I've heard a lot of talk about using the "B speaker" (or 2nd zone) outputs to wire the tweeter and woofer of speakers individually.
In my case I am using a NAD T743 Receiver to power a pair of Paradigm Monitor 7's (which are able to be bi-wired/bi-amped). My question is, that since the T743 downmixes all signals to the "B speakers", is it possible to use the above stated setup when listening to anything in more than two channels? Would the tweeter and woofer not then be receiving two different signals (one a discrete L/R signal and the other a downmixed signal)? Personally, I don't see how it would work unless I'm missing something.
It makes sense for the new Denon receivers which can accept different inputs for the seperate zones. With this set up you can hook the pre-outs of the L/R channels to an input on the rear of the receiver which you would use as an input to the seperate zone (thereby sending the same signal to the tweeter and woofer).
I hope my question makes sense. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
With the T743 you should bi-wire by putting two wires to the A-output and put the other end of the other wire to the tweeter input and the other to bass input. That would be bi-wiring.
If you want bi-amping you'll need to buy an additional power amp, preferably NAD.
Thanks for the clarification landroval. I was somewhat confused about the terminology in this case.
I was thinking of getting NAD C272 Power Amp to bi-amp the front two speakers with the T743. However I don't know if it would be worth it. I have a pair of Paradigm Monitor 7's for my front speakers. Does anyone know if bi-amping make any difference in sound quality in this case (ie. Monitor 7's bi-amped with NAD T743 and C272)?
I would use the power amp to drive the tweeters and the receiver to drive the woofers. However does it matter if there is a discrepency in the amps when bi amping (I am assuming the 272 is better then the integrated amp in the 743)?
You should use the C272 for woofers and the T743 for tweeters beacause of the power difference. Tweeters actually need like ~1-5W of power while the bass drivers will eat all you can give them. That kind of setup will give you definitely a fuller, more controlled sound. Try the combo if you can.
If you want to get the best sound quality, but not necessarily more 'power' you should get a small tube-amp for the tweeters and use the T743 for the woofers.
That is the exact issue that I'm stuck on (and you didn't make it any easire, lol).
Are your thinking the superior multi channel performance would be due to superior surround sound processores in the T763 or would there be another reason that I'm not thinking of? In terms of multi channel audio my player would be doing the decoding the 743 and 763 shouldn't really make a difference that I can see. For home theater I can see it making a difference though and that is where I am stuck since my system is about 50/50 for music/HT.
On a related note of multichannel, do you know if biamping the L/R speakers will create an unbalance with my center speaker. I know that the L/R speakers should be matched to the center however I'm not sure that by biamping them this will cause a mismatch.
Yes I think the problem with T743+C272 is with the weaker sounding center compared to the L&R fronts. It's hard to say how much that will affect the performance, try it to find out . It could be anything from meaningless to deal-breaker. Of course a 3-ch amp like Primar A30.3 or Arcam P90-3 would do the job, although they're slighty pricey.
Maybe the answer is to get a separate 5 channel amp, and run bi-amp your fronts, and 1/2 of your center with it, then the other half of your center, and rears with the reciever?
If its a Sunfire external amp, rated the same as the receivers amps, I dont see why the fronts would be imbalanced "sonically"...you would just have to turn down the trims on them to compensate for more power to get the volume the same? My Infinity Kappa center is bi-ampable as are my rears.
Its kindof a mess. I'll let ya all know what Sunfire says directly when I talk to them about it.
For by-amping, I think the power assigned to bass and treble will depend on the crossover point. Looking at an old audio psicoacoustics book I found that power break-even frequency (equal power up and below) is between 120Hz and 180 Hz, depending on the music type (rock is near 120, classics is around 180). So, one has to check how each specific loudspeaker "breaks" the spectrum when bi-amping. My KEF Q-7 has the woofer driven by one input and mid-tweeter by the other. According to the manual the woofer crossover is 120 Hz. I'm thinking about by-amp when I receive a 773 so I think my speakers call for equal power for woofer and mid/tweeter.
. It could be anything from meaningless to deal-breaker.