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Monoblocks vs Vertical bi-amping vs Horizontal bia

In attemps to raise the sonic bar of my system, I'm considering my options which includes using a single stereo amp, mono blocks, or 2 stereo amps in either a vertical or horizontal biamped configuration.

Q1: Who out there has experience in how each of the above scenarios differs from one another. If you read Dennis Had's article on vertical biamping at his Cary web site, you'd think that that is the way to go but how does this differ from monoblocks which accomplish the same thing (i.e. one amp used per channel for all frequencies)?

Q2: In which situations do the various amp scenarios best lend themselves (room size, listening levels, speaker sensitivity and ohm rating etc. etc.)?

Thanks for your input.

Kevinzoe
kevinzoe
viggen
817 posts
 
I am not sure which is which, vertical and horizontal. But, I believe it is best to use two stereo amps one on the HF and the other on the LF.

I think it is much more "sexy" to have monoblocks right next to each speaker. But, I believe it is more efficient for the amp to amplify a narrower range of frequency.

So, one stereo amp will be amping everything above 3k hz (or whatever your speaker is crossed at), and the other amp amping frequencies below that.
abex
322 posts
 
I will be trying Verticle amping and from what I have read it is better to have an outboad active crossover and drive each speaker with it's own amplification in order to make the driver's run more efficiently.Dedicated amps is what I would call it.There are those who say that having the same amplification by manfactures is better though so the best thing to do is experiment if you can.

There are alot of post regarding it.but my speaker's designer has talked to me about having an active outboard crossover being the main thing.It makes sense to me also.

kevinzoe OP
163 posts
 
Abex, Two questions: (1)Does having an outboard active crossover mean circumventing the one internal to your speaker and if so how is that accomplished? and (2)Isn't vertical biamping just the same as monoblocks - one amp per channel?!? Please clarify the differences as I seem to think that we're being pulled into thinking that monoblocks are the only way to go and I'm suspicious of manufacturer's hidden agendas . . .

Kevin
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