Another question regarding bi-amping. I currently have an Emotiva XPA-5 amp. If I bought another XPA-5 or LPA-1 amp (My question is not about a particular amp), would it make any difference if I ran 2 channels from the same amp to my fronts or ran 1 channel from each amp to each front? In other words, is there any difference in running channel 1 & 2 from amp A to the LF speaker vs. running channel 1 from amp A and channel 1 from amp B to the LF speaker? What do I gain by doing any of this? This almost seems like a crazy question but I had to ask.

What are the speakers you intend to bi-amp?

All Axiom. M60s in front, VP150 and QS8s for rear. I'm not even sure this would make any difference.

Probably not enough to warrant spending a few grand.

But you would run each speaker off of both amps.

bi-amping with two physically separate amps would make a difference. Would you be able to tell the difference is the real questions. In general, most people use the same amp to bi-amp their speakers (using rear surrounds for the source of bi-amping) The fact that it comes from the same physical router seems to escape people!

This question will really show my lack of understanding then. Would there be any difference or benefit to doing the following: Use the XPA-5 to run the tweeters and mids (2 channels) and use the XPA-2 to run the woofers (2 channels). Then use the other 3 channels on the XPA-5 to run the center and rears. This option vs. just using the XPA-2 to run the fronts (no biamp) and use 3 of the XPA-5 channels to run the center and rears.. I guess I have 3 questions...1. Which of these 2 options is the best, if either? 2. Would doing either of these options make any real difference vs. running all speakers off the XPA-5 as I am currently doing. 3. What difference is this supposed to make. Crisper, clearer, more power??

I bi-amped my 80's with the emotiva MPS-1 and noticed little if any difference, oh yeah the amps still shut down.

I remember reading about your issues with the MPS. Of course their website says that all their amps will handle 4 amp loads fine and down to 2 amp loads. Something wasn't right if your speakers kept shutting down. Even down to 2 amp load, it shouldn't have lasted more than a few seconds at a time. I really like the XPA-5 so far but I want to see how it performs over a longer period of time.

The idea is smoother bass, more power, etc. The real benefits only appear if you use an external crossover (which the M60s don't support without surgery) between the two amps. Like I said, it ain't worth the dough.

I remember even Tharkun (former member) would shutdown his stereo parasound's with 80's. It was not until he went to monoblock parasounds that his problem went away. Similar to when I added my Odyssey mono's.

I suppose since my room is so much larger, I have to really turn it up to fill the room, compared to smaller rooms.

I'm pretty sure he shut down his multichannel Halo, but not his stereo ones. He certainly shut down his multichannel Outlaw.

Randy, your system could crush Guinness cans in my little man cave. Get any snow by you today?

Charles, sure there's a difference; connecting two channels from the same amplifier into the two separate sections of a speaker does essentially nothing of significance. The one main power supply section in the amplifier is sending its power out through two sets of output transistors rather than one, but that doesn't double the maximum power available(as some imagine)or increase it in any amount. The starting requirement for bi-amping is two separate amplifiers with their separate power supply sections, but more is needed: an external crossover preceding the amplifiers(with the internal speaker crossover removed or bypassed)is necessary so that each of the amplifiers is fed only a restricted range of frequencies for amplification. This full procedure has some benefits but is very rarely done in home setups(it's seen in some professional sound systems using megawatts). Doing less is of no audible significance and is a waste of time and/or money.

No snow yet, just arctic winds Sunday and today. The inlaws up in NE Iowa had some snow they said... Man, where did this year go...