I have an Onkyo TX-NR801 that has the standard speaker (7.1) and pre-amp (5.1) outputs. I also have some Polk tower front speakers that are bi-ampable (is that a word!!). It has 4 posts which right now has the metal bridge piece connecting two together as I only have the main speaker wire coming to them right now.
My question are if I use the preamp front R/L outputs and get a stero 2 channel amp, then connect that to the low frequency posts, will that do enough/anything for the bass?
My other thought was to connect the amp to the subwoofer preamp output then split it to R/L at the amp. Would that provide better bass to the speakers?
Not sure how all this really works and I didn't want to try something only to find a better method was out there.
I think you may be jumping the gun just a bit. Unless you have already done so you would be a lot better off spending any money on this project on a subwoofer or two. Bi-amping your speakers using the speakers binding posts may make some improvements but not necessarily just to improve bass response.
Jim, with the onkyo isn't it possible to use the rear left and right channels to bi-amp the fronts?
Erik, your Onkyo manual should go into detail on how this is done. Its not that complicated... The only thing you need are speakers with this capability and it looks like you do. I do not think you need to make any further purchases to do this and I would make a point of checking the manual before you do.
If you do this you are going to have 5.1 not 7.1 and if your expection is to avoid using a sub and getting an adequate amount of bass then you are not going to get the results you are looking for. Frankly to me what you are proposing sounds risky and I would avoid doing this any other way than your manual suggests. I am curious as to how you came accross this receiver and do not have the resources to for a sub
Using the b channel or left/right rear would be interesting. If the channels are available and you do not send rear channel information to the fronts that would be cool and might make a noticeable difference but as you mention Jeff, I doubt the difference would be what Erik is looking for.
Erik, the theory is that you have one amp powering the low frequency and another powering the high frequency. This may help in bass response but it wont be like night and day.
I do have a subwoofer and it works fine for surround sound / home theater type applications, but I do listen to a lot of music in 2 channel stereo and wanted to utilize the full potential of the tower speakers with respect to the bass.
I have seen the newer Onkyo receivers that allow for two sets of connections but it does limit the setup to 5.1 and I do have a 7.1 setup and want to keep all my speakers. The receiver I have does not have this capability anyway, hence the post.
Your receiver does not have to have any special specification for this to be possible. Its not a special feature of the receiver or anything. If you don't want to lose the 7.1 setup then I would just stick to your current setup. I use the all channel stereo listening mode for this application. It sounds better to me than limiting the output to 2 speakers. You have seven speakers so you might as well use them
