biamping AR-3a

[Guest]

Hi all,

I got a pair of AR-3a and I wonder if I can biamp them. AR-3a has only 3 terminals instead of 4 as other biamp-able speakers. Please drop me a line if anyone experience with this before.

Many thanks

[Guest Nigel]

They are easy to bi-amp. Vertical** bi-amping is preferred, and the amplifier must not invert one channel (some do). The three terminals were intended for testing the woofer sperately from the mid/tweeters.

On MOST (check yours for sure) amps, connect the minus or ground speaker output to the common terminal. Connect one + to each of the other two. If desired, run double wires from the common terminal.

** Vertical bi-amping: using one stereo amp for each speaker with one channel driving the woofer and the other channel driving the mids/tweets.

Nigel

[Guest]

Thanks a lot Nigel for your suggestion. I have one more question to ask. If I do vertical biamp, is it necessary to have two identical amps? (I got two different amps: one is Musical Fidelity A2 Class A with 25w/ch and the other is Luxman 309 with (I think) 50w/ch). Should I make an extra terminal to separate the woofer and the mid/tweeter?

Thank you in advance.

Vincent

[Guest Nigel]

Hi Vincent;

is it necessary to

>have two identical amps?

No, but let your ears be your guide. If you can, try borrowing some more powerful amplifiers. One thing I learned very distinctly less than two years ago is that more power makes a world of difference, and it is more important a low listening levels than at higher ones.

Should I make an extra

>terminal to separate the woofer and the mid/tweeter?

It certainly could not hurt.

Nigel

[Guest]

Dear Nigel,

Thank you very much for your answers. I'll try to see which is the best. Will give you the results. Thanks again.

Vincent