Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo bi-amping with a 5.1 receiver

This is a question that has arisen in another thread, so don't give me credit for the idea

If I take the two front outputs and two rear outputs of my amp (Denon 1602) and use them to bi-amp my M80's, then set the receiver the 5 channel stereo (to ensure there is actually sound going to them), will this work, or will it damage my speakers?

I assume I would have to set the dB gains identical. Any other advice?

Ravi, assuming that when the 1602 is set to 5-channel stereo that the left main signals go the left surround channel and the same story for the right side(as makes sense)then what you suggest should work. The whole idea of passive biamping without getting rid of the crossovers in the speakers seems to have little benefit. The maximum power available to each section of the speaker is still the same(e.g. two 100 watt amp sections don't give you a max of 200 watts, it's still 100).

John

are you trying to tell me that 70 x 1 is the same power as 70 x 2???

and I thought i had audio figured out...

Ravi, the point is that each section of the speaker would be driven by a 70 watt amp, not a 140 watt one. A recent generally excellent review of the 3805 for some reason used the figure of 240 watts if bi-amped, at least implying that that power would be available(some posters on other boards have taken it to mean that). In nearly all receivers the power supply section is the limiting factor in the amount of amperage that can be supplied and dividing the amplifier sections driving a speaker into two doesn't increase the capacity of the power supply section.

Why would anyone do this? It defeats the whole purpose of having an HT receiver. It seems like more work than it's worth.
If stereo is the only purpose, I would definitly try to scare up the cash to get a descent preamp and amp or just a very good receiver.

I'm not trying to be a jerk here. To me it sounds like a lot of trouble and a major pain in the ass.

The reason I bi-amped my M80's is because the Denon 3805 didn't have enough power to sound clean at high volumes when in 2ch stereo mode. When I was researching which receiver to buy, a couple of people in this forum said the 3805 would have enough power to push the M80's to their limits, but it didn't unless I bi-amped. It made a huge improvement. That means I can only have 5.1 HT because I am using the surround back amps to help power the M80's. I now want to get a separate amp for the M80's so I can have my 7.1 back. Any suggestions on one that will push them?

Well, I've managed to put my foot in my mouth quit a bit last weekend. Just for the record, I was just trying to fully understand what the goal was here. I do understand that more wattage was the main reason. I've seen receiver's go into oscillation when two feeds are coming from the same power source (a denon receiver) into a loudspeaker. The end result is a (possessed) noise coming from the loudspeaker during shutdown. I believe it's the capacitors draining voltage. I don't know about Denon, but I do know that not all amp sections are created equal. I actually used to repair audio gear in my past life, 10 years ago. So, I actually had seen some strange things. I worked for an authorized repair depot for some mid to high end equipment. I don't talk about it much here. I like to see some of the misleading stuff that pops up here and there.

I really like the ATI amps. For the money though www.outlaw.com these gems are very clean. The end result is clean sound, the amp doesn't influence the sound whatsoever, that the job for the M80's.

I also hope that I didn't insult anyone here. That was not my intention

OOjgen - i was reading a post last night that had your name all over it.. A bunch of very positive things to say about the crown xls 402a amp.. 260 X 2 and less than 300 bucks.. Built for DJs and musicians, a few of the guys that bought it said it absolutely rocked their ass...