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HiMaybe I am a power freak?
I know the speaker is very power hungry and I normally use 400W to drive (that amp will kick the speakers butt!) but if I actively biamp, will 55W really do it for the mid/highs?
the tweeter is a no brainer but the midrange presents a 4 ohm load plus the mid/high passive xover will still be in the picture.
I can easily level set the different amps through the DEQX.
Follow Ups:
My own take on biamping is that the real benefit is not that one can deliver more power, and hence, get more volume. I like what a good biamping job does for dynamics and a sense of liveliness at all volume levels, particularly lower volume.By the way, whet I am referring to is "active" biamping -- using a line level crossover to split the signal and feed separate bass and midrange/tweeter amplifiers. 55 good quality watts would then be plenty for the mid/high end. Most of the power demand is from about 150 Hz on down anyway, and the common point where the combination of low speaker impedance and difficult phase angle will also be below that frequency. The amp feeding the higher frequencies has a much easier job, albeit a very important job.
First off - I've not heard one passively multiamped system that didn't sound a lot better for it. Even with spkrs with lossy and complex electrically asymmetric HP/LP xovers!Mind you, and OTOH, spkr systems with simple or minimal xover systems benefit even more from multi-amping. EG all the EPOS models with HP for the treble ONLY, and spkrs with 1st order only xovers.
Yes, passive xovers waste power but all amplifiers waste mains power, no?
It is entirely possible - despite the quality of B&W's own drivers, that there is still some Eq in the N802, certainly adjustments for individual driver's variations on L, R and C with freq, possibly asymmetric electrical slopes, let alone FS traps!
I doubt - unless you have the measurement skills and judgement of B&W - that you are at all likely to get a better result with any active xover especially ones for sale to 'philes. Active xovers may appeal to you because they are prima fcaie better, but as with everything this may very well DEPEND, no?
IF B&W make an active xover for the N802 then the owner has that option.
Please stop making blanket satemenets that only active multi-amping can be taken seriously. Heaps of people have heard that passive works AND also won't lose any of the designed-in voicing of OEM passive spkrs.I would agree that active is almost always better for the LP on subs but IME if you don't HP filter the main pair with an active HP filter the mains usually sound more clear.
Exceptions being small ported 2-ways, in some systems where thay are being driven hard all the time, but all you need to do is block the ports, and reset the LP to the sub for a good blend.
WarmestTimbo in Oz
The Skyptical Mensurer and Audio ScroungerAnd gladly would he learn and gladly teach - Chaucer. ;-)!
'Still not saluting.'
BSS FDS360, Klark Teknik DN800 and possibly some EAW units.
You can have any crossover configuration you like incl. overlapping pass bands etc.
Parametric and shelving eq cards are also available if necessary and the phase response is adjustable through 360deg. And of course the output levels for each band are adjustable by 12dB.
Can't think of anything else that would require adjusting other then a time delay but you really do not want to implement that passively in the first place anyway.
Still need to know exactly what the passive crossover to be replaced does though otherwise one would still mess things up.
Unfortunately neither of these units is still being made having been replaced with digital units which do not require specific crossover and eq cards.
I've not heard ANY form of biamping on the N802, I was just pointing out what I've heard over the years with other speakers. The active biamping I've listened to was either specifically designed for a system, by the manufacturer, or expensive custom-built designs (usually based on old marantz tube design or on Western Electric designs).I should have noted that it IS easier to screw up a speaker's sound with active crossovers that are poorly designed and which do not consider all of the "tuning" done with complex elements of crossover.
yowza.. i would think that even at 4 ohms, 55 watts'd do you for 1k on up? regardless of volume an crossover order, you're probably safe! i would think you might end up with things getting a little squirrely with different amplifier topologies running different segments of the speak though.. i know it's done all the time-- but sometimes it just doesn't sound quite right. give a listen first... 400 watts'll carry a whole lot by itself, and possibly, a lot more cohesively.lots of room to play though!
good luck--
ThanksI think the cross-over to the 8" woofers is much lower than 1000 - more like 300. I guess 300 vs 1000 still doesn't make a huge difference but the speakers make a huge difference from 200W to 400W, although perhaps that was the quality/strength of the 200W vs 400W that I tried - obviously not all watts are equal in controlling speakers.
I understand that the mixing of SS and tubes will probably be a bit challenging but I think the DEQX unit should allow enough flexibility to coherantly match. Probaby a lot of tweaking but I am sure I can get there.
I bet that the tonal differences between an aluminum tweeter, kevlar midrange and paper woofers are greater in the big picture than the tonal differences between amp types.
Wish me luck!
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