Pre power amp mix wattage

Hi all,

Is there any rules against having 2 different wattages when bi amping speakers? Can we use a 50 W pre amp to drive tweeters and 100 W power amp to drive the woofers? Have anyone tried these? Whats the effect on sound quality?

It is not a problem. I have tried it.

Thanks WongKN.

Will the music sound muffled?

elhefe wrote:
Can we use a 50 W pre amp to drive tweeters and 100 W power amp to drive the woofers?

1) i presume you mean a 50 W power amp (not pre) to drive the tweeters.

2) it's ok to use amps of different power for horizontal biamping. bass drivers need more powerful amps cos they suck up lots of power.

3) but it is advisable to use amps from the same company to get a similar sound. otherwise the treble may not match the bass/mid.

sflam,

The 50 W is from an integrated acting as a pre. Thats how I am running my set up. The integrated acts as a pre to drive the tweeters and I have 2 x monoblocks to drive the woofers. Currently one monoblock has blown. Hence, was given an option to purchase a 100 W power amp. Hence, the question of mixed wattage comes up.

The 50 W is from an integrated acting as a pre. Thats how I am running my set up. The integrated acts as a pre to drive the tweeters and I have 2 x monoblocks to drive the woofers.

technically speaking a preamp cannot drive speakers. in your case, u r using the preamp section of the integrated amp to drive both the power amp section of the integrated amp plus the monoblocks to drive the speakers.

Technically speaking, yes. I am actually using 2 amplifiers to drive the tweetrs and woofers. I guess i can rephrase my question to be - can i drive my tweeters n woofers with 2 different wattages of amps?

i think in elhefe setup his integrated amp speaker channel are being used to drive the tweeters, while the pre out section drive his monoblocks to drive the woofers.

The question of sound quality really depends on the amplifiers in question. A difference of power rating, unless very drastic, will not by itself affect the sound. But the quality of the individual power amps will. It is also important to consider the characteristics of the two amps. In my case, I am driving the ribbons of my Centaur Major with the ARC CL60 which is rated at 60Watts and the woofers with an Arcam Apha 8 which I believe is rated at 50Watts. The Arcam is not that much different in tonal characteristic from the ARC, except that it is of course lower in sound quality. But as the cross over frequency for the Centaur Major is quite low (600Hz), they seem to complement each other reasonably well. My only real problem is the Arcam is unable to control the Centuar Major woofer very well so the bass is still a bit spongy and weak. So all the considerations of amp to speaker matching must also be considered if you want to mix the amps in a bi-amp configuration.

No, unless the gain of the two power amps are the same ie 26 or 32 db. Ideally they shd be of the same make but power is not a major issue.

Yes i believe the gain plays a more important role. My MF XA1 is 50W and drives the tweeters and my MF XA50 monoblocs which are 50W as well drive the woofers. I was thinking to upgrade to XA100 hence supplying 100 W to the woofers.

Yes i believe the gain plays a more important role. My MF XA1 is 50W and drives the tweeters and my MF XA50 monoblocs which are 50W as well drive the woofers. I was thinking to upgrade to XA100 hence supplying 100 W to the woofers.

the system with xa100 shld sound good. no probs.