What can I do to have 2x Amps powering a Stereo Setup?


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Hey guys, I got a stereo Valve amp, and my speakers are setup for bi-amping, now when I gather enough cash again I want to get another Valve amp identical to the one I have and have one for each speaker. Like this:

Left from one amp going to the bass/mid driver on the speaker and then left from the other amp going to the treble post on the same speaker.

Then right from both amps going to the second speaker.

Although these amps are not made for use like that I dont think, as they have got a volume control etc. how can I set this up so that I dont have to set the volume identical on both amps.... Is this possible? Can I do it with a pre-amp or something...

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I dont think you can achieve what you are after in the first place.

Directing bass/treble to different speakers as far as i know is impossible. Especially to one half of a speaker from what im gathering what you are trying to achieve.

I have been following your purchase and setup questions before this one and i must say, you are delving deeper into the impossible.

Cheers

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Short answer: Don't become a disillusioned audiophile. Put down the snake-oil ads and enjoy the music.

Long answer: To long to type and will be forthcoming; possibly links to other sites addressing bi amping and other snake-oil phenomenons in the hobby.

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Get an equalizer that seperates high and low cut. I had a yamaha subwoofer that all the sound is routed through. I set the low cut and then anything above that frequency is reported to the tweeters.

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not really trying to direct bass/treble to different areas of the speaker, but more like this. Ill let do the crossovers in the speaker direct all the stuff, but rather cause my valve amp is 10-watt x2 i thought down the line, id add another identical model valve amp to have 20watts x2

i think i may have already become one :p

and ill check out the link

thanks guys!

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but then if i do it like that^ (which i know will work theres no point for it not to work) il have to set volume individually on both amps which is what im tryin to fix. hopefull that link says something about it...

Ill read it after a coffee and cigarette

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Im still dumbfounded as to what you are trying to achieve. No offense mate.

Firstly, even though yes Valve amps are great sounding, the solid state amps these days also sound fantastic.

As a mediocre audiophile myself, i still and always will challenge the sound of bi-amping, even quad amping.

I have never ever heard a great sounding setup under these methods, but each to their own and under the setup you have described above, i cannot fathom how you can get a good sounding setup when you are pushing the bass through one speaker box and treble and higher tones through another speaker box.

Essentially, through a setup which you are trying to do, you are pushing the bass and mid tones throught the treble posts at the same time as you are isolating one speaker to handle the higher tones through the main driver and also through the treble posts.

And now i think im confusing myself, but going by the diagram, i just dunno how you will get a decent sounding setup.

Volume, use a preamp as previously mentioned to control volume of course.

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He isn't trying to push the sound freq. just yet per woofer/tweeter. Doing so would require a reconstruction of the internal networks of the speaker who already decide which woofer/tweeter is to receive what. Its not cut n dry as far as plugging something in; if you do that your going to blow those towers.

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It would blow them? If I connected it up like that... :/ Damn.

Ive got it connected pretty similar now though dont I? This is what it looks like.

The small little cable just connecting the bottom to the top post, so if I didnt use that little peice of cable and connected 2x Amps like my pic above, that would blow my speakers? I thought thats what this design of speaker post was designed for... My amp is only 10 watt per channel by the way, so even with two amps it would be 20 watt per channel.

When I first got these speakers, I actually only connected the speaker cable to the top post and noticed that only the tweeter was working, then the bottom post and only the mid/bass was working.

Thats when I actually got the idea of maybe having two amps, giving a bit more power to the setup...

Jasur - So you've never heard of a system sounding good like this? I didnt think it would make a difference to the sound quality I just wanted to do it, so I could give the speakers a little more power.

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Edited by se7en.hu
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But the way how you have it illustrated above would be bi-wiring, not amping. Either way the internal networks will decide how much voltage is going to either the tweeter or woofers. Read the blog post if you haven't; it explains watts volts etc. Don't worry so much about the watts numbers games. Its not necessarily about quantity as it is about quality.

Valve amps can be good, and very efficient and mate well with horn loaded speakers. The only downfall I know about them is they are not suggested for use in an HT environment where heavy noise sequences could shorten the life if not destroy the tubes. SS amps are then suggested.

As far as your speakers, I would suggest looking at the manufactures website for any reading material on your speakers make an model. It very well may have been created for bi-amping to boot; I don't know. Experiment if you like but be careful.

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The top terminals are designed for the Tweeters usually and the bottom terminals for the main drivers.

On higher end amps, most have that setup, top terminals and bottom terminals. This is so there is better sound. Basically they called BI Wire amps and usually in the moderate to higher end market.

Also, you cannot, and highly recommend that you dont, connect two terminals with the one wire. On some BI Wire speakers, there is a way to just use one set of terminals which will allow for both the speakers in the box to run nicely. Refer to website or manual.

Also, your amp may not be able to handle it as its drawing more wattage from the amps when connecting one wire to two bi wire terminals.

Anyhoos

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Hi, yea man, when I first got these speakers I only connected the speaker cable to the bottom and only the mid/bass driver was working, then I connected the speaker wire only to the top terminal and only the tweeter was working, So then I did it how I have it in the photo.

I cant see another way to hook this up though... How could that be damaging it? The amp seems to be playing very nicely with my speakers at the moment. Running it usually at barely more then 4watts per channel and sounds amazing.

I cant find any information about my speakers on their website or anywhere else really. Pretty annoying, I just cant seem to find any info about them :s

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Howdy.

Sorry, i keep thinking that these speakers are new.

Yeh that setup you have is ok, the way you are connecting it is fine and will work. I dunno what i was thinking with my previous post.

Generally, with a new speaker set, Bi Wire speaker terminals, a JUMPER allows you to connect one cable setup to the speakers from the amp, kinda like how you have done.

You can remove the JUMPER later on and have a true Bi Wire setup, but for now, you system is fine.

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