Bi-amping Test

[dyazdani]

I bought a Behringer EP2500 "pro" amp and BFD (FBQ2496) for use with some DIY subs I am building. I won't have the subs ready for a while and was wondering if there is any merit it trying to have that amp power the woofers on my SL3s.

It's just going to be sitting around, so I thought it might be a fun experiment.

Any thoughts?

 

[kach22i]

Is that one of their OTL designs?

 

[dyazdani]

Here's a link with some information.

 

[roberto]

I bought a Behringer EP2500 "pro" amp and BFD (FBQ2496) for use with some DIY subs I am building. I won't have the subs ready for a while and was wondering if there is any merit it trying to have that amp power the woofers on my SL3s.

It's just going to be sitting around, so I thought it might be a fun experiment.

Any thoughts?

Hola...if they are the same model, you can use vertical connection, this is, the left channel driving the panel and the right channel driving the woofer. If they are not the same model, then horizontal connection is the way to go. What you do is, if your preamp only has one output, then you can go to radio shack or DIY with two Y connectors, one male, two females, One amp, driving the panels and the one that has more power, driving the woofers. You feed the signal from the left channel output of the preamp using the Y and from the Y to both amplifiers (L signal)...same connections for the right channel...if your preamp has two outputs, you don't need the Y...Hope this can help...happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.

 

[dyazdani]

It would be a horizontal bi-amp. The only issue I see is that the pro amp has variable gain, so it would take a little work to get things balanced. I guess one could use a meter for that purpose.

The more I think about, the more work seems to be involved. Since it would only be a short term thing / experiment, I probably won't bother.

 

[miljac]

Hi,

I have made a similar experiment by purchasing a second-hand Yamaha M-40 power amp to try the biamping and a FBQ2496. If you can get a Radio Shack SPL meter (has a known calibration curve available on the Internet) or adecent microphone with an mic amp and know calib data then you might give a check to the Room EQ Wizard home page:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.mulcahy/roomeq/

I have not checked/used the latest version but it looks like it allows defining the "house curve".

I have used the combination as follows:

MA6500 speaker out --> Ascent panels
MA6500 pre-out --> FBQ2496 --> Magnat Omega 380 sub --> Yamaha M-40 --> Ascent woofers

so after letting the Room EQ Wizard do the measurement & program the FBQ over the MIDI I am more than satisfied by results and have decided to leave the "test" setup playing - and it plays remarkably well indeed.

The decision to put the FBQ in the complete signal path below 280Hz was based on measurements that showed big peaks up to 160Hz in my room. The acoustical treatment was not an option (WAF and lack of room) so this solution is likely to play in my system for some time to come. As a precaution I have decided no to boost the dips though

The results are anyway far better than I've ever expected - even with FBQ's A/D - EQ processing - D/A in the woofer signal path.

 

[roberto]

It would be a horizontal bi-amp. The only issue I see is that the pro amp has variable gain, so it would take a little work to get things balanced. I guess one could use a meter for that purpose.

The more I think about, the more work seems to be involved. Since it would only be a short term thing / experiment, I probably won't bother.

Hola...trust your ears...and enjoy your new sound...keep the setting where you like it most. With two amps, you can adjust the level for more or less bass...depends of your liking...happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.