Question about bi-amp/signal-splitter

TT9 · « **on:** 28 Feb 2005, 10:58 am »

Greetings all,

Excuse this utterly beginner stupid question, but if I wanted to bi-amp my OB1's with a pair of 4BSST's, what is the best way to split the signal from the pre to the powers ?

Should one pickup any old Y Splitter, or should one be looking at special cables to do this ? I do not want to degrade the signal if I possible can.

Or is there a better way of going about this ?

Please someone who bi-amps explain to me your experiences. Also if you have time, please explain what sonic improvements you experienced.

Thanks kindly for your advice.
Steve.

jethro · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 Feb 2005, 03:51 pm »

TT9,

What are you using for a pre-amp ?

TT9 · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 Feb 2005, 04:29 pm »

Hi jethro,

Nothing at this minute as I am currently making a purchase. It was more of general question when one has a single pair of outputs and wishes to use two pairs of inputs.

But in answer to your question, I am making a purchase of the SP1.7 and will use its processing for multichannel, and the bypass for stereo.

Thanks and Regards,
Stephen,

jethro · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 Feb 2005, 05:13 pm »

Generally I think people use y-splitters.

Since you are buying an SP-1.7, you should be able to use the balanced and un-balanced outs of the SP-1.7 at the same time. I'm not sure whether the 4B-SST compensates for the 6db increase in gain when using balanced connections. If not you can always use the gain switch on the 4BSST to change the gain to 23 db for the amp running in balanced mode. I personally haven't tried this as I only have 4B-STs, but it should work and all you should need is a pair of balanced interconnects.

gazza982 · « **Reply #4 on:** 1 Mar 2005, 06:41 am »

Hi Steve,

I was in the same position as you just over a year ago. I tried biamping my Nautilus 800s with 2 x 4B SSTs using the balanced/unbalanced outs on the SP1.7. The bass tightened up very slightly but not to the extent I was expecting.

James recommended moving to the 7B SSTs with shorter speaker cable runs.

The move resulted in very tight bass, I don't know if it was the shorter speaker cable or the bigger amps.

It's worth a go with your OB1's if you already have the amps.

PS As jethro stated you just need to change the gain switch one to balanced and the other to unbalanced settings.

Regards

Gaz

nicolasb · « **Reply #5 on:** 1 Mar 2005, 11:07 am »

Typically the bass drivers of a speaker use up most of the amplifier's power output. So going from a single 300W amp driving all drivers to a 300W amp driving the bass alone (and another one driving the treble and midrange) probably wouldn't make much difference to the bass. As far as the bass driver is conerned, it's like going from a 250W amplifier to a 300W one. By contrast, switching to a 600W amp makes a lot more power available to the bass. So Gaz's experience is what one might expect.

Having said that, it's quite possible that bi-amping will improve the treble and midrange performance, since these drivers now have all the power they need and more, and it can't get syphoned away by the bass drivers.