This is a similar suggestion to the Mixed Outpt Amp. I would love to see an amp designed to be a Multi-Channel Bi-Amp. This amp could have two or three inputs (Both Balanced and single ended). Corresponding to each input channel there would actually be two sets of speaker terminals. The HF Output could be like 60W and the LF Output could be say 125W. In essence this would have 4 or 6 channels of power.

I would bet that there are a fair amount of Outlaws that already have external 5 Channel Amps. This could be used to upgrade the front channels of amplification for a Home Theater. People could then use their existing Amps for the surround channels.

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Obviously the biggest argument against this product would be that there are a imited amount of people who would really want to do this. Since a product like this doesn't exist yet it would be a big gamble.
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The obvious price point for this amp would have to be at or a little less than the 7125 for a 3 (6) channel version.

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Some may say to just get a 7125 and use that, but personally I would be concerned putting 125W into the tweeters of my speakers. Years ago Paradigm had the Active 20 Speakers. I remember reading that the built in amps were 60W for the tweeter and 100W for the woofer.

So any opinions?

Regards,

Charlie

I don't follow. The speaker's crossover network should prevent low frequency output from reaching the tweeter (which effectively limits the power to the tweeter). There's no need to include an internal crossover in the amp and frankly I wouldn't purchase an amp that included one since it would just add another layer of "meddling" with the signal that's already going to get processed at the pre-amp and speaker crossover network.

You're right, it would be a huge gamble because few (if any?) people would buy it. 8-)

I have seen some amp manufacturers that include 2 sets of outputs for each channel, but those outputs carry the same signal. My old Adcom GFA-5802's were like that. Very handy for bi-wiring, but not the same as bi-amping.

The obvious solution if you want to bi-amp a 5-channel setup is to buy 2 separate 5-channel amps and split the output connections from your pre. Personally, I've never been a big fan of bi-amping. It's an awful lot of additional work/expense for an "improvement" in sound that I was never able to reliably discern.

Cheers,

I don't think brubacca is thinking of there being a crossover at the amp (if so, then there would be a simple but effectively insurmountable obstacle - crossover designs need to be customized for the speaker they are used with, making a "global" crossover package almost useless), but rather of providing separate amps that would each get and pass along a full-range signal. This would leave the crossover duties at the speaker, and would make this a passive bi-amp arrangement. The market for it would definitely be small, probably not enough to make it a viable product.

What would be an interesting intellectual exercise and probably an equally doomed commercial product would be a modular arrangement of brubacca's amp with interchangeable analog crossover circuits immediately upstream of each amp, thereby allowing you to "plug in" the appropriate high pass and low pass crossovers for your particular speakers. Of course, you'd also have to go into your speakers and bypass the existing crossovers there, and the process of developing and supporting the hundreds of different speaker-specific crossover modules would be frightfully difficult to even begin to develop. Maybe combine Brubacca's 3x125+3x60 amp with a matching chassis equipped to accept three inputs and split each to an empty workspace where a savvy consumer could build and install their own crossover network - the companion "crossover" chassis would then output six signals to the amp.

If I ever get around to tri-amping my front three, it would be via a 770 with the addition of a 7100/7125. The 770 would drive the woofers of the front three plus full-range to the surrounds. Three channels of the 7100/7125 would drive the mid-range of the front three and the another three channels would drive the three front tweeters. If I became nervous about startup or shutdown currents damaging the tweeter, I would place relays or other protection between the tweeters and the amp.

The idea is that a well-constructed active crossover ahead of the amplification that would allow the elimination of the passive crossover between the amp and driver(s) would eliminate more signal degredation and driver control issues than it would create.

Of course all this would require some analysis of what my current passive crossovers were designed to do and to replicate those functions in one way or another in an active crossover prior to the amp channels for the front three – a time consuming task, hence, I don’t know when I’ll get to doing this.

this idea is stupid. very few people have the ability to actively bi-amp their speakers. most of us have integrated crossover networks in our speakers that are unable to be bypassed.

Really? Some excellent crossover-amplifier-speaker combinations are designed this way for the express purpose of eliminating the detrimental effects of capacitors, coils and attenuating resistors between the amplifier and driver(s). By the way, what is the signal path for your subwoofer? First crossover, then amplifier, then driver, right? Why do you suppose that is?

Therefore no one should?

Unless, of course, a person can disconnect some wires and connect some others inside the drivers’ enclosure.

The active crossover method has been discussed at good length in other posts here, so I’ll refrain from a lengthy pro-and-con dissertation. I’m not recommending true bi-amping, tri-amping, quad-amping, etc. as an easy-do for everyone. Unless you either have the knowledge and experience or are a careful and patient learner, if you want active crossover bi-amping, buy a system designed for the purpose.

I have some knowledge and experience to build upon with further learning. The happiness and satisfaction I receive from such a project makes the pursuit worth it to me.

I'll say this - the average person would be wise not to leap into an active bi-amping (tri-amping, ...) project. It is not a straightforward or simple process. Developing amplifiers specifically for the folks who are up to the task of doing so is probably not something that a small outfit like Outlaw can reasonably set out to do. But the idea of active bi-amping has a great deal of merit, so long as you have the qualifications to do it properly.

If time and budget allow you to tri-amp your front three speakers, bestbang4thebuck, I'll look forward to hearing about it.

Some speakers allow internal Xover bypassing for use with active Xover. (Usually mid or woofer section, some even provide tweeter section bypass) It is cost effective and the result is excellent. One only has to adjust the frequency to suit his taste without worrying about screw things up.

I can easily biamp, since my speakers are made for doing so. I have six sets of Crown ES-224's. Four are in my "4-channel room" where I kinda hang out. These are run by four DC300s of varying vintages...all biamped. So four uppers and four lowers = eight. Four Crowns = eight.
Sounds great. Real imaging from my 4 ch tapes and digital conversion to 4 ch digital.

In Living Room (for Mrs. nfaguys and me and TV we have two ES224s, functioning as Front R & L in a 5.1 system with 990 & 755. These are not biamped. Could also be easily. Crown 224s and 212's are made for biamping. Banana jacks are labeled "Normal" and "Bi-Amp". I haven't done it in LivRoom but could easily assign four channels of my 755 to biamping the 224s. The fifth channel to center. Surrounds could be another stereo amp, such as my extra DC300A-II.

If I ever get around to doing this I'll report on it. Right now I seriously doubt it, since the 200 watts is certainly enough to drive the 224s without biamping

That’s very sexy man. But, also check out Electro-Voice or QSC. They have some pretty nice cinema speakers made for such purpose. Bi- or Tri is user configurable. The high and mid are also horn loaded.

Personally think they are cheaper than the name brand JBL.... :rolleyes: