Unfortunately, the Onkyo TX-SR804 pre-dates this cool feature. You'd have to move up a model year to the TX-SR805, or go with the current TX-SR806 to gain the ability to bi-amplify a speaker system.

Dave

David,

although your question wound up on my bi-amping post, I'm guessing you're asking whether or not you can bi-wire your speakers (as opposed to bi-amping them, since a single stereo amp or receiver by itself would be incapable of that).  You didn't mention which model receiver you have, but as long as your Onkyo has a Speaker A + Speaker B setting you should be good to go. Just run a set of cables from Speaker A to your Polk's high input and a set from Speaker B to the '55's low input, turn the speaker selector to A+B, and you're off to the races. Good luck, and good listening.

DaveB

Hi Sergio,

it looks like you're in luck. The Yamaha '661 is indeed capable of bi-amping a set of compatible speakers, which I'll assume your Tannoy's are (the Brit's are way into bi-amping and even tri-amping their speakers). FIRST, TURN THE POWER OFF TO THE RECEIVER. Then simply connect the Yamaha's Front A speaker channels to the high frequency inputs on your Tannoys, and the Surround Back/Bi-Amp outputs to the speaker's low frequency inputs. !!!BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN TO REMOVE THE METAL JUMPERS THAT CONNECT YOUR SPEAKER'S HIGH- AND LOW-FREQUENCY INPUT TERMINALS!!! Next, you'll need to go into the Yamaha's Advanced Setup menu to the Bi-Amplifier setting mode and select "ON." You should now be in business! I hope you give this a try, Sergio, and let me know how it works out.

Dave

I'm really psyched to hear your experiment was a success, Sergio. <br>

On another note, I was hoping to amend my response to David, above. David, I totally overlooked the part of your post where you clearly stated you had a subwoofer in your system, and answered as though you didn't. My apologies! What I should have recommended is this: Assuming your Onkyo's A and B speaker terminals are wired internally in parallel (a high probability, given that it's an Onkyo), and that you are using the speaker level (as opposed to line level) inputs and outputs on your sub, you can just run two sets of wires from the receiver's Speaker B outputs to the RT55s and leave the sub hooked up to the Onkyo's Speaker A outputs (being sure to disconnect the wires presently running from the sub to the '55s). That shoud work just fine.

DaveB

Sorry duckhunter1,

the STR-DG820 lacks the ability to reassign back surround channels for bi-amping duty (an ability that, sadly, my older but much loved Onkyo receiver lacks as well). However, you still might try bi-wiring your speakers for improved sound quality. I did, and was impressed with the difference it made.

DaveB

Pazuzu,

by using the '2809CI's A and B speaker outputs, you're actually bi-wiring (not bi-amping) your S603s. That's because the Front A and Front B speaker terminals are wired together internally to the receiver's front left and right amplifiers. To truly bi-amp your B&Ws, you'll need to reassign the surround back amplifier channels (be sure to check your owner's manual for the correct procedure). That should make a noticable difference! Good luck and good listening.  

Dave

Hi Scott,

as you can see by my out of sequence response to your question, I'm more of an "audio guy" than a polished blogger and web administrator ;-) Anyway, to answer your question; I'm afraid your 'SR674 lacks the ability to reassign back surround channels for bi-amping purposes. You might, however, give bi-wiring a try. That's what I did with my old Onkyo TX-DS989, and it worked like a charm!

Dave

Hi Gary,

I'm glad to see you've taken the step to bi-wire your RF-3II towers. Unfortunately, your Denon AVR-1803 was never designed with bi-amping in mind. While I have heard rumors of people using Zone 2 speaker outputs to bi-amp their front speakers (something I haven't personally tried so can't recommend), the '1803 has only a single mono amp to power the Surround Back/Zone 2 speaker outputs (hence the receiver's 6.1 designation). Those output jacks are labeled A and B instead of Left and Right because they are connected together inside the '1803 and wired to the mono amp. Since you've already bi-wired your speakers, Gary, the only easy upgrade path left that I can think of is better speaker cable or a new receiver. There is one other thing that I have tried recently that has me totally jazzed, and that's PS Audio's PowerPort AC outlet -- http://www.crutchfield.com/p_681PPC/PS-Audio-Power-Port-Classic.html -- that one tweak improved the overall performance of my system, and may be the best $50 I've ever spent. Good luck and good listening.

