Pre amp or bi amp

[pudster75]

Hi everyone, I have just bought an Arcam alpha 10p power amp and an Arcam alpha 10 integrated amp, being new to hifi's I presumed that the system would last longer as it was not being put under as much strain. I'm just starting to learn so this was a guess. I have been advised to use the integrated amp as the amp for the high frequencies and the power amp for the low frequencies on the speakers as this will give me the best sound.

A friend of mine can't understand why I was given this advice especially as I don't have two power amps and has said that I should use the integrated amp as a pre amp and use the power amp to connect my speakers to.

He has gone on to say that it might be an idea to bi wire.

The speakers I'm looking to buy are B+W 683's.
Chord carnival speaker cables.

I'm not sure if you needed that information but I thought it might help in a decision and as the cables are expensive when Chord terminate them then I want to get it right first time.

I really liked the idea of having one amp for the HF and one for the LF but if it's pointless or even the wrong way to go about it then any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm hoping to buy the cables soon. Thanks.

 

[Flash]

Pudster.

With the Arcam Integrated and Power since they matched components. Use the them to biamp.
The initial advice given to you was spot on. Using only the PA to power the speaker and using the integrated as a preamp defeats the entire purpose of buying a matched pair.

The specs of the arcam

Alpha 10: Solid-state integrated amplifier Output power: 100W into 8 ohms, both channels driven (20dBW); Input impedance: 10k ohms.

Alpha 10P: Solid-state stereo power amplifier. Output power: 100W into 8 ohms, both channels driven (20dBW);

so use the integrated to drive the HF of the speaker and the Power amp to Drive the LF of the speaker or viceversa. The Arcam manual should tell you exactly how to go about it

 

[kanwar]

What is the point of bi-amping when there is no crossing over of frequencies to HI and LF drivers takes place , like in the case of active x-over in active system.

 

[Flash]

What is the point of bi-amping when there is no crossing over of frequencies to HI and LF drivers takes place , like in the case of active x-over in active system.

Yes but in the OP's case he has a power amp a well as a integrated so makes sense to use them both together instead of buying another poweramp

The point of passive biamping is debatable but does work well with some speakers
When a you biamping the above case for example . You are sending fthe bass drivers and mid/tweeter it's own speeder amplification . A Loy of people have heard improvements with the extra current being fed into the speakers ...
There are also some who have found no point in doing this

 

[kanwar]

Yes but in the OP's case he has a power amp a well as a integrated so makes sense to use them both together instead of buying another poweramp

The point of passive biamping is debatable but does work well with some speakers
When a you biamping the above case for example . You are sending fthe bass drivers and mid/tweeter it's own speeder amplification . A Loy of people have heard improvements with the extra current being fed into the speakers ...
There are also some who have found no point in doing this

Kindly enlighten what is speeder amplification and how extra current is fed in speakers with Bi-amping, when both the amps have same wattage and drivers have a finite impedance.

 

[Flash]

Kindly enlighten what is speeder amplification and how extra current is fed in speakers with Bi-amping, when both the amps have same wattage and drivers have a finite impedance.

haaa ... Typos... Auto spell check on the Iphone ..... lol lol

 

[kanwar]

haaa ... Typos... Auto spell check on the Iphone ..... lol lol

So sweet......

 

[omishra]

Biamping makes difference after active cross-over. Each amp amplifies specific range of frequencies. Also specialized amp can be utilized which limited required bandwidth. If whole output is forked and given to biamp, drivers are only benefit impedance matching and extra power. Power which can't be converted to audio still dissipated as heat into voice coil. so wastage...

 

[aadharraj]

HEY FOLKS,

BIAMPING MAKES A DIFFERENCE. ACTIVE BETTER BUT PASSIVE ALSO GOOD.

EVEN BIWIRING MAKES A DIFFERENCE. ALTHOUGH NOT OF SAME MAGNITUDE.

Its just like adding a woofer to a speaker that has less bass. similarly u add a amp power to a speaker to add power to lows. if both speaker and amp perfectly complement each other, then passive biamping is not relevant.

even biamping from same amp with a and b zones is good - indeed excellent.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi everyone, I have just bought an Arcam alpha 10p power amp and an Arcam alpha 10 integrated amp, being new to hifi's I presumed that the system would last longer as it was not being put under as much strain. I'm just starting to learn so this was a guess. I have been advised to use the integrated amp as the amp for the high frequencies and the power amp for the low frequencies on the speakers as this will give me the best sound.

A friend of mine can't understand why I was given this advice especially as I don't have two power amps and has said that I should use the integrated amp as a pre amp and use the power amp to connect my speakers to.

He has gone on to say that it might be an idea to bi wire.

The speakers I'm looking to buy are B+W 683's.
Chord carnival speaker cables.

I'm not sure if you needed that information but I thought it might help in a decision and as the cables are expensive when Chord terminate them then I want to get it right first time.

I really liked the idea of having one amp for the HF and one for the LF but if it's pointless or even the wrong way to go about it then any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm hoping to buy the cables soon. Thanks.

Hi
The above advise is absolutely correct especially in the case of the Arcam / B&W combination that you have.
A few years ago I had the arcam FMJ 38 integrated and the P 38 power amp and I used the integrated as a preamp as well as used it to drive the HF of a B&W 805 while the LF was driven by the power amp P 38.
The latter combination was definately better.
Rgds

 

[marsilians]

As others have suggested, I would use the Integrated as a pre-amp and power amp for driving your speakers. Note that the B&Ws are rated at 90db efficiency so they dont need gobs of power and the Arcam should be able to handle it easily. Bi amping would get the best benefits but its complicated for someone without much knowledge to start with.

 

[2chFreak]

Bi amping would get the best benefits but its complicated for someone without much knowledge to start with.

what extra knowledge is required for this ?

Its quite simple that HF of spks go to Integrated while LF to pwr amp. The OP seems to be well aware of this too.

All the best to OP. Bi-amp is the way to go with B&Ws.

 

[msagar]

Audioquest Cables (Arcam was distributor for the UK) work better with earlier Arcam Amps.

My Arcam setup was (bought approx. fifteen years ago, moved onto class A, Arcams are currently in boxes):

Arcam pre > 2 Arcam Delta 290s (used as power amps) Bi-amped > Monitor Audio Gold LS. All Audioquest Cables. Good system.

 

[koushik]

+1 to audioquest.