Bi-amplification (The next best thing)

[Clive]

I'm thinking of building a pair of OB's with the same arrangement, can I ask:
what "18" bass" (shown in your sig) you are using? (I've been advised the Goldwood GW-1858 driven by the iNuke would be a good pairing)
how have you implemented the capacitor at the input of the amp?
Thanks,

I have a Goldwood, mine came from a friend so I'm not sure of the model and it's not on the driver. I use an iNuke too.

Re the amp capacitor at the moment I have an RCA plug and socket with the cap in series on the live side and of course the grounds link with a short length of wire. I can't recall the value....something like 0.15uF but this depends on the input impedance of the amp and then experiment a little.

[cloth-ears]

I think I messed around with something similar a while back and intend to come back to it - the result was well worth considering but I have some questions being an absolute numpty when it comes to Xovers.

Basically I have a pair of Quad-Lite speakers I use on my desktop (for which they are ideal) These are amped by a Quad 33/303.
I dug up an old pair of B&W DM10 from the loft. One had a knackered tweeter so I removed both and their related filter network. I then wired the B&Ws to the 303 instead of the Quad-Lites. The QLs I wired to a Topping 2 amp fed from the Aux output of the 33. The result was great - the Lites have a very clear high frequency response which suits the poor bass delivery of the Topping 2 and the remaining B&W drivers deliver good bass grunt from the 303 without using the 33 tone controls. Overall frequency balance was powerful with no noticeable lack of mid range capability. I intend to rebox the B&Ws at some point (after clearing the garage to make some woodworking space ....)

My question really is whether removing the existing and remaining crossover filters from both sets of speakers would be a good idea and improve the sound further?

Hi Mike, and thank you for your positive contribution. A quick look online should tell you the required crossover frequency of your speakers. The crossovers in the speakers should be completely removed or at the least bypassed. The active crossover has much lower distortion and when in place the amplifiers would be connected directly to the drive units. The chap selling the active crossovers will supply them with any crossover point you require at no extra cost. You will however need a second amplifier. The 303 should be sufficient to supply the grunt and a smaller amp could be used for the treble.

[Puffin]

The title of the thread says Bi-amplification. That means two amplifiers. I never mentioned the word "passive" in the title. It should be obvious to anyone reading that I’m advocating the use of “active“ crossovers.

Cant people just post a thread for something they think may be useful to others. Why do people get bogged down with semantics? I’m not writing a paper on it for Christ’s sake. Take from it what you will. If only one person finds it useful I’m happy

Hear Hear. I am a f*"king idiot and I knew exactly what you were talking about.

[cloth-ears]

Hear Hear. I am a f*"king idiot and I knew exactly what you were talking about.

Thank you Puffin, you made my day

[DarrenHW]

I have a Goldwood, mine came from a friend so I'm not sure of the model and it's not on the driver. I use an iNuke too.

Re the amp capacitor at the moment I have an RCA plug and socket with the cap in series on the live side and of course the grounds link with a short length of wire. I can't recall the value....something like 0.15uF but this depends on the input impedance of the amp and then experiment a little.

Excellent, thank you Clive.

[Arkless Electronics]

You can't just take a passive speaker, remove the crossover and use an off the shelf generic crossover to make good active speakers. Sure, they will work, but are unlikely to be accurate or natural sounding.... and if accurate and natural sounding aren't that important to you then just buy some PA speakers and get all the punch and dynamics you can handle on the cheap! 'Cos that's about what such home made active speakers are likely to sound like

[YNWaN]

Frankly Jez, I think you are wasting your breath.

Cloth - ears, you choose to believe whatever you want. The fact is that your post title and first sentence say one thing and the rest of your post describes something that is fundamentally different. I'm sorry if you don't understand the difference, but I can't be blamed for that.

[Clive]

Very true and add in slopes & phase plus whether there's any padding resistors.

I realise it's bad form to quote myself but.....I will anyway. The quote above was in the context of knowing the crossover frequency, I was making the point that there is a lot more to it. Playing with active with just crossover frequencies might be fun and interesting but it's unlikely to be great quality. Add to that the chances of blowing tweeters as there's nothing protecting them from switch on/off thumps....well just bear that in mind.

[mikmas]

Playing with active with just crossover frequencies might be fun and interesting but it's unlikely to be great quality. Add to that the chances of blowing tweeters as there's nothing protecting them from switch on/off thumps....well just bear that in mind.

What's a blown tweeter in the grand scale of things? In my case the speakers in question have been gathering damp in an attic for 8 years; they are crying out to see some real coil on coil action

Learning is about having fun and blasting out some mental cobwebs occasionally - to hell with theory ......