Dave  

Hi ALB,

the amp sections on the mid- to upper-end Onkyo receivers tend to be pretty beefy, and can be set to handle a 4 ohm load safely. 8 ohm speakers in the other positions should present no problems for either receiver.

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the JAMO speaker line (except by name) and couldn't really make an informed recommendation for you. My suggestion would be to call and talk to our Advisors. They tend to run into this kind of situation on a daily basis, and could probably offer more intelligent input to help you in your descision making process. Best of luck to you.

Dave  

Hi Noel,

You pose an interesting question for what sounds like an unorthodox setup. Electrostatics in back and dynamic driver in-walls in front, hmmm!?! Leaving the subjective and philosophical elements aside (don't get me wrong, I really do like electrostatic speakers as well as Polk in-walls), I have to wonder if what you propose is even possible with the '3808CI.

I believe when you set that receiver's Amp Assign mode to "Bi-Amp", its back surround amps are fed front left and front right channel info. While that may not be a problem in 5-channel stereo mode, things could get squirrely when playing multichannel music (or surround sound movies).

I suppose it might be possible to connect a spare power amp or receiver to the '3808CI's surround right and surround left preamp outputs and run that to the Sequels. I've never tried it, but the potential mismatch in amplifier power and sound quality makes me wonder if it would really be worth the effort. Bottom line Noel, I believe you've taken things as far as practical in your current configuration with bi-wiring. (But I'll be the first to admit that achieving high-end performance is not always based on practicality!) Good luck and good listening.

Dave

Hi sheikh,

bi-amping your front speakers should have a highly positive impact on sound quality. I would most definitely recommend it, especially since you're almost already there with all of your speakers currently bi-wired.

The reason Noel's situation is convoluted (see above) is due to the fact that he was contemplating bi-amping his surround speakers.

This poses a problem because his receiver (and yours as well) is designed to redirect front left and right channel signal information through the back surround amplifier channels, which are then connected to the main front speakers for bi-amping. If one were to connect this redirected and amplified signal to the surround speakers to bi-amp them instead, you would be feeding them front channel sound. This would result in the surround speakers receiving a surround signal from the Surround speaker outputs (as they should) as well as a front channel signal from the Back Surround speaker outputs.

In other words, the surround speakers would be playing both front and surround channel information at the same time! (I could see that being interesting for, oh, say about 30 seconds). While this trick might work in a "5-channel stereo" or "all-channel stereo" mode available on many receivers, once you switch to surround sound mode, things will no doubt begin to sound strange. Besides, the front left and right speakers in most systems are usually where the most action occurs, and where you'd want to concentrate the most power possible.

I hope you give bi-amping a try.

Dave

No problem, sheikh. Since you already bi-wire your speakers, it seems to me you could easily go ahead and use the same cables to bi-amp (with just a few quick changes at your receiver's end).

To answer your first question, bi-amping your Tannoys with the Yamaha '1800 would, in effect, double the power going to your speakers (2 x 130w per channel).

Your second question regarding how much power is too much, is a little more difficult to answer.

Distortion is the biggest killer of speakers. I've rarely witnessed an instance where speakers were actually damaged by being overdriven with too much clean power by an amplifier operating within its normal limits. A far more frequent scenario for speaker destruction occurs when the amp driving a speaker is pushed beyond its limits into clipping (or distortion).  So the bottom line here is, unless you frequently listen to your Tannoys at insane, distortion level volumes, you should be just fine. (In fact more than fine because with double the power, it becomes even harder to push the system to distortion levels before your eardrums pop!)

Dave

Chris,

The '906 is an awesome receiver with more features and capabilities than you can shake a stick at, including bi-amping. My suggestion would be to call and talk to our advisors to get some custom-tailored advice about where you want to go with your system. As for bi-amp capable speakers that would match that receiver, I would take a look at the Polk LSi towers. In fact, there's a boffo review of the LSi15's on our website from a customer who is using an Onkyo receiver to bi-amp them (evidently with great success)!  Good luck.

