who bi amps?

[ric3xrt]

Just curious as to who here does it, Why? And what is in your rig.

[davidgoldman]

I do and I am using a GK1001rp and 212NEO. Gig bass is a Peavey Cirrus.

[Selta]

I run two pres into a 2 channel power amp, and am working out how I want to do cabs right now. One pre gets a cool overdriven tone I like, and the other I leave clean. I think I'm going to run 2 2x10s, but am not certain on that just yet. Not really "bi-amp" in that I'm not crossing over between cabs at all, more of a dual mono setup.

[silky smoove]

Originally Posted by davidgoldman

I do and I am using a GK1001rp and 212NEO. Gig bass is a Peavey Cirrus.

Are you referring to the GK "biamp" system? If so, that's not really biamping in the traditional sense, but rather a way to move the tweeter control from the back of the cab to the front of the amp.

[Downunderwonder]

Biamping gives fidelity to mismatched speakers at the expense of total volume.

I had a chance to listen to my rig out in the room tonight. It was running fullrange. It sounded more clear previously with PA cabs biamped instead, but so much more gear to carry to do that.

[KramerBassFan]

I sometimes biamp with my SUNN Coliseum 300.

Its fun, but not really worth it to move a whole lot of extra gear... unless you will be bringing a bunch of stuff anyways.

[edbass]

Originally Posted by Downunderwonder

Biamping gives fidelity to mismatched speakers at the expense of total volume.
I had a chance to listen to my rig out in the room tonight. It was running fullrange. It sounded more clear previously with PA cabs biamped instead, but so much more gear to carry to do that.

What does that mean?

[lowliferumble]

I have a " true " bi-amped system. It consists of :

DTR1000 Korg tuner into a Sansamp RBI into a Ashly 7 band parametric EQ split into a Neptune 321 stereo active crossover which send the highs to my effects pedal board and the lows straight to a DBX 166XL compressor. The effect board output goes back into the other side of the DBX166XL. This "high send " acts like an effect loop . I use both channels of the Neptune crossover so I can over lap the crossover points. Example is High side low frequency Xover point is set at 170Khz , and Low side high freq cut off is 450Khz. I found that by doing this I get a very solid tone from both sides . The DBX 166XL compressor the feeds into a QSC MX1500 power amp. The low side feeding a EV Eliminator 18" sub and the 15" in a Mesa Powerhouse 1000. This results in a 4 ohm load . High side feeds the 4 x 10" & Tweeter in the aforementioned Mesa cab. The result....? It is something not of this earth. Super huge fat powerful clean bass supporting crystal clear effects with absolutely no muddiness or overtones. Think Super Hi-fidelity with power to spare. The downside...? It is so much gear and weight.

[basscheez]

Originally Posted by silky smoove

Are you referring to the GK "biamp" system? If so, that's not really biamping in the traditional sense, but rather a way to move the tweeter control from the back of the cab to the front of the amp.

I disagree. My G-K 700RB has 2 separate amps with independent level controls. The fact that the crossover frequency is fixed doesn't make it "not really biamping".

[IvanMike]

biamping was a craze in the 80s, and pretty soon it was hard to get taken seriously as an amp manufacturer if you didn't put a crossover on your amp.

The down and dirty is that there are no real commercially available bass cabs suitable for biamping. Most of them are designed to be run full range. Sure, some of them may do better in the lows or better in the highs, but they aren't true biamp (or triamp, or quadamp, etc) cabs.

OTOH, good PA systems have cabs specifically designed to be run at a narrow frequency range, and in a tri or quad amped setup, many crossovers and poweramps are used. The sound quality can be amazing, and there are many other bennies, but it requires the correct equipment. If you talk to the tech staff of most bass amp companies, they will generally tell you that their cabs sound better run full range.

[okcrum]

Originally Posted by Downunderwonder

Biamping gives fidelity to mismatched speakers at the expense of total volume.

I had a chance to listen to my rig out in the room tonight. It was running fullrange. It sounded more clear previously with PA cabs biamped instead, but so much more gear to carry to do that.

Whaaat?

I biamp when I need LOTS of volume and I need to mix 2x10 full range cabs with 1x15s. There's no reason at all to lose volume if the biamp is set up correctly.

The whole idea in setting up the biamping or triamping (besides preventing interference between drivers) is to give each driver power in its optimum reproduction spectrum. If you're losing volume biamping, then you're wasting audio as out of band heat into one or more of your drivers. Or you've got some hella inefficient drivers in the mix.

[Downunderwonder]

In the case of the most commonly occuring mismatched speakers, a 1x15 and a 4x10, you're going to lose volume capability if you biamp.

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by Downunderwonder

In the case of the most commonly occuring mismatched speakers, a 1x15 and a 4x10, you're going to lose volume capability if you biamp.

+1, because they're both full range speakers. Running them dual mono with dual power amps with individual volume control makes sense, as the 1x15 won't take as much power as the 4x10 (which begs the question: why are you using a 1x15/4x10 instead of two 4x10 ?) but there's nothing whatsoever to be gained by crossing them over to run them bi-amped.

Example is High side low frequency Xover point is set at 170Khz ... High side feeds the 4 x 10" & Tweeter in the aforementioned Mesa cab...It is so much gear and weight.

You could downsize to a 2x10 in a cab 1/8 the size of the Mesa 4x10 section without losing a thing. Fully 3/4 of the cab volume per driver in that 4x10 is to allow it to operate down to 50Hz. Crossed at 170 that volume is just so much unnecessary cartage.

[N.F.A.]

I biamp on occasion so I can use chorus or other effects on the frequencies above the crossover. I use 2 Bag End 12's and an old Peavey Megabass head. More often than not though, I just go direct.

[evilt70]

I get scared when I hear people use the term "Bi" ( unless they are chicks and really hot)

[PDGood]

I'm thinking of running a non-traditional two amp set-up. The signal would go from the bass to a splitter with one side dry and the other (occasionally used) with effects. Each side would have its own power amp and cab. It's not a typical bi-amp set up with crossovers for frequency separation, but it would be a two amp set-up.

[okcrum]

Originally Posted by Downunderwonder

In the case of the most commonly occuring mismatched speakers, a 1x15 and a 4x10, you're going to lose volume capability if you biamp.

Ah, that makes way more sense. That combination is pretty much a waste to biamp, for the reason you give.

[watspan]

Hartke ha5000 and an ampeg pr1528he. One head, one cabinet. You can get good tonal control by controlling the power to either the 1x15 low or 2x8 high freq sections.

[Plstrns]

I biamp.

US Cirrus basses- VT- BBE DS24- 2x IPR1600's bridged (lows) and IPR3000 (highs)- 2x fEarful 1515/66's.

3K amp alone for a single cab.

= about 6 SVT- 810 stacks. I won't be drowned out on any stage.

[MNAirHead]

I do when I have a big enough room, the right situation and want to entertain myself

I'm a DI guy.. so you could say I'm a 4 way guy.. not biamp