no idea what i was missing...

[jzoz01]

Got bored this morning and decieded to try bi-amping my rf35s. I have a couple 2-channel adcom amps that run my system, so I disconnected my rears and hooked up the fronts to the rear amp. Put in a y-cord from the front preout and poped out the speaker terminal jumpers. All I can say is wow. I initially left the right channel just off one adcom and the left bi-amped off two amps and whipped out the spl meter. I had a gain of 5-6 db on the left channel and it sounded great. I hooked up the left and was in awe of what those little guys could do. I had always been disappointed with the bass response, but it now seemed much improved. Now I'm really excited for the RF7s, although I need to get another amp because this bi-amp thing has to stay.

[kenratboy]

Don't you need a crossover to biamp?

[michael hurd]

You do not necessarily need an outboard active crossover, as the passive crossover in the speaker will still work, although it is split in two sections, by removing the bridging straps. The gain in spl is from doubling the input power, and this results in an additional 3 db, assuming the speaker isn't into mechanical or thermal compression.

You measured a 5-6 db gain, are the two adcom amps the same model? If not, then they may have slightly different input sensitivities, and that will mean that for the same line level voltage, one could put out more power.

If there is a comparison between two different setups, the human nature is to favor the one with the higher sound pressure level. I will say that you will have increased the headroom for transient signals, but it will not necessarily sound better.