# Bi-Amping...Yes or No?



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Not utilizing my back surround channels for 7.1 with my Onkyo 605, I have the option to bi-amp the front mains, which would be my Polk RTi12s (which could DEFINITELY use more power). I have heard pros and cons about doing the bi-amping thing, but would this benefit my situation in any way? My RTi12s have the "jumper" feature on the back of them to do the bi-amping thing, but is it worth the hassle of going to the back of the receiver, running additional speaker cable and utilizing the back surround channels for added power to the fronts? Will I hear that much more of a difference?


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I've had mine hooked up both ways and currently have them biamped, really i can not tell a differance between the two options.The way i look at it while using an AVR as the main and only source for power by leaving them hooked up as you do will leave you head room on the amp where as biamping is taking that headroom and putting toward the speaker hence the reason for it not being noticable. Now on the other hand say if you were to use outboard amps for the biamping situation then i could see a gain in performance.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

bambino said:


> I've had mine hooked up both ways and currently have them biamped, really i can not tell a differance between the two options.The way i look at it while using an AVR as the main and only source for power by leaving them hooked up as you do will leave you head room on the amp where as biamping is taking that headroom and putting toward the speaker hence the reason for it not being noticable. Now on the other hand say if you were to use outboard amps for the biamping situation then i could see a gain in performance.


Thanks, as always, Bambino...

So, you're saying I am better off just leaving the RTi12s set up as "normal" so there isn't extra strain on the 605?


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

More then less that is what i was getting at. Not that i think it is gonna put more strain on the AVR, but from my experiance is that the gain of power to the fronts isn't noticable (to me of coarse). But i do think there would be a gain in perfomance say with seperate outboard amps. And it's my pleasure to lend suggestions that will help all of us shacksters, I am curious though to know what some of the other folks think.


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## Ares (Nov 23, 2009)

I have tried it with mine I can honestly say I didn't notice a difference, I have even tried replacing the jumpers with 12 gauge wire and still couldn't hear a difference but that's just me.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Ares said:


> I have tried it with mine I can honestly say I didn't notice a difference, I have even tried replacing the jumpers with 12 gauge wire and still couldn't hear a difference but that's just me.


Thanks Tony,

You did this with your Denon? And you didn't sense "more power" or "punch" coming through the mains when they were bi-amped?


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

bambino said:


> More then less that is what i was getting at. Not that i think it is gonna put more strain on the AVR, but from my experiance is that the gain of power to the fronts isn't noticable (to me of coarse). But i do think there would be a gain in perfomance say with seperate outboard amps. And it's my pleasure to lend suggestions that will help all of us shacksters, I am curious though to know what some of the other folks think.


I think what I was trying to confirm was what you said with regard to the "headroom" of the AVR's amp; I think I know what you mean though -- that the headroom that's available from the AVR itself is kind of going to be re-channeled through the mains by bi-amping, as it's taking the back surround channels' power, yes?


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## Ares (Nov 23, 2009)

I could not tell any difference, if there is any difference it wasn't audible at least to me. From various things that I have read doing this is suppose to make it make it easier on the on the amp section since one amp is running the highs which is an easy load in it's self and one to run the lows which require more power, on this I not sure maybe one of the guys can comment on this who have a little more knowledge in this area. I believe the term for this type of bi-amping is called Passive Bi-Amping.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Osage_Winter said:


> I think what I was trying to confirm was what you said with regard to the "headroom" of the AVR's amp; I think I know what you mean though -- that the headroom that's available from the AVR itself is kind of going to be re-channeled through the mains by bi-amping, as it's taking the back surround channels' power, yes?


Yep, that is my theory anyhow and it makes sense but i wish more folks would chime in on this as i am very curious to know what they think. But like i said before i didn't notice a differance, if it is not a big pain to access the rear of your AVR and have extra wire give it a try but i'm almost certain you will not. Let me know if you go for it, and let me your results.:sn::T


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Ares said:


> I could not tell any difference, if there is any difference it wasn't audible at least to me. From various things that I have read doing this is suppose to make it make it easier on the on the amp section since one amp is running the highs which is an easy load in it's self and one to run the lows which require more power, on this I not sure maybe one of the guys can comment on this who have a little more knowledge in this area. I believe the term for this type of bi-amping is called Passive Bi-Amping.