Dave

Hi Jerry,

Unfortunately the RX-V659 wasn't designed to bi-amp speakers. I believe selecting the presence speaker outputs in the '659's menu system also activates the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) for those outputs, yielding a signal that will be "processed" differently than the main front speaker outputs (producing what would surely be a strange effect). Short of connecting an outboard power amp to the receiver's left and right front preamp outputs (have you got a spare amp or receiver you're not using?), I think bi-wiring would be about as far as you could take it.

Dave

That's a big ten-four, Troy. As long as you've got compatible speakers, the '2309CI will bi-amp 'em.

Dave

Hi Kong,

I would most definitely recommend a bi-amp configuration for this setup. However, I believe the correct speaker terminals to use on the 'V3900 would be the ones labeled Front L/R and Surround Back/Bi-Amp L/R (the Presence/Zone1/Zone 2 terminals are for powering a pair of Presence speakers, or speakers in a second or third listening zone).

As for which terminals to connect to your RTI-10s, it won't matter. With the 'V3900, both sets of speaker terminals will output identical signals once you have selected the bi-amp mode in the receiver's menu, so you can take your pick. Just don't forget to remove the jumpers from your Polk's upper and lower binding post terminals, and you should be in business. Good luck and good listening.

Dave

Hi Rui,

You never say whether or not your Paradigm's are bi-amp capable, so I'll base my recommendations on the assumption they are. Paradigms, as a whole, tend to have relatively modest power rating specs (but I suspect those numbers are very conservative), so be sure yours are up to the task powerwise before proceeding.  Once connected, start them off at low volume levels and increase the volume gradually to get a feel for the speaker's comfort level before really kicking out the jams!

Connection is simple. Remove the metal jumpers that run between the Paradigm's upper and lower speaker terminals, and run two sets of wires to the '706's Front L/R and Surround Back L/R terminal posts (Onkyo recommends using the Front L/R outputs for the speakers' woofer terminals and the Surround Back L/R outputs for the speakers' tweeter terminals). Onkyo provides detailed directions for this step on page 19 of the '706's owner's manual. If you don't have the manual, you can easily download it from our website. Just go to the product page, look on the left-hand side, and you'll find it listed right under "What's in the box?."

Once you've made your speaker connections, go to the receiver's speaker set-up/speaker settings menu and select the bi-amp mode. Once you've done that, you'll need to run the Audyssey speaker calibration system again to get things properly adjusted (check page 45 of the manual for details). You should now have an even better sounding, bi-amped 5.1 surround system.

Please let me know how it works out for you, Rui.

Dave

Hi Del,

First off, you raise a good point concerning speaker/system size vs. room size. Although I don't believe your specific setup should pose any problems, I have encountered situations where speakers (and especially subwoofers) were simply too large for the given listening room. (This happened to my friend Steve when we auditioned the magnificent THIEL CS3.7s in his 14' X 24' music room. The sound quality was somewhat underwhelming. When we later heard them in our cavernous Crutchfield training room, they blew us away!) So there is a real-world concern when it comes to overloading a room with too much speaker.

Anyway, back to your question about bi-amping and sound quality improvements for your RF62s. You shouldn't be concerned that bi-amping your speakers will somehow result in a massive overload of volume in your room. In fact, the effective doubling of power to your speakers that bi-amping would afford in this case would only deliver a small increase in maximum volume potential (about 3dB). The real advantages here are the improvements in dynamics and sound quality that you'll enjoy at lower volume levels. (The true goal of bi-amping isn't to play the system louder, it's better sound.) So yes, you should notice a difference, Del, and I would recommend you give it a try.

The procedure you mention above for bi-amping your receiver and speakers is correct. Denon does not specify which set of terminals to use for the upper and lower connections on you RF62s. Since the output from the front L/R and rear-surround channels is identical, it shouldn't really matter anyway in your setup.

