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BI-AMP/WIRE basics? INFINITY KAPPA 9

Help-
I am getting a pair of INFINITY KAPPA 9's and I guess they are notorious power hogs so I am considering bi-amping them. I understand they are set up for that, with jumpered binder posts. But I have no knowledge of what the benifits of bi-amping might be. Even if you bi-amp aren't the amps still working the entire frequence range? Is the benifit that the ohm load will be greater and therefore less likely to overdrive the amp? The speakers are rated at 340 watts RMS at 4-6 ohms, but I have read that it can drop to 1 ohm on certain frequencies. The amp I have is a Yamaha MX-1000 and I will be buying another identical one if I bi-amp. The specs on the MX are as follows----RMS 260 @ 8 ohms 0.003 THD / 295 @ 6 ohms 0.007 THD /330W @ 4 ohms 0.02% THD. Dynamic Power 450 @ 8 ohms / 560 @ 6 ohms / 740 @ 4 ohms / 960 @ 2 ohms / 1000 @ 1 ohm. What kind of performance increase might I see by bi-amping. And this may seem like a silly question, but what exactly is bi-wiring? Obviously if you bi-amp you need to run 2 sets of wires, but does bi-wire mean running 2 sets of wires to the
same amp? If you do, do you run them to the A terminals or 1 to A and one to B? It sounds like it could create problems possibly. My pre-amp is a YAMAHA CX-1000 that has 2 sets of outputs. I have 1 going to the MX-1000 now and one going to the line leads for a powered sub. I still plan on running the sub, but now I will need 3 outputs what do I do? ANY help would be greatly appreciated. I realize my equipment may not compare to what most of you guys run, but it is the best I can afford right now. Help me make the most of it. Thanks you guys (I appreciate the feedback on my "shipping heavy speakers" post. I have chosen to use DELTA AIR FREIGHT based on your recommendations. I think it will be safe,cheap, and fast)
a71spud
a71spud OP
29 posts
 
Plato- I think that one of the 12" woofers crosses over at 80hz and the other crosses over at 800hz. But I could be wrong about that. Kappa 6 and Kappa 7 (both 3-driver speakers) crossover at 800hz and 4500hz. The have a simpler system of 10(or 12") woofer, 3" polydome, emit tweeter. I am a bit confused with the Kappa 8 however it is the same as the Kappa 7, but adds the 5" dome. And it crosses over at the same freq as the "9" So maybe you are
right and the double 12" drivers are for 80hz and below? That would leave the 5" dome for 80-800hz, the 3" dome for 800-4500hz and the two (actually 3, including the back) emit tweeters (one in front is an "EMIT K" the other is a "SEMIT K") at 4500 and above. I wonder when you bi-amp where the split is. It could be 80hz or 800hz. Time will tell I suppose if I can ever get the guy to find boxes that will allow me to double box them and get them on a plane. I wish I was there........

Dannylw---- Thanks for the insite on the Kappa 8 bi-wiring. Where do your 8's split with the bi-wire? As far as speaker wire goes I am going to get rid of my 16 gauge Radio Shack special "monster type" cable I am running my 7's with. I just bought a spool of Phoenix Gold ZEROpoint Reference II inner space reference speaker cable. It is 10 gauge with a clear outer jacket. It has a copper stranded wire and a silver stranded wire. I assume it is copper to red(+) when I connect it. Is that correct? I think I will try bi-wiring like you said and see what that sounds like.

Thanks!
sean
6,229 posts
 
Regardless of the power rating of your Yamaha, those speakers WILL suck up a lot of power. The more that you have, the cleaner, clearer, louder and less stressed it will sound all things being equal. As previously mentioned, DO NOT bridge an amp into a very low impedances unless the amp is built like an absolute tank. In terms of comparing the Sunfire Signature to your Yammie, that is NOT a comparison at all. I have run a Yamaha M-80 ( their best amp that they ever made as far as most people are concerned ), so i know pretty much what to expect out of the amp that you have. Keep in mind that the Signature is rated for 1200 wpc @ 4 ohms, which is much closer to what your speakers will actually be. For reference purposes, i replaced a bi-amped system consisting of 400 wpc for the top end and 500 wpc for the bottom end with a Sunfire Signature doing 1200 wpc full range. The Signature literally STOMPED the biamped system in terms of clarity, detail, air, etc... At extremely high volumes, the bi-amped system started to get "pinched" sounding due to amplifier compression whereas the Sunfire never seemed to strain in the least and always sounded effortless, even when playing louder than the other system could achieve. The only place that the biamped system was a slight winner over the Signature was in bass slam. Not to take anything away from the Signature, but my "little" Perreaux's will stomp on most amps when it comes to this specific area. While you can use 10 gauge stuff that you just bought for the woofers, I would look for something else to use on the tope section. Try to avoid "zip cord" type wires as they don't do very well with upper midrange and treble response but are fine below appr. 2 Khz or so. Sean
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dannylw's avatar
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dannylw
169 posts
 
I'm sure the low pass is 80HZ with biwiring. (I removed the wire and listened.) A few years ago I used to use an electronic crossover to handle the below 50HZ signal and that cleaned up the midrange. For single amp use you need a high current amp with these speakers. It doesn't need really high power.
gts87
35 posts
 
The kappa 9,i agree with most of the above it's good advice ,but don't focus so much on wattage,get yourself a good high CURRENT amp like tke plinus 250,bryston4b,parasound hca 3500 'with out knowing your budget or sonic taste,the 9's could get very bright and harsh with the wrong component's upsstream,i would use a tube preamp and 1 quality amp.never heard any improvment's when i biamped my 9's.good luck.
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dannylw
169 posts
 
I agree with gts87. These speakers are merciless if the upstream components are bright. In many ways they are similiar to Thiels in the quality they demand. By the way I agree with his choice of amps too. Throw Conrad Johnson in there as a good choice.
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