Two stereo power amps for Bi-amping or two monoblocks?

[Lekidbongo]

Hi,

Realistically, is it worth bi-amping with two stereo amplifiers (one amplifier per hand side), so that there are all the advantages of avoiding cross talk, more power and only one speaker pulling on the power supply or is the money better invested in two monoblocks (one per speaker)?

LKB

[hifi_dave]

Or a better stereo amp. It depends on the amps being considered.

[struth]

And the speakers used

[Lurch]

Basically as per above to replies.
I will also add that you are better of spending your budget on ONE stereo amp/pair of Mono Blocs as you will then be buying the best you can afford. Rather than splitting the budget across two amps which will invariably be inferior in both performance and SQ.

[Scorps]

Ive heard of folk using 1 stereo amp for the treble and another for the bass.

[Pieoftheday]

Do you.mean two power amps? Oh aye it's in the title:doh:

[Lawrence001]

If they can be bridged then it's a definite yes.

If you can pick them up at a bargain price ie the same as an equivalent power/quality monobloc (to one channel of these) then I'd consider it.

Otherwise I'd go with the "vertical biamp" option mentioned above.

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Hi,

Realistically, is it worth bi-amping with two stereo amplifiers (one amplifier per hand side), so that there are all the advantages of avoiding cross talk, more power and only one speaker pulling on the power supply or is the money better invested in two monoblocks (one per speaker)?

LKB

Can be done either way, two stereo amps gives perhaps more flexibility if frequency division or perhaps 2 of the same or similar speaker is at a later point needed.
I presently use 2x Quad 306 using one channel per amp for each loudspeaker, and there are advantages in perceived audio reproduction - in areas of stereo width and
better ability to reproduce music.

[Caber10]

It depends how you split the signal . An active crossover between the pre amp and power amp makes a lot of difference. I am using a pair of quad33s one driving esl63 the other driving gradient subs with the gradient active crossover. Separating the signal before the amps gives each less to do and downstream passive crossovers in speakers also don’t affect the signal as much.


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[Bencat]

In my current active system I am using 2 x Quad 405 Mk 1 (Upgraded by Fidele Audio ) for the amplification of a stacked pair of KEF 103 reference speakers . I have tried the one amp for the bass and one for treble and it works with not issues . However I do find that the sound cleans up and improves when you use a single stereo amplifier per side . If you were to replace this with monobloc amps then you would need four in total one for each side covering bass and treble to each speaker.

With a didgital active crossover you do get the flexibility to use a powerful and controlled monobloc amplifier for the bass which needs to have lots of current . You can then use a much smaller and cheaper monobloc for the treble as there is very little stress or push made on that amplifier. Within the digital C/R you can make adjustments for different amplifier sensitivities or as with the MiniDSP DDRC24 I use it will make all the adjustments automatically through the DSP Dirac Live 2 session.

Personally and I have no justifaction for this I prefer to have two matched amplifiers as close as possible in output and sound hence the use of as near as possible identicaly set up Quad 405,s . I know others who use a wide mixture and we all seem to get the end result to our individual satisfaction .

One comment I would make which over my dive in to the active world is that the quality of the amplifier is of much less importance when you use a digital active c/r . Driving passive speakers through a passive c/r is much harder on the power amplifier than it is when driving individual drive units via an active network . I am sure if cost is no object using the very best amplification you can afford then the final audio quality will be improved but you may be susrprised at how little it changes compared with the very high quality results you can obtain from much more modest power amplifiers.

[Light Dependant Resistor]

It depends how you split the signal . An active crossover between the pre amp and power amp makes a lot of difference. I am using a pair of quad33s one driving esl63 the other driving gradient subs with the gradient active crossover. Separating the signal before the amps gives each less to do and downstream passive crossovers in speakers also don’t affect the signal as much.


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Hi Kevan
Did you mean Quad 303's as power amps ?

[RMutt]

The advantages of monobloc power amplifiers are said to be, amongst other reasons, that power supplies and other components are physically separated. Two integrated amplifiers achieve this goal, up to a point, but you are back with the pre section in the same box as the power section. You could go down the route of separate pre and power amps on both sides. Of course you end up with four boxes. Why do we rarely (never?) see pre amplifiers separated this way?

[ReggieB]

I'd be a little wary of the generalised two amps is better than one arguments. There is a simple answer of "yes", but the real world question is "would two amps costing X sound better than a single amp costing 2 times X?". There, I'm not sure of the answer. On a tight budget, I'm pretty certain the answer would be no.

Personally, I'd bi-amp when I found the amp that has a sound/presentation I really like and I just want to squeeze a little more of the same, out of the system. If I wasn't happy with my current amp, I'd replace it with something else, rather than bi-amping to try and get the sound where I wanted it.

And then it's a case of choosing your budget and trusting your ears. You may well find the replacement amp that sings for you is a single one.

[Caber10]

Hi Kevan
Did you mean Quad 303's as power amps ?

Err yes! Posting too early in the morning before coffee[emoji1787]


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[Haselsh1]

I have in the past used two stereo power amps feeding into a spilt crossover so one for treble and one for bass and although it looked amazing, I can't say it revolutionised the sound quality. Of course you also require a spare pair of RCA's on the pre out.