But aside from the lows and highs being separated, isn't it, in theory at least, supposed to add more power to the mains by channeling the power off the unused back surrounds?


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

bambino said:


> Yep, that is my theory anyhow and it makes sense but i wish more folks would chime in on this as i am very curious to know what they think. But like i said before i didn't notice a differance, if it is not a big pain to access the rear of your AVR and have extra wire give it a try but i'm almost certain you will not. Let me know if you go for it, and let me your results.:sn::T


Will do, my friend; I probably won't end up doing it though based on what I'm reading before at least I get some more input about it. :wave:


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## Ares (Nov 23, 2009)

From what I understand it wouldn't give you more power because the amps are drawing from the same power supply.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Ares said:


> From what I understand it wouldn't give you more power because the amps are drawing from the same power supply.


Kinda what i was getting at. would still like to know what the others thoughts are.

Osage, if the time comes and you decide to try it before we hear more input let me know what your thoughts are on the sound differance, if any. Bambino.:sn::T


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

Osage_Winter said:


> I probably won't end up doing it though based on what I'm reading before at least I get some more input about it. :wave:


Quick question: Why do you want to bi-amp your fronts??? I'm sure is to improve the sound, but maybe you have another reason :dontknow:

(I used to play around with my setup.... sad but I can't anymore :sad


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Ares said:


> From what I understand it wouldn't give you more power because the amps are drawing from the same power supply.


I've heard this as well; what is it then, just a marketing gimmick by AVR manufacturers?


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

bambino said:


> Osage, if the time comes and you decide to try it before we hear more input let me know what your thoughts are on the sound differance, if any.


Will-do.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

salvasol said:


> Quick question: Why do you want to bi-amp your fronts??? I'm sure is to improve the sound, but maybe you have another reason :dontknow:


As I explained in my original post (or more likely hinted at), I was looking to get some more juice to my 500-watt-max Polk RTi12 mains from my 90 watt-per-channel Onkyo 605; I was hoping that perhaps bi-amping the mains would get some more power to them via the unused back surrounds (I am only running a 5.1 setup right now, so the back surrounds on the 605 are staying idle). 



> (I used to play around with my setup.... sad but I can't anymore :sad


Why can't you?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I think in your situation bi amping would help however the highs are not what is hard to drive in most speakers so I do wonder if there really would be a noticeable difference. even though the Polks are more than capable I wonder if adjusting the crossover higher so the amp does not have to work so hard would help more That is if your sub is able to handle the extra load.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> I think in your situation bi amping would help however the highs are not what is hard to drive in most speakers so I do wonder if there really would be a noticeable difference. even though the Polks are more than capable I wonder if adjusting the crossover higher so the amp does not have to work so hard would help more That is if your sub is able to handle the extra load.


Tony,

What you describe is the EXACT dilemma I have been facing...you see, I want to use the RTi12s for a bit of bass from them as they're very large floor standing towers WHILE AT THE SAME TIME use the Polk PSW350 sub to handle VERY low frequencies in film soundtracks; that is why I lowered the mains' crossover inside the 605's menu to 60Hz, as this was suggested to me by someone on Polk's forum -- he suggested using 60Hz for the RTi12s as that way they will be able to flex their muscle a bit while at the same time letting the sub handle everything below 60Hz...

But now I am wondering if my PSW350, which isn't that great of a sub, is restricting some of the performance here -- if I use 80Hz for the RTi12's crossover, will this allow the big main speakers to give some of their "punch" while at the same time allow the PSW350 to slam? It's a real catch 22 I have going on here...