Of course, since your gear came from Crutchfield don't hesitate to give our tech advisors a call if you get stuck anywhere along the process. Please drop me a line and let me know how it turns out.

Thanks,

Dave

Thanks for the feedback, Kong. It's great to hear that you made a successful upgrade to your system. I suspect most people would appreciate the difference bi-amping makes if they took the time to make the switch!

Hi Jeff,

The '706 is a great choice for high-quality home theater. The Bose Acoustimass speakers (you didn't say which model but I'm assuming AM-6, AM-10, etc) should match the Onkyo just fine. Should you connect an extra set of speakers to the '706's back surround channels? I'm going to say no. I think the Acoustimass speakers would be happier playing by themselves. Since there's no opportunity to bi-amp this setup, you could always put those extra amplifier channels to work running some nice in-walls in the kitchen ceiling or outdoor speakers on the patio!  

Dave

Jeff,

That's a difficult question to answer.  The '706 is a powerful and impressive receiver that can drive any number of different brands of speakers to loud and clean listening levels. Would the AM-10s work with a different (and by "different" I'm going to mean less expensive) receiver without losing sound quality? All I can say is maybe.

Every time you reduce amplifier power and build quality, the liklihood of losing some sound quality along the way exists. How likely that loss is to be audible depends on a great number of factors, not the least of which is the ability of the listener to recognize them. If you're a critical listener (especially with music), you're on the right track. If you tend to be a more casual listener, then it's entirely possible you could drop down a notch or two in price and still get highly acceptable results.

Dave

Hi Dan,

A search of the 'DG920's owner's manual reveals no provision for bi-amping. That means bi-wiring is your only option. I found that bi-wiring was very effective in my system, and would strongly encourage you to give a try.

Dave

Tyler,

Even though the Denon AVR-1609 has seven channels of power, the receiver has no bi-amping capability. You still might want to try bi-wiring, however. Good luck and good listening.

Dave

Hi Tyler,

Bi-wiring refers to connecting two pair of wires between an amp (or receiver) and a speaker with two sets of input terminals. It's similar to bi-amping, but without the increase in power. To see if that might work for you, check out my previous blog on this topic here: http://cli.gs/bi-wiring

Dave

Hi Isett,

These are great questions. Infinity doesn't specify any change from the Alpha 50's nominal 8 ohm impedance in their owner's manual when bi-amping or bi-wiring. That means I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that each amp channel in your system is seeing an 8 ohm load. If anyone else out there knows different, please speak up.

Most manufacturers who's receivers have an impedance (or Ohm) switch use this feature to limit the amount of power (current) that it can output. Typically this switch changes the taps, or points, on the amp's transformer coils to reduce the number of windings, effectively reducing the power supply's ability to convert power. Kind of like the engines in some cars that can selectively shut off a number of operating cylinders to conserve juice.

The reason for this is simple. Four ohm speakers allow more power (current) to flow from an amp that 8 ohm models, and that means more heat (and lots of it!). If you crank it up loud into a pair of four ohm speakers, the amount of heat generated may well exceed the ability of the amp to dissipate it, causing a shut down (or worse). That switch helps to prevent this from happening.

Dave

Hi Robert,

The answer to your question is yes. Your receiver and speakers are perfect candidates for bi-amping. The '1708's manual describes the procedure in detail.

If you don't have the owner's manual handy, you can always look it up on our website. Just enter your receiver's model number in the search box, and pull up the product page (even though it's discontinued, our website will still show it to you if you ask). Once you're on the page, just look under "What's in the box" and you'll find the link to the owner's manual. Good luck, and if you get a chance, let me know how it works out.

Dave

Hey Mike,

looking at the back of your speakers on TSC's website leads me to say that biamping is not in your future (at least not with the NTIW26s). I just don't see any way around it. And wiring 2 into 1 would simply short the front and back surround amplifier channels together, resulting in (hopefully) the activation of your receiver's short circuit protection (not good!).

The only real alternative I can see to recommend (although it's really a somewhat far flung departure from the whole concept of bi-amping) is using the Yamaha's "Presence" speaker mode. This lets you direct the power from the back surround channels to an additional pair of front speakers mounted above your NTIW26s. This gives you an added vertical dimension to your front soundstage.

