steveB]

Greg ,
thats exactly how I planned to do it.

The 604 I suppose is a large floor standing speaker rated to 200w.
It has 2 bass drivers a midrange and tweeter
I assumed that the LF connection would run the bass drivers and the HF the mid and tweeter.

I suppose the reason I posted the question was to see if it would be a worthwhile excercise. I do like the way the set up sounds at the moment , but the bug has bitten and I wanted to take it to the next level.

Thanks for everyones feedback

SteveB.

[mazuly]

Thanks Greg for your response.

Cool, I learned another new thing on this form. Rotel Club rocks.

Maziar

[princeoliver]

Yes I guess the speakers have to be full size. My are the Mirage OM6 and they are definitely full size speakers. Also when you get a Y connector make sure you get a GOOD quality ones. Bi-amping just takes my HT system to a higher level. Since amp technology does not change often perhaps the best thing to do is look for used ones on the web...

[Ricky]

Passive biamping increases wattage, that's all. If you are going to get a 5 channel amp just to biamp, IMO you are better off getting a 200x2 Rotel amp and driving the mains straight up (and not have to purchase extra speaker cables, interconnects, Y-splitter)....models 1080 or 991 or 990 will all do fine. As is the 993 200x3.

[steveB]

Ok ,


I suppose it would have been a passive biamping situation.
From the feedback I have had and some of the stuff I have read , biamping works best if there is an active crossover.

If I did get a 200Wx2 amp , and biwired the connections , would it be worth the hassle and $$??

Thanks again guys

SteveB.

[Ricky]

Does the 1065 have mains-in/preouts for the front channels? Why do you feel that you need another amp? More power? What is the sensitivity of the 604s? Would you consider buying used amps?

[steveB]

The 604's sensitivity is 90db , the 1065 has mains in / pre-outs.
The power is fine at the moment , but I am trying to get the best possible sound I can out of the system(for 2channel stereo). As the 604's are rated to 200W , the 1065 may not be giving them the juice they need to be their best.

SteveB.