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Well the so called "punch" that you hear in a soundtrack is between 80 and 40Hz so it may be a good idea but the ultimate issue here is that the 605 is a bit underpowered for the speakers you have and with no pre outs this becomes a real dilemma.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Well the so called "punch" that you hear in a soundtrack is between 80 and 40Hz so it may be a good idea but the ultimate issue here is that the 605 is a bit underpowered for the speakers you have and with no pre outs this becomes a real dilemma.


Yes -- it is more than just a "bit" underpowered for these speakers. :crying: :crying: :hissyfit:

The problem was, I was in the market for new floorstanders when I moved into our new house, and I found these RTi12s on a closeout from a local Frys, which had them for LESS than the new RTiA ENTRY LEVEL models, so I had to snatch them, thinking it was a long-term investment for the main channels...

So now, I was having to make the 605 work with the RTi12s; when I contacted Polk about this, they assured me the 12s were "easy enough" to drive in many respects because they were still an 8 ohm speaker with a 90dB sensitivity. Still, I do need to upgrade the amplification stage at some point. Being that the 605 has no preamp outputs, I will either need to get a new AVR -- hence my "Onkyo Upgrade" thread in the Receivers section -- or find another way around this. Can I hook up some "speaker-to-line-level" device between the 605 and a multichannel amp to make this work? 

Further, what about the 60/80Hz thing regarding the RTi12s...is it possible the 60Hz setting is causing some kind of cancellation issues with this setup, as Bambino suggested? And would bi-amping ultimately help drive the RTi12s better, or should I not deal with the hassle of doing that and instead look to better amplification?


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

Osage_Winter said:


> I want to use the RTi12s for a bit of bass from them as they're very large floor standing towers WHILE AT THE SAME TIME use the Polk PSW350 sub to handle VERY low frequencies in film soundtracks...


Just an idea.....

Get a pro-amp (I have a Samson Servo 600 ([email protected]) to power my fronts and it really makes a big difference compared to my Yamaha 140WPC), use the pro-amp to power the lows on the RTi12s and then use the back surround of the Onkyo for the highs....do not use the front pre-out and front speakers terminals at the same time. Try that setup and then use just the external amp to see which one you like better :bigsmile:



> But now I am wondering if my PSW350, which isn't that great of a sub, is restricting some of the performance here -- if I use 80Hz for the RTi12's crossover, will this allow the big main speakers to give some of their "punch" while at the same time allow the PSW350 to slam? It's a real catch 22 I have going on here...


I don't think you will notice any difference by ear if you set the crossover at 80Hz or 60Hz (I didn't when I played with my set up), I used REW to compare the response with different settings to see if there was any improvement.

I tried setting the fronts as large vs small, crossover @ 60, 80, 90... I can also choose to send the LFE/SWFR to just the Sub, the fronts or both (best response was to send the signal just to SWFR)... that's the fun part of this hobby, experiment, experiment, experiment...until you get the results you're looking for :T

I can't play with my setup anymore because I had to move to an apartment and I don't have a dedicated room like I used to ...:sad:

EDIT: I just read Tony's response.... to bad the 605 doesn't have pre-outs. I think is time for an upgrade.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

salvasol said:


> Just an idea.....
> 
> Get a pro-amp (I have a Samson Servo 600 ([email protected]) to power my fronts and it really makes a big difference compared to my Yamaha 140WPC), use the pro-amp to power the lows on the RTi12s and then use the back surround of the Onkyo for the highs....do not use the front pre-out and front speakers terminals at the same time. Try that setup and then use just the external amp to see which one you like better :bigsmile:
> 
> ...


