Bi-amping with amp & receiver

[Clergian]

So a buddy of mine brought over his decently aged Onkyo amp this evening. Hooked it up to my rf-63's and I was blown away by the improvement. Though at one point it sounded as if the tweeter was having some trouble, and when it wasn't having trouble, the speakers were a bit brighter than normal. So, feeling a bit adventorous we hooked the lows to his amp and wired the highs to the R/L channel on my Marantz sr5003. I couldn't find much info on doing this, but man I am glad I tried it. The highs sounded MUCH better, not to bright, no distortion even at exceedingly high volumes, and the lows powered by his amp were amazing.

So I guess what I am getting at...is this a normal set up with the receiver powering the highs and a seperate amp pushing the lows? Do you more experienced folks use two seperate amps to power the highs/lows? With his amp being about 150w to 2 channels, would getting the Emotiva xpa-3 which can push 250w into 2 channels remove the need for bi-amping with the receiver?

Also, ill toss this in here... Aragon 4004 or Emotiva xpa-3?

Thanks

Ted

[Chris A]

...is this a normal set up with the receiver powering the highs and a seperate amp pushing the lows?

Here is a good resource to look at: http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm

Do you more experienced folks use two separate amps to power the highs/lows?

See my profile for biamping of Jubilees: Cask05

With his amp being about 150w to 2 channels, would getting the Emotiva xpa-3 which can push 250w into 2 channels remove the need for bi-amping with the receiver?

Klipsch speakers are very efficient, so I don't think that you need a whole lot of power. Active crossover bi-amping is a top-notch way of doing things. However using good, low-THD amplifiers will sound very good without having to bi-amp.

Chris

[Clergian]

Thanks for the response Chris. I was most wondering though why the tweeters had no problem at extreme volume lvls when connected to the Marantz while the amp was connected to the low. Is it because there was more power available? And the sound itself, even at medium volumes, was far superior (alot less bright) when hooked in this non-active crossover bi-amp config. I wouldn't think the amp would create a different sound than the Marantz, but it was obvious that it did.

Ted

[Chris A]

I was most wondering though why the tweeters had no problem at extreme volume lvls when connected to the Marantz while the amp was connected to the low. Is it because there was more power available?

Short answer: yes.

Tweeters are usually much more efficient than woofers, and if you give each driver a separate amplifier channel, then at high volumes the tweeters are going to have no problem at all keeping up, even though the woofer channel may be clipping.

And the sound itself, even at medium volumes, was far superior (alot less bright) when hooked in this non-active crossover bi-amp config. I wouldn't think the amp would create a different sound than the Marantz, but it was obvious that it did.

Could be a Marantz issue, but I have heard a large difference between amplifiers in terms of the top end balance and in other ways--notably the cleaness of the sound.