rbtwsp Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I would like info on how to bi amp. My speakers are CF-3's My amp is a Yamaha AX-570 integrated which I can separate the main from the pre I would like to possibly use solid state for the woofers and tube for the horn. I need to buy the pre amp and the tube power amp. I will probably get a tube pre amp, so does it need to have two outputs or is it ok to use splitter? How do you keep size the amps correctly so the woofers don't overwhelm the horns and so on? Bob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NBPK402 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Your power amps need to have a gain control (volume control) in order to match them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbtwsp Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Your power amps need to have a gain control (volume control) in order to match them. Thanks I was wondering about that. So I think I will try to get a tube pre amp that will work with my Yamaha or find a hybrid integrated. Bob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Your pre only needs 1 set of out puts, get a digital crossover than you don't need gain on the power amps. The digital crossover will have gain controls. One simple one is minidsp. Here is a link that might help, from the technical section. https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/117543-active-bi-ampingtri-amping-faq/ Good luck to you, its a lot of work, but a lot of fun to set one up and it can sound great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NBPK402 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I am very happy with my Bi-amped setup... Minidsps are great too IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 (edited) You will need to be careful if using a tube preamp when biamping. The reason is that tube preamps have a relatively high output impedance while solid state processors have a relatively low input impedance. You will need to have at least 10 times the processor input impedance compared to the output impedance of the preamp to avoid any problems. Edited February 20, 2015 by Don Richard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NBPK402 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 If you want to go tube... I would go SS for the preamp, and tube for the highs with a SS for the lows. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbtwsp Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I guess for now I will explore a tube pre amp for my Yamaha and not bi amp. I had a tube pre but it had too much gain 12db, I did not have as much usable area on the volume control as I would have liked. I will most likely look for a hybrid integrated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbtwsp Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 mdeneen, What about the Rogue Sphinx integrated which I believe uses tubes for the pre and then solid state. I had a tube pre and main amp seperates, I sold the main and tried the tube pre with the main of the Yamaha but there was too much gain from the pre amp. I briefly tried the cf-3s with all tube but something sounded off(I think maybe impedance fluctuations with the cf3s?), it was good with the Yamaha and pre tube but too much gain. Thanks for the opinion, Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbtwsp Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 It is a George Wright It has switchable 12 or 20 db gain, it was just too much, I think it was not a good match with the Yamaha. Personally I like tubes but from what I have discovered the CF-3's are not tube friendly. By the way, I had George Wright pre and main amps running Spendors and it sounded good except for slightly bass shy. The Yamaha and Klipsch had been with my daughter and she did not have room for them and I brought them back. I was not going to part with the Wright but got a decent price. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minermark Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I would like info on how to bi amp. My speakers are CF-3's My amp is a Yamaha AX-570 integrated which I can separate the main from the pre I would like to possibly use solid state for the woofers and tube for the horn. I need to buy the pre amp and the tube power amp. I will probably get a tube pre amp, so does it need to have two outputs or is it ok to use splitter? How do you keep size the amps correctly so the woofers don't overwhelm the horns and so on? Bob Your first time round with Bi-Amping, id keep it cheap, make it work, and if you like what you hear, improve bit by bit. Splitter is what i run and works just fine. SS for the Bass and tube pumped for Mids/tweets is my simple system, my only added piece is the Carvin Active Crossover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbtwsp Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Any thoughts on my statement about the CF's not being tube friendly. I got this from past experience and also years ago I talked to a Klipsch tech support about impedance variances with them, they more or less said they can dip. I would love if someone proved me wrong on this. I like tubes but hesitate to go tube power amp and not match up well. I think it is mainly the woofers that may be the issue. As far as the bi-amp in need to do more reading, so I do it right Thanks very much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I have a hybird amp with tubes in the preamp. I have heard some pretty nice amps, tube and SS as a reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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