Hi all!
I'm a complete noob to this so here's a simple question. (And yes, I had search of the forum, but I could have missed something!) If I want to get two Trends TA10.1's to make 'monoblocks' will this work?:
Replace ONE of the RCA jacks with a high quality one. Then run TWO wires from the RCA jack, and solder one to the rearmost wire of EACH of the input caps. Remove all four of the jumpers. Then connect one output to the HF binding posts on the speaker, and the other output to the LF binding posts.
1. Is there anything that I'm missing?
2. Will 'monoblocking' the amps provide me with twice the POWER of just using a single stereo one? (I realise this should only provide me with an incremental increase in volume and hopefully headroom on my 91dB efficient speakers.)
3. Will this actually provide me with more significantly more power than just using one channel of each amp to power each speaker? (ie. Just connecting the preamp L channel to the L RCA of an amp, then just connecting the L output to the speaker, and the same with the R for the other amp.)
Sorry about the very basic nature of the questions!
Hi from Australia!
Taz.
I'm a complete noob to this so here's a simple question. (And yes, I had search of the forum, but I could have missed something!) If I want to get two Trends TA10.1's to make 'monoblocks' will this work?:
Replace ONE of the RCA jacks with a high quality one. Then run TWO wires from the RCA jack, and solder one to the rearmost wire of EACH of the input caps. Remove all four of the jumpers. Then connect one output to the HF binding posts on the speaker, and the other output to the LF binding posts.
1. Is there anything that I'm missing?
2. Will 'monoblocking' the amps provide me with twice the POWER of just using a single stereo one? (I realise this should only provide me with an incremental increase in volume and hopefully headroom on my 91dB efficient speakers.)
3. Will this actually provide me with more significantly more power than just using one channel of each amp to power each speaker? (ie. Just connecting the preamp L channel to the L RCA of an amp, then just connecting the L output to the speaker, and the same with the R for the other amp.)
Sorry about the very basic nature of the questions!
Hi from Australia!
Taz.
Ahh, basic questions. I can handle that.
It sounds like you're talking about bi-amping, right? With one channel going to the speaker's "HF" binding posts and the other to the "LF" ones.
What you're missing is a line level crossover, so you're feeding the correct frequencies to the tweeter and woofer and not the entire spectrum. From my limited reading on this forum and others about them, they seem to get pretty complicated real quick. There are passive ones, but it looks like active versions with some buffering/amplification are apparently much better. One thing you will need for sure is some way to adjust the relative volume of the LF and HF channels. Also if you use two, you have the problem of having a left and right channel volume control, which is pretty clumsy.
As to the amount of sound you'd get by bi-amping, the low-frequency part of the audio spectrum takes a good deal more energy than the high, so the channel that feeds the HF part of the speaker will need just a fraction of the wattage of the LF, so to me it doesn't seem like you would be gaining a huge amount.
As to how much headroom you would gain just by using only one channel I can't say, but there were some discussions on that in some of the longer Sonic Impact mod threads. Hard to imagine that this would give you much more sound--unless the power supply was seriously deficient.
--Buckapound
It sounds like you're talking about bi-amping, right? With one channel going to the speaker's "HF" binding posts and the other to the "LF" ones.
What you're missing is a line level crossover, so you're feeding the correct frequencies to the tweeter and woofer and not the entire spectrum. From my limited reading on this forum and others about them, they seem to get pretty complicated real quick. There are passive ones, but it looks like active versions with some buffering/amplification are apparently much better. One thing you will need for sure is some way to adjust the relative volume of the LF and HF channels. Also if you use two, you have the problem of having a left and right channel volume control, which is pretty clumsy.
As to the amount of sound you'd get by bi-amping, the low-frequency part of the audio spectrum takes a good deal more energy than the high, so the channel that feeds the HF part of the speaker will need just a fraction of the wattage of the LF, so to me it doesn't seem like you would be gaining a huge amount.
As to how much headroom you would gain just by using only one channel I can't say, but there were some discussions on that in some of the longer Sonic Impact mod threads. Hard to imagine that this would give you much more sound--unless the power supply was seriously deficient.
--Buckapound
Thanks so much for the reply!
I'm not intending to bi-amp... Merely find a way to have one Trends on each channel to increase output on my moderately sensitive speakers.
Oh, and they would (hopefully by the wiring mod I mentioned) be permanently in monoblock power amp mode, bypassing the volume pots. I'd be running them from my valve preamp.
I only mentioned attaching the outputs to the H and L frequencies (which would be bi-WIRING I suppose) only because I have two outputs from each 'monoblock' Trends. These two would just then feed into the speaker's passive crossover normally.
I was hoping this would provide a significant increase in amplification to the speakers over using a single stereo Trends.
Oh, and in regards to just using one channel of each amp to each speaker... I was wondering whether using just one channel (while not amplifying the voltage as much) would still provide the speaker with more current than with a single stereo Trends.
Thanks again for the input!
Taz.
I'm not intending to bi-amp... Merely find a way to have one Trends on each channel to increase output on my moderately sensitive speakers.
Oh, and they would (hopefully by the wiring mod I mentioned) be permanently in monoblock power amp mode, bypassing the volume pots. I'd be running them from my valve preamp.
I only mentioned attaching the outputs to the H and L frequencies (which would be bi-WIRING I suppose) only because I have two outputs from each 'monoblock' Trends. These two would just then feed into the speaker's passive crossover normally.
I was hoping this would provide a significant increase in amplification to the speakers over using a single stereo Trends.
Oh, and in regards to just using one channel of each amp to each speaker... I was wondering whether using just one channel (while not amplifying the voltage as much) would still provide the speaker with more current than with a single stereo Trends.
Thanks again for the input!
Taz.
I'm a little confused by the HF and LF binding posts, if, as you say, they both just go to the speaker's crossover anyway.
If this results in the L+R channels of any one amp mixing together, the setup will not work. The amps inside the Tripath chip are already bridged, which means you cannot combine L+R channels for more power, and I believe such an arrangement could damage the amp, or at least cause it to shut down.
If you're seeking more power, you might have a look at the kits from 41hz.com, who offer very fairly priced kits in all power and difficulty levels. There's no point in paying for the extra parts like pots and knobs on the Trends if you're just going to disconnect them anyway.
--Buckapound
If this results in the L+R channels of any one amp mixing together, the setup will not work. The amps inside the Tripath chip are already bridged, which means you cannot combine L+R channels for more power, and I believe such an arrangement could damage the amp, or at least cause it to shut down.
If you're seeking more power, you might have a look at the kits from 41hz.com, who offer very fairly priced kits in all power and difficulty levels. There's no point in paying for the extra parts like pots and knobs on the Trends if you're just going to disconnect them anyway.
--Buckapound
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