Hi David, nice to see you around again.
Sadly using a high level input device may work but probably not worth it and in the end possibly noisy.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

salvasol said:


> Just an idea.....
> 
> Get a pro-amp (I have a Samson Servo 600 ([email protected]) to power my fronts and it really makes a big difference compared to my Yamaha 140WPC), use the pro-amp to power the lows on the RTi12s and then use the back surround of the Onkyo for the highs....do not use the front pre-out and front speakers terminals at the same time. Try that setup and then use just the external amp to see which one you like better :bigsmile:


Sal,

As we'll discuss below in a moment or so, the 605 I am running doesn't have preamp outs, so right now I cannot add an amp -- but I like your idea, and 300 watts is more like what I need to drive these RTi12s...the thing is, I am a little cloudy on some of the elements you mention above. First of all, I would need some kind of amp ratings with 8 ohm figures, not 4 ohm, and I am uncertain with what you mean by the way to hook this all up -- are you saying get an amp just to power the two fronts and DO NOT hook them up to an AVR's preamp outs, but rather do the bi-amp thing with the pro power amp? This seems daunting to me; couldn't I just feed a new receiver's preamp outs to a multichannel amp, and wire up the front mains to the amp normally? 



> I don't think you will notice any difference by ear if you set the crossover at 80Hz or 60Hz (I didn't when I played with my set up), I used REW to compare the response with different settings to see if there was any improvement.


Interesting...



> I tried setting the fronts as large vs small, crossover @ 60, 80, 90... I can also choose to send the LFE/SWFR to just the Sub, the fronts or both (best response was to send the signal just to SWFR)... that's the fun part of this hobby, experiment, experiment, experiment...until you get the results you're looking for :T


Indeed...



> I can't play with my setup anymore because I had to move to an apartment and I don't have a dedicated room like I used to ...:sad:


Oh -- okay; wasn't sure what you meant. I feel your pain; I recently went from an apartment to a house, and the change was dramatic. 



> EDIT: I just read Tony's response.... to bad the 605 doesn't have pre-outs. I think is time for an upgrade.


And so it seems; that's why I have been trying to get Onkyo upgrade ideas via my other thread...:T


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Hi David, nice to see you around again.
> Sadly using a high level input device may work but probably not worth it and in the end possibly noisy.


I've heard these things introduce noise into the chain; would you be able to guide me to such a device?


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

tonyvdb said:


> Hi David, nice to see you around again.
> Sadly using a high level input device may work but probably not worth it and in the end possibly noisy.


Thank you... I'm trying to get back little by little, I want to be active like before :T

You're right, but sometimes we have to take some chances (my setup works fine, I don't notice anything bad raying: :innocent


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Osage_Winter said:


> I've heard these things introduce noise into the chain; would you be able to guide me to such a device?


Ive only seen them on car audio and on plate amps on subs. I do however think that someone else may be able to answer that better than me.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Ive only seen them on car audio and on plate amps on subs. I do however think that someone else may be able to answer that better than me.


Yes -- I've actually used them in car audio systems (hence where I got the idea from) when a radio head unit didn't have preamp outs and I wanted to add subs and an amp to a factory system; we had to install a line level converter.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Osage_Winter said:


> Yes -- I've actually used them in car audio systems (hence where I got the idea from) when a radio head unit didn't have preamp outs and I wanted to add subs and an amp to a factory system; we had to install a line level converter.


Yup, Ive got one in our van seems to work ok.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

:T

Did you "tap into" the rear speaker lines like we did in my previous car, a '99 Accord Coupe, to get a signal to the preamp converter?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Yes, its behind the head unit however I ran heavy rca lines to the amp in the back for the sub. Its just a 8" Rockford fosgate sub in a ported enclosure left over from a JVC sub that went bad and is powered by a Blaupunkt 100watt amp but in the van it really helps.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

Osage_Winter said:


> the thing is, I am a little cloudy on some of the elements you mention above. First of all, I would need some kind of amp ratings with 8 ohm figures, not 4 ohm,


Sorry, my mistake (my fronts are connected to be used as 4ohms), the Servo 600 is rated [email protected]



> and I am uncertain with what you mean by the way to hook this all up -- are you saying get an amp just to power the two fronts and DO NOT hook them up to an AVR's preamp outs, but rather do the bi-amp thing with the pro power amp? This seems daunting to me; couldn't I just feed a new receiver's preamp outs to a multichannel amp, and wire up the front mains to the amp normally


