vertical biamp or mono blocks ?

Hi,

I am interested to hear some opinions from fellow forumers on the merits or the lack of with these 2 scenarios :

1) Passive Vertical biamp of 2 stereo amps into speakers with biwiring capabilities (i.e. 1 channel to the tweeter, 1 channel to the woofers from the stereoblock one amp on each speaker)

or

2) Just 2 monoblocks doubling in power capacity when compared to the above

Which one is better & in what ways better ?

Regards,
Joe Ling

Biamp, if

you can control both HF and LF volume.

You have no issue with insufficient power from the amplifier.

Passive verticalbiamping got some complication. Search for an article written by Kal Rubison on this.

Sorry if i was not so clear.

The bi amp scenario I described referred to VERTICAL biamp where 1 stereo block has 2 channels 1 of which is connected to the HF while the other LF. Gain of the 2 channels are the same.

I want to know if this is better or worse than just the conventional 2 monoblocks driving a pair of speakers

Still biamp for me. I can't add then what already said in many forum.

others will choose Monoblock.

Joe Ling,

Can you a bit more specific. What kind of speakers (something more specific than a bi-wireable speaker would be better) and what kind of music, what kind of listening preference, etc. This question can be answered in a lot of ways with a lot of dependacies.

mono biamping

The is no specific answer to yr question.

First, you have to determine if yr speaker require additional power to drive it. Example if yr have high sentivity speakers, then you would normally be better off with vertical biamping but yr two stereo amp must be well matched coz each is driving individual speaker. Imaging may suffer if it doesn't.

If yr speaker require high power or is low sensitivity , then it is better to use mono block for the extra drive. But beware, you shd only use true mono and not bridged ones. Bridged monos tend to sound hard when driven.

Using two pairs(four) of mono block is the best option. And if you can find a preamp that can control the the gain in the biamp setup, (ie mbl preamp, i mention mbl coz I know of no other brand that have the feature do it). It is capable of controlling balance and different gain for the highs and lows in a 4 amplifier biamp setup in a pure analogue domain. This way, you can tune to balance improper room acoustics.(it is not a tone control).

Another way of getting this effect in a budget system is to use two identical intergrated amplifier with each stereo amplifier driving the bass driver and the other amp driving the highs. You can then control the gain from the individual volume pot.

I am using this setup with a 2.5watt tube intergrated amp driving proac speakers. You wld need a Y cable from yr source.

Type of music played is not a factor..

Hi Wong,

Speakers are a pair of ProAc D80. Target amps for biamp are Audio Research Ref110 (2 stereoblocks) vs a pair of Audio Research Ref 210 monos. Both amp configuration cost about the same.

Incidentally, my dealer theorised that vetical biamp sounds better & he has proceed to acquire another Ref110 to add to his existing one to drive a pair of ProAc carbon 6. I may get to hear the setup soon. However, there is no way to hear this with the monos without handing out cold hard cash for monos.


Regards,
Joe Ling

WongKN wrote:Joe Ling,

Can you a bit more specific. What kind of speakers (something more specific than a bi-wireable speaker would be better) and what kind of music, what kind of listening preference, etc. This question can be answered in a lot of ways with a lot of dependacies.

VS126 wrote:Using two pairs(four) of mono block is the best option.

yeah..biamping each speaker....

Ah now the question becomes a lot clearer.

FWIW, I find that if you are talking about the same manufacturer, -usually- the equivalent monoblock (compared to its stereo model) is higher spec, with more power, and more expensive. Directly, this translates to better sound. So it is surprising to hear that the cost for 2 pairs of stereo ARC Ref110 is the same as that for a pair of ARC Ref210 monoblocks. I suppose for your -specific- case, if you factor in trade-in value (obviously you need to sell or trade in the Ref 110 in order to buy a set of brand new Ref 210), then it works out that way.

Along this line, if we want to stay relevant (i.e. obviously two sets of Ref 210 monoblocs, using active cross over and re-configuring the speakers for active cross over is usually the best sound), I would think the mono block solution potentially gives the better sound. A stereo power amp has circuitry for two channels inside. I am not sure of the design of the ARC Ref 110. The best solid state high-end amps like Mark Levinson, Krell, etc, uses the 'dual mono' configuration, i.e. everything is doubled up inside the amp. It's literally a monobloc inside a stereo chassis (I remember the ML23.5 even has two torroidal transformers). However if any part of the circuitry is shared, there is an issue with 'crosstalk', i.e. signal from one channel somehow leaking into, or interacting with the signal with another channel. If you read Stereophile instrumented tests of stereo power or even integrated amps, or Martin Colloms' tests, they usually do a test for crosstalk. A pair of monoblocks is true isolation.

Anyway, this is my personal opinions only. Of course there are occasions where a stereo 'vertical bi-amp' configuration may well be better. I am afraid until you can find someone who has the -actual- system for you to compare, you will just have to take a risk. In this case, quite an expensive risk I might add.

I have a set of power amp that allows for horizontal and vertical biamping with 2 units of 0dB drivers. Will not know until I try it out. However it seems some may like it vertical biamping.

http://www.symphonysound.com/articles/biamp.html