5 channel v. 7 channel Newbie needs help

Hello all. I have placed an order for the 950/770 combo and am eagerly awaiting like everyone else. For the near term, I plan on running with a standard 5.1 setup. My front main speakers (BW 802's) are bi-wireable. Is there a way to use the two "extra" channels on the 770 for my fronts. I'm a little confused because the channels are not bridgeable. If there is not a way to use those channels, maybe I'm better off saving the bucks and just getting the recently introduced 755 amp.

Any help on this topic would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ramzilla: I would say it depends on how big your room is. If you have a small room it would be overkill. But!, if you ever intend to go with 7 channel the 770 is your ticket. All you have to do is split the outputs from the 950 for the front R/L and send it to the two empty channels on the 770 remove the links on your speakers and bi-wire.

Thanks for the info. I'm assuming you're talking about some type of "Y" connector to do the split off the 950?

Basically, if your fronts are bi-ampable, they'll have two sets of binding posts connected by a short jumper. What you need to do is use a regular Y-adapter before the amplifier, then take the outputs from the two channels and run them into the two sets of inputs on your speakers. Remove the jumpers connecting the two inputs. So you've got two pairs of speaker wire running to each speaker.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Thanks for the info.

If you bi-amp your front speakers as described above, will they sound noticeably louder than a center that is not bi-amped?

I would guess that you would want to adjust the levels of all your speakers with an SPL meter so that they match, in any case.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net