No, you have to use the AVR pre-outs to send the signal to the external amp (either a pro-amp or a multichannel amp), in my case I bought the pro-amp because of the $$$$, it was cheaper compared to a multichannel amp (some don't like the looks of the pro-amp, and also the noise of the fan sometimes is a factor, and sometimes you need extra things to make it work with your AVR (that's another discussion :whistling)...but I like the Samson Servo line, or the Behringer A100


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

I gotta tell ya -- Rockford makes some good stuff; I used to write for _Car Sound & Performance_ magazine, and I was running a sealed dual 15" box in my '99 Accord before it was totaled by a drunk driver in a head on accident that contained two Rockford XLC Punch subs. The thing is, like many brands that went mainstream too fast, Rockford Fosgate kind of went from a rather esoteric must-have brand in mobile audio to a Crutchfield special as soon as the catalog company started selling their stuff -- and that has happened to MANY companies in home and car audio.


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## Ares (Nov 23, 2009)

Osage_Winter said:


> I've heard this as well; what is it then, just a marketing gimmick by AVR manufacturers?


Sorry I didn't get back sooner, From what I know and read since a lot of speaker companies offer dual binding post to bi-amp the AVR companies Denon, Onkyo, Marantz etc....... offer this feature to appease some consumers now there are those who say Passive Bi-Amping works but in a small degree and there those who say Active Bi-Amping is the only way to truly call it Bi-Amping. That is a debate I don't wish to start, so in a nutshell if you hear a difference and it makes you happy than that's all that matters.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Lots of companies are going cheap, Even as we have discussed all the major receivers brands are cutting corners Even Denon (who has been regarded to be very good) is going down hill.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

salvasol said:


> Sorry, my mistake (my fronts are connected to be used as 4ohms), the Servo 600 is rated [email protected]


Still a VERY healthy dose of power...



> No, you have to use the AVR pre-outs to send the signal to the external amp (either a pro-amp or a multichannel amp),


Yes -- I realize this; I was just confused because I wanted to know if I HAD to separate the lows and highs being powered when getting a multichannel amp, or if I could just wire it up to the separate amp like normal...



> in my case I bought the pro-amp because of the $$$$, it was cheaper compared to a multichannel amp (some don't like the looks of the pro-amp, and also the noise of the fan sometimes is a factor, and sometimes you need extra things to make it work with your AVR (that's another discussion :whistling)...but I like the Samson Servo line, or the Behringer A100


These amps sound VERY interesting because I need big power -- are these Samson or Behringer lines still available?


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Ares said:


> Sorry I didn't get back sooner, From what I know and read since a lot of speaker companies offer dual binding post to bi-amp the AVR companies Denon, Onkyo, Marantz etc....... offer this feature to appease some consumers now there are those who say Passive Bi-Amping works but in a small degree and there those who say Active Bi-Amping is the only way to truly call it Bi-Amping. That is a debate I don't wish to start, so in a nutshell if you hear a difference and it makes you happy than that's all that matters.


Thank you.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Lots of companies are going cheap, Even as we have discussed all the major receivers brands are cutting corners Even Denon (who has been regarded to be very good) is going down hill.


So it seems; and I was going to consider Denon...


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Samson still makes a great amp for the money (I have one powering my mains) and the advantage with them is they have both unbalanced inputs (needed for home theater use) as well as pro balanced inputs.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Samson still makes a great amp for the money (I have one powering my mains) and the advantage with them is they have both unbalanced inputs (needed for home theater use) as well as pro balanced inputs.


Thanks Tony!

Would you recommend a Samson over, say, an Emotiva?

And when I do the connections between a receiver's preouts and the amp, I will just be running a series of RCA connectors, correct?


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## Ares (Nov 23, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> Lots of companies are going cheap, Even as we have discussed all the major receivers brands are cutting corners Even Denon (who has been regarded to be very good) is going down hill.