Dave

Hi Ryan,

I'm afraid I couldn't find any technical specifications for the '3890 receiver (in fact I couldn't find anything at all from HK with that model number), so I'm somewhat at a disadvantage for making an intelligent recommendation -- but I'll just blindly forge ahead anyway.

I did find an HK3490 with 120W/CH that I'm going to assume is similarly spec'd to yours (although you know what they say about assuming, so you may want to refer to your dealer or owner's manual before pulling the trigger). That receiver appeares to be a fairly straightforward stereo design with A and B speaker connections. Harman Kardon doesn't specify how many output devices per channel were being utilized, but I don't think that really matters for our purposes. What you have here,  Ryan, is a bi-wiring situation rather than a bi-amping one. That's because you would need two stereo amplifiers or a multi-channel receiver with assignable back surround channels in order to bi-amplify your speakers.Check out my previous blog on this topic here: http://cli.gs/bi-wiring  

I would defiinitely give bi-wiring a try, and don't worry about sorting out the power distribution between high and low frequencies -- you'll be sending the same 120 watts per channel of power you have now, only through two sets of speaker cables instead of one (and yes, the low frequency drivers will consume the lion's share of power but your speaker's crossover network will sort that all out).

Good luck and good listening,

Dave

Larry:

In response to your question about using your Onkyo receiver's zone 2 outs for bi-amping, the short answer is: You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Your receiver has only seven channels of power. The surround back amplifier channels can be used to power the surround back speakers or bi-amp the front left and right, but not both simultaneously.

Those same two amplifier channels are also used to power Zone 2 speakers when not being used for either of the purposes above.  In other words, you just can't get there from here.

I would try bi-amping first, then running back surround speakers next  to determine which configuration produces the best overall sound to your ears.

This reply is in response to JerryG's question.

Hi JerryG,

I posted a reply to your comment earlier, but it seems to have become lost in the ether; so I'll give it another try, and hope this time it makes it outside. (I've never claimed to be an expert on these blog things!)

I believe you could make noticeable gains in performance by adding a second amp. However, I wouldn't use the zone outputs to drive it. Here's why.

The zone 2 (and 3) preamp outputs on the '697CIHD have independent volume controls that would make balancing the output levels of the built-in and external amps somewhat tricky.  (And I'm not even certain you can select the same source for the main zone and zone 2 at the same time. The owner's manual is unclear on this point, and I don't have a '697CIHD at my disposal to check.)

Here's what I would do. Remove the jumper plugs from the receiver's PRE OUT/MAIN IN loop. (This physically disconnects the receiver's amp section from its pre-amp.) Then connect a high-quality Y adapter to the receiver's pre-out jacks. Feed one leg of the Y back into the MAIN IN jacks, and the other leg of the Y into the external amp's pre-amp inputs. You'll now have a bona fide bi-amp setup; with woofers connected to the external amp and tweeters connected to the Denon. This should work like a charm.

No electronic crossover would be needed for this setup either, since the passive crossovers in your Polk's would still be in place.

If anyone has a better solution to this, please let us know.

No problem, Jerr(y)eg.

You are quite right. Both the Onkyo and Niles amplifiers offer a signal pass through feature that would serve your purposes just fine for bi-amping. Simply connect them to the Denon receiver in the way you describe, and you're in business. Either one of these amps should make a good choice IMHO.

Dave

Hello Ben,

The short answer to your question is: your speakers are rated for 100 watts total.

When most manufacturers rate power handling for their speakers it usually includes all driver elements in the system, plus the crossover.

From experience, I know that Celestion, like many British speaker makers, tends to be quite conservative when rating power. In other words, your speakers will likely be able to handle more CLEAN power than the 100 watts they are actually rated for (when the power becomes distorted, all bet are off). Besides, even when playing your system at a volume level most would consider loud, you're actually feeding them only a few continuous watts of power!

