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Biamping L1590 anyone doing it?


audiofreak

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After a 4 hour listening session I have to say these speakers WERE DESIGNED to be biamped! Done modesty can bring great results. Done better can blow your mind! (Just saying). The increase in bass impact is wounderful. The mids are so detailed and the highs are though the roof. Gonna spend some more ear time.

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Oh my yes.

I enjoyed my 1590s and their subtle imaging with good spaciousness in my fairly large room.  Then I got my crossovers and amps set up - the improvement in imaging was phenomenal.  I did not think I had any amplifier headroom issues at all, I have power best measured in horsepower.  But within moments of first firing with the biamp scheme my head exploded.

Enjoy!

- Jeff

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Have had several listening sessions now and for the life of me can't find any draw back to this set up. These speakers respond to biamping better than several others I have  experimented with and just continue to amaze me every time I turn it on.

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Hmmmmm......

Now you've gone and done it.  Time to look for another amp.

I am currently using a WOPL400 Phase Linear and it is incredible as is.  Incredible at all levels using my tube preamp.  Room isn't very big so I have not been in a hurry to get into biamping them.  I did have them in a vertical passive biamp set-up with 2 Adcom GFA5500 amps briefly in a larger room but I didn't keep them in there long.  Having the two identical amps I didn't need a separate crossover.

Mu guess is that the 1590's are at a level that are at home with a couple big high quality amps driving them.

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HI DavidDru one thing to realize is you MUST use an external xover! Otherwise your amps will still be amplifing full freq. And therfore  no REAL benifits will be had as to the T.I.M. the difference  with and without the external xover is substantial. Without the xover it is a waist of time and money.as far as the "bass" amp goes use one. With as high a damping factor as possible (mine at 800) . In these speakers set to 350htz.and below to the bas's amp and 350 and above to the mid/high Amp. Trust me on this! 

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I found pro sound xovers to be pretty reasonable, I'm using dbx223s.  I actually have four corners bi-amped (980s in the opposite corners) so I needed two of them, but they were readily available around $100.

Cheers,

- Jeff

 

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The dbx isn't bad at all however my research has shown the RANE AC22B is (as far as pro units go) one of the better pro units as the parts used are supperior. Also it is used in many studio application's due to its quality. And they are pretty cheep. Worth looking into, I used one for a couple of years until I fount the nakamichi. The RANE is also highly upgradable with new chips and caps.plus can be balanced or unbalanced.

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The nak was built for HOME  use (as opposed to pro)  as part of nakamichi''s "BLACK BOX SERIES"  Great quality build and as simple as it gets. L/R Gain controls and frequency adjustment knob, that's it. No other circuits to add noise or distortion. Much quieter and great detail and dynamics, outboard power supply it's basically set and forget. Very easy to rebuild and upgrade with modern caps and chips! Just allaround superiority over the rane! They are very hard to find and can go for stupid money sometimes. I think it would take a couple grand to beat it with "modern xovers"  just one of those "big bang for the buck" units from back when. All it is needed to do is split frequencies into two parts set by the frequency  control knob and that's all "without" adding any noise or artifacts of it own. If you can ever find one buy it! Or spend a couple grand and maybe you can beat it.the Rane is just one of the pro units that were fairly well built and used more in studio applactions than live music. It does a good job compared to most pro units. Biggest draw back is that it's (the nak) is not balanced. Am very happy with the proformance of the nak.bottom line it's just sounds better by a large factor.

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Thank's so far I seen little critical review of crossovers and what seems to be random recommendations for various pro gear with little critical review regarding the pro lines. the price of some of those boutique cross overs exceed the value of the 1230's and i have a problem with that! (well my wallet does!) not to mention the minidsp will do wonders but that too comes with a price regarding using using DAC's. there are no easy solutions here. 

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It's all about money spent. The pro units as I see (hear) them are for live music and not really good for home use (quality of sound) but some of them work well. A friend uses an allessie unit (I will ck on the model) he likes it a lot . (I got the rane  from him).  Another friend  (my tech) has used the nakimichi for 30 years . They are rare it took 6mo of hard looking. To find one on the bay at a good price. They can go front a hundred to a grand (all over the place) mine cost me 150 plus the mod and rebuild (another 100.00) so I consider it a steal. But the benifits of biamping  are immediately obvious when set up right ie external xover. What amps and pre are you using?

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atm I'm using a sansui G-8000 while I build me a new system. was thinking tubes for top and a nice SS with high damping for bottom. This will take several months but the PITA part is sorting out the cross over part so I want to start targeting potentials. You mentioned you had your naki modded. 

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Absolutely due to age of parts and better caps available today, plus upgraded the ic''s to the TI chips. And new rca jacks. I can't afford one of the "boutique" brands either so I use the nak (best bang for the buck) before the nak I used the rane. As with other equip the rane  did it's job but the nak does much better. The allessi  (according to my friend) is a great deal and functions very well better than the rane. You do need to get away from receivers and go up to good separate amps and pre. So your going in the right direction. The rane''s are inexpensive and readily available the allessi is a little harder to find but they are out there. 

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I tried a dynaco st70 on top with the krell on the bottom for a while but the krell on top and parasound 1500A on the bottom works better for me! The ADS speakers respond fantastic to biamping when you hit the right set up there will be no doubt.

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nada on the search for the allessi. Right now with the sansui its not there is a fire under my butt to find something better, thus I can take my time on this endeavor. there will be others looking for solutions too. interesting on the mod, sound like you basically gutted the unit and used a ti chip. you have pic's? this is interesting 

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The big surprise to my ear was the dbx 223 clearly outperforming the ADS crossover.  Maybe not night vs day, but certainly half-moon vs day.

YMMV, but that's $100 I am not going to re-spend for a long, long time.

Best,

- Jeff

 

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No, the one in the 1590.  I am blessed with huge amplifier power*, with matching damping factor.  Amplifier headroom, the usual driver for bi-amping, was not an issue for me.  The change in sound stage, in my room, was profound.  The only major difference I can figure is the crossovers.

Cheers,

- Jeff

* amplification: 2 dbx BX-1's.  Look 'em up if you're curious.  A/D/S speakers love their CURRENT.

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