[niels]

Well, its difficult to choose for you, what is it you feel is missing in your system?
The sound from B100 compared to that of B100 pre and 4B combined should be virtually identical except for a little more headroom with the 4B. Maybe some would disagree with me.....
With my B100 I cannot imagine better sound really, I never play loud, have never seen it clip, and if there is something I might sneak into the house without my wife finding out it would be a Martin Logan powered subwoofer.

another spin on the topic:

I have a B100SST and was under the impression that adding an additional amp, 3SST or 4BSST in a biamped configuration was to greatly improve the sound.

Would i be better off just using the B100SST as a pre amp only and just using the power of the 4BSST?

Am i actually at a disadvantage using the B100SST for the hi's and the 4BSST for the lo's.

Thanks

[Rod_S]

http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm

Very intersting article, thanks.

[Freo-1]

My experience with using bi-amp is a little different than some of the results posted.  I've found that with Legacy Signature III's, using Threshold S 300 on the bottom and a S200 on top always sounds better than a S300 (or a STASIS-2) by itself. 

I've also tried the vertical bi-amp setup, and with a pair of Nak PA-7's, it was better than horizontal bi-amp setup with the Naks.  The Legacy website discusses the use of bi-amp, and they suggest that using a bi-amp setup does indeed result in improved performance, by getting the back emf out of the high end.

So, IMHO,  the results can and do vary, but is worth investigating. 

[audioman999]

Well, its difficult to choose for you, what is it you feel is missing in your system?
The sound from B100 compared to that of B100 pre and 4B combined should be virtually identical except for a little more headroom with the 4B. Maybe some would disagree with me.....
With my B100 I cannot imagine better sound really, I never play loud, have never seen it clip, and if there is something I might sneak into the house without my wife finding out it would be a Martin Logan powered subwoofer.

I am in the market for a speaker upgrade likely PMC FB1(i?)  or older OB1(i?).  If i end up with the OBs, i was wondering about biwiring/triwing from the B100SST (or maybe even a single wire since i need new cables anyways) or adding a 2B, 3B or 4B.  Trying to think ahead and if running a larger amp (like the 14B) is the way to go then i would save my upgrade money for down the road on one big amp instead of biamping at this stage. 

I have not demoed the configuration but have to think that a smaller amp added on for a biamped configuration will sound better than B100SST by itself even if it is not as good as a single larger amp.

I guess it all stems from my needed cable purchase.  moved everything into a new room and now my old cables won't reach in the desired speaker location.  If biwired cable is better than a single run and jumpers, i didn't want to buy biwired cable and then replace it if I ever added a 2nd amp down the road to biamp.

Was planning on purchasing the Bryston cables to keep everything in my budget.

[niels]

Cant help you with speaker cable recommendations, I use normal screened installationwire, solid core, same as the ones coming from my fuse box. They cost me app. a dollar per foot.

[Rod_S]

So, if adding more power is better, is there a point or a threshold where it has to be a certain amount of extra power to really make a difference? For instance, take going from a 4B-SST to a 14B-SST or two 7B-SSTs. You would be doubling the watts but only adding about 3db in headroom so would this actually be considered a worth while move or would you really have to go to two 28B-SSTs in order to hear an unmistakeable difference? This stuff is actually really interesting, too bad I don't have the luxury of trying these experiments out myself. I think my friend is set on getting a 2nd CA-2300 and going the bi-amp route but this has definitely sparked my own interest into potential upgrades down the road.

[JBLMVBC]

Very intersting article, thanks.

Indeed!

[Sasha]

The article http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm talks about removing passive cross-over and making speakers active, at least partially, my understanding was that OP was asking about by-amping without removing passive cross-over.

[Rod_S]

The article http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm talks about removing passive cross-over and making speakers active, at least partially, my understanding was that OP was asking about by-amping without removing passive cross-over.

Thanks, yeah my friend would be bi-amping, just straight amps to speaker with no modifications.

[Darac]

Ha, Bi-Amping, for that matter there is no universal answer. The real question is what can be achieved with the bi-Amping? What benefits can we get the presentation? I must admit that many so-called. scientific theory of passive and active crossover and separate filters can not exactly go over with all types of speakers, that some things can not be identical bases. I think about how words themselves can be the most speaker designers. I see by your writing that you are the owner of B & W 802 speakers, really impressive model. Say it with the crossover are quite complex, it in itself has many parts, which, among other things, are also consumers of power, believe it or not it is true. Also, the speaker has a bass unit that does not slow moving system, the same also applies to his midrange. My friend is a distributor for B & W, Rotel, Classe, and Focal Nuforce. In presentations he uses Classe mono-blocks as amplification.

As a good partner Bowers can be used Bryston, Parasound, and dare I say, Marantz and Denon. Unfortunately the Denon at the moment offers stereo power amplifier, or mono-blocks. However mono-blocks could supply the Japanese market, in Europe it does not exist yet. In the test lab Marantz are B & W speakers, according to which Ken Ishiwatta tunira amplifiers. But you do not procrastinate with writing, amplifiers for bi-ampinjg must be identical-the output power, voltage, and the character and color of sound. Before you bring the decision, see how much they cost mono-blocks as a pair of stereo amplifiers. If you can afford the mono-blocks, then you have long-lasting solution to the problem.
After all, you gave me and thinking about a similar problem. I am the owner of VMPS RM30, which may have bi-Amping variant, bi-wire version or simply a full-range.
My job distributor (Marantz, Denon, Straight Wire, Monitor Audio, Mordaunt / Short, BA) is far easier than my audiophile hobby.
I hope you have some stuff a bit clearer.