The bottom line here is (and this goes for any amp/speaker combination), if you avoid playing your system so loud your amplifier begins to distort, then you should be able to enjoy your speakers for many years without trouble. It's only when you push your system well beyond its limits (volume and bass turned up all the way, you know who you are), that problems are likely to occur.

So bi-amp away, Ben, but resist the urge to play it at distortion levels. Good listening and good luck to you.

Dave

Hi Zoltan,

from what I can see, the SR7300OSE appears to be a full-featured 6.1-channel receiver that unfortunately happens to pre-date the current  bi-amping trend that manufacturers are following these days. Plus, it only offers 6 channels of power, further making it an unlikely candidate for a bi-amp setup.

The best suggestion I would have is to give bi-wiring a try. Check out my previous blog on this topic here: http://cli.gs/bi-wiring  

Dave

Hi Jerry,

I'm psyched to hear that you made the plunge, and that all went well. Since I'm one of those tweaks who happens to believe that most electronic gear benefits from a run-in period, I would expect that the sound of your setup will continue to improve over a period of days or weeks. (And there may be some truth to the fact that your ears tend to adjust to the changes over that period of time as well.)

As for true bi-amping, I will say that in the pro sound world (and in the nosebleed section of high-end home audio), it is a fact that bi-amping (and even tri-amping) involves electronic crossovers coupled with speakers that lack passive crossover networks. (Unfortunately passive crossovers tend to suck up a lot of power, making them too inefficient for most pro applications.)  

But I'm with you, as long as you notice the difference, that's what counts! Again, congratulations.

Dave

Hi Court,

It would appear that the '920 is not bi-ampable. As I have suggested to others in a few previous comments above, I would recommend giving bi-wiring a try (as I have done with my own receiver).

Here is the link to my post on that subject: http://cli.gs/bi-wiring  

Dave

Hi Russ,

Aah, speaker cables, the great debate. Can you really hear a difference? Do expensive ones sound better than cheap ones? Do the connectors on the ends affect performance? What about the insulation material and length, does that matter? All I can tell anyone contemplating bi-wiring or bi-amping is: you'll probably experience better sound, and you'll definitely need more wire.

I haven't played with the Oval 9s personally, Russ, but they do look pretty sweet. I have had a bit of hands-on experience with the Audioquest CV-8 cables that we carry, and found them to posses a smooth, laid back yet detailed quality that I enjoyed very much. It's a tough call.

You might try bi-wiring your center channel speaker, although I would expect the results to be somewhat subtle. I think here you should let your budget be your guide, since your obviously not looking at cheap cables.

As to using bigger gauge cables for the lower speaker unit; the prevailing wisdom, I believe, is to keep the cables the same for the top and bottom to prevent any imbalance in sound (although I suppose if you were to use cable with identical electrical properties, other than gauge, this might work okay). As for me, I use solid-core, silver plated 18 gauge cables with a thin Teflon insulator for my system. I know the majority of cable manufacturers these days tend toward big, heavy multi-stranded stuff, but over time, I have found the solid core wire to be faster, more focused, and more to my liking. But to each his own, eh?

Good luck, Russ, and good listening.

Dave

Hi Alex,

Your STR-DG820's A and B speaker output terminals are connected to the receiver's front left and right amplifiers in parallel with each other. That means, electronically speaking, they're identical (although I know your B speaker terminals are clips rather than posts, which isn't exactly ideal but shouldn't really matter too much). So the answer to your question is yes.

Just pop the metal jumpers off your DM601's top and bottom connecting posts, and give it a try. Good luck and good listening.

Dave

Hi Ricardo,

The short answer to your question is no.

There are two reasons:

1) Yamaha made no provisions for that in the RX-V1300

2) This receiver has only six channels of power. To the best of my knowledge, all bi-amp capable receivers have seven channels, allowing you to redirect the two back surround outputs to the front speakers (which need a total of four channels of power for bi-amping).

The A and B speaker outputs in your receiver are connected together internally to the front right and left amplifier channels, meaning they share power when playing A and B speakers simultaneously. What you could do is bi-wire your speakers to the A and B terminals (see my take on this subject here: http://cli.gs/bi-wiring ) You won't get any increase in power, but you might still hear an audible improvement. Give it a try!

