What is Bi-amping?
Bi-amping is the technique whereby two power amplifiers are used to improve the sound quality of a loudspeaker that can be bi-amped. This includes many of the Wharfedale models. Monoblocs The simplest form of bi-amping is to use two monobloc amplifiers, one for the left channel and one for the right channel. Most mono amplifiers will have higher power outputs per channel than their stereo equivalent. This has the benefit of having more power on tap than by using one stereo amplifier, as well as reducing the crosstalk that occurs when both left and right channels are housed in the same box. Vertical stereo bi-amping Our preferred method of bi-amping is vertical stereo bi-amping. This is when two identical stereo power amplifiers are used, one for the left speaker and one for the right speaker. If we consider just the left speaker and amplifier, one channel is used to drive the high frequencies and one is used to drive the bass frequencies. The same, of course, applies to the right speak
Bi-Amping refers to using different amplifiers (or different channels of the same amp) for the low and high frequencies in the same speaker. On a 3-way speaker, usually the mid and tweeter are driven by one amp, and the woofer is driven by more powerful amp. This allows you to purchase a high quality low power amp for the highs, and a more powerful amp for the lows. With the proper pre-amp you can also have more control over the bass output. On a 2-way speaker, the mid and tweeter are driven by different channels on an amp. This is usually done so that you can use an active crossover before the amplifier. In DIY audio, bi-amping has even more advantages. Low pass crossovers for woofers require very large inductors. These inductors are basically very long coils of copper wire which can have a very high resistance. Using an active crossover before the amplifier removes the need for these inductors. Bi-amping also removes the need for any circuits to fix problems caused by different sensi
Bi-Amping is similar in principle to Bi-Wiring but uses a separate amplifier for each set of terminals. This can give even greater benefits than Bi-Wiring as the smearing of the delicate higher frequency information due to masking from the bass information can be significantly reduced. It is important that the amplifiers used are of the same type, or have matched gains.Speakers that can be “Bi-Wired” can generally be “Bi-Amped” as the crossover is essentially two or more separate circuits isolated from one another (when the links are removed).
If your speakers have two sets of speaker wire attachments ( 2 for + and 2 for – leads, or one set for the woofers and one set for the mid-range and tweeters), then you can Bi-Amp your speakers. Bi-amping (using two identical amplifiers) is similar to using a subwoofer to relieve the amplifier (and woofers) from the task of playing the lowest range. It will relieve one of the amps from playing the very high range, and the other from playing the low range. With less to process, each amp will preform faster and more accurately. It also opens you up to a lot of other options. Higher frequency sound waves travel from the speakers to your ears at a much different speed than the lower frequencies do. Some amplifiers, especially the “better ones”, provide an adjustable delay feature to adjust for individual speaker distances. Unfortunately, the best that the amplifier can do is to delay the sound for the entire range (all frequencies) to that speaker. If you have two amps, you can delay the s