So true I have recently looked into the successor of the 1910 the 1911 and it weighs in at 20lbs vs the 1910 23lb so I will say there was some corner cutting there.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Osage_Winter said:


> Would you recommend a Samson over, say, an Emotiva?


Personally I think the Emotiva would be a better option although very close.



> And when I do the connections between a receiver's preouts and the amp, I will just be running a series of RCA connectors, correct?


Yes just some decent quality rca connectors from Monoprice


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Well, in all fairness, that is only three pounds...


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Personally I think the Emotiva would be a better option


In your valued opinion, why?


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

Osage_Winter said:


> I wanted to know if I HAD to separate the lows and highs being powered when getting a multichannel amp, or if I could just wire it up to the separate amp like normal...


You can try both ways... but if you separate lows and highs, is better to check how much power you can give to the tweeters to be safe, or just use it normally and don't separate them (I have JBL Stadium, they're rated to 440watts, I can't bi-amp but they sound really good with the pro-amp).




> These amps sound VERY interesting because I need big power -- are these Samson or Behringer lines still available?


I'm sure they are.... here is a link to read their specifications, what I like about this amp is that you don't need to buy anything else to hook it up to the AVR, just a pair of RCA cables and you're done...

http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1852


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Osage_Winter said:


> In your valued opinion, why?


Emotivia is geared to home theater use by design and is regarded to be the best bang for buck. I hear lots of good reports from members who have them.
Samson does not make a multi channel amp any more but they do use a toroidal power supply in there "Servo" line.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

Osage_Winter said:


> In your valued opinion, why?


Looks???? Quality???? Performance??? :dontknow: Let's hear it addle: :bigsmile:

Here is a link to emotiva http://www.emotiva.com/xpa5.shtm


EDIT: To late....


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

salvasol said:


> You can try both ways... but if you separate lows and highs, is better to check how much power you can give to the tweeters to be safe, or just use it normally and don't separate them (I have JBL Stadium, they're rated to 440watts, I can't bi-amp but they sound really good with the pro-amp).


I think I'd just want to hook the amp to the speakers normally; you know, black to black, red to red...



> I'm sure they are.... here is a link to read their specifications, what I like about this amp is that you don't need to buy anything else to hook it up to the AVR, just a pair of RCA cables and you're done...
> 
> http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1852


Yeah, I was just telling Tony that I was looking at this site and Behringer's...pretty hefty looking stuff, but these and the Behringers just look so...well...unassuming for the power they put out. Are all modern power amps this narrow in girth? 

Do you know if the rack mount ears can be removed from these?


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Emotivia is geared to home theater use by design and is regarded to be the best bang for buck. I hear lots of good reports from members who have them.
> Samson does not make a multi channel amp any more but they do use a toroidal power supply in there "Servo" line.


Thank you.

What other brand would make a home theater-oriented power amp?


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

In terms of Emotiva, guys, I was thinking of this one...

http://emotiva.com/xpa3.shtm

What are your thoughts?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Sunfire does, but pricey. others are NAD, Yamaha and Rotel just to name a few. Most of these companies that do cost a fair bit more.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Osage_Winter said:


> In terms of Emotiva, guys, I was thinking of this one...
> 
> http://emotiva.com/xpa3.shtm
> 
> What are your thoughts?


Very good choice.:T


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Sunfire does, but pricey. others are NAD, Yamaha and Rotel just to name a few. Most of these companies that do cost a fair bit more.


I forgot about NAD and Rotel -- Yamaha makes multichannel power amps? Part of a pro line?


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Very good choice.:T


But what about just going the two-channel route, to power just the front mains?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

If you have the XPA3 I would then use the third channel to power the center as well.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

I don't have the Emotiva yet; I was considering it, or a full-tilt multi-channel amp. 

But the question becomes before I do this, will bi-amping my 605 add more current to my RTi12s? ...


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Osage_Winter said:


> But the question becomes before I do this, will bi-amping my 605 add more current to my RTi12s? ...


I think you should try it, Its not that hard and only you would be abale to hear a difference. It most certainly can't hurt.


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