Dave

Hi Gregg,

I think you should be just fine connecting it this way. I know the LSi9s are 4 ohms, so you won't want to run the B speakers with them simultaneously due to the resulting low impedance. I'm not certain the receiver would let you do that anyway due to the neccessity of the back-panel Speaker C switch being set to the on position (but the manual isn't crystal clear on that point).  Good luck, and good listening.

Dave

Hi Bruce,

If the TX-SR605 owner's manual is correct, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, then you should be absolutely in the clear for bi-amping your 8 ohm rated Klipsch RB-61s. Personally, I would highly recommend giving it a try.

The Onkyo manual gives explicit directions for connecting your speakers (page 21) and re-assinging the back-surround amplifier channels (page 51).

If you don't have the manual, simply enter the item number 158TXS605B in the search box on our website -- this will pull up the '605 page (even though it's discontinued). From there, you can download the PDF version of the manual found in the "What's in the box?" panel along the right-hand rail of the page.

Enjoy!

Dave

Hi Fabian,

Although Crutchfield never carried this exact model, a quick search on Yamaha's website revealed the '3300 to be a 6.1-channel receiver (with a couple of extra low-powered "presence" channels thrown in for ambient sound). I'm afraid there's no provision that I can see for bi-amping with this particular model. However, you may still want to give bi-wiring (http://cli.gs/bi-wiring) a try. Good luck and good listening.

Dave

Hi James

Along with my other duties here at Crutchfield, I find answering questions from readers such as yourself a genuine pleasure and a great learning experience as well.

I apologize for taking so long to respond to your thoughtful questions, but I have been pondering them for several days now.  I can't help but feel that you may be over analyzing your situation. If I'm understanding your questions and setup correctly, I believe the answers may be more simple than you might think.

First, the passive high and low-pass crossovers inside your Polk RTi speakers remain operational and fixed at whatever frequency Polk has selected (2,200 Hz sounds about right), removing the jumpers and bi-amping them will not change this. Also, when the bi-amp mode is selected on this receiver, I believe you lose the ability to independently select crossover points for the back surround channels that will now be powering your RTi's tweeters.

Try the following, and see how it works for you.

Step 1: Follow the detailed instructions provided by Onkyo on page 19 of the manual to connect  your speakers .

Step 2: Once your speakers are connected, go to the receiver's speaker setup menu and select Speaker Type. Then choose the "Bi-amp" mode for your setup.

Step 3: Connect the receiver's LFE output to your powered sub's LFE input.

Step 4: Use the Audyssey setup to calibrate your system.

If the auto calibration doesn't do it for you soundwise, page 73 of the Onkyo manual does discuss setting a high-pass crossover point for your main speakers manually.  I would possibly suggest trying it at the 40 HZ to 80 Hz range of settings. This will then output everything below those crossover points to your powered sub.

If none of this does the trick for you, you can always contact my tech support department for more detailed info and instructions (assuming that you bought your stuff from us). Good luck James, and good listening.

Dave

Hi Tom,

A quick check on Pioneer's website reveals that your VSX-21 does allow bi-amping (check pages 21 and 91 in the manual for more info). You should certainly be able to hear the difference bi-amping makes, regardless of room size. (In your relatively large 24' x 22' room, it should make a noticeable improvement.)

As far as selecting your speaker size settings to large or small, I would consider the RF62 a large speaker (as opposed to say, a bookshelf model) and set it appropriately. The RC62 is, of course, a bit smaller, but I would vote for running it in the large setting, too. If you encounter any audible distortion from the center channel in this mode at the listening levels you normally prefer, try it in the small  setting instead. Enjoy!

Dave

James and Ray,

Thanks for your feedback. This is good information. Both of your experiences help point out the variability from brand to brand, and system to system that folks are likely to come across when exploring system tweakage, including bi-amping.

I think the take away from all this is: Always be considering ways you can improve the sound of your system. And don't be afraid to experiment with making changes, especially ones that are easy and relatively inexpensive (or even free), such as speaker placement, crossover settings, bi-wiring, bi-amping, and cabling.

Dave