Bridge An Elektra?

[SlawMan]

I am wondering if I can bridge two channels of an Elektra Theatron to give 300wpc?

I am using it to power my front three with the amp running the surrounds, so spare channels!

[Gutty]

I am wondering if I can bridge two channels of an Elektra Theatron to give 300wpc?

I am using it to power my front three with the amp running the surrounds, so spare channels!

You can bi-amp, but don't think you can bridge it.

[SlawMan]

You can bi-amp, but don't think you can bridge it.

Thanks Gutty,

Is there the same benefit in doing this? Do you know why u can't bridge it?

[Shonky*]

You can bridge any amp BUT:

1) you need to invert one channel so you need probably some external processing. Commonly built in to car audio amplifiers and PA amps, but I don't think so on AV amplifiers.

2) The 2 amp channels effectively see half the impedance of the and as such are driven a bit harder i.e. bridging a 4 ohm speaker results in each channel seeing only 2 ohms. Some amps mightn't like that too much.

[Shonky*]

To answer your further question.

Assuming your speakers are capable of biamping, that's probably a better solution all round.

[SlawMan]

To answer your further question.

Assuming your speakers are capable of biamping, that's probably a better solution all round.

Thanks Shonky,

So I would split the output from my receiver into two channels of the amp then use one feed from the amp to drive the bottom set of posts and the other to drive the top set?

Would this be effectively delivering more power or just the same power driving a lesser load?

I guess I can just give it a go and see if i can hear a difference, I just don't want to blow anything up!

Edited September 12, 2008 by SlawMan

[Shonky*]

Yes that should it basically, drive two channels of the amp with one channel of the receiver. After that you treat it like two separate speakers.

Don't forget to remove the bars/straps linking the binding posts on the speaker.

You will halve the impedance seen by the audio processor since it's going into to amp channels. Shouldn't make any difference though - I would expect an Elektra to have a pretty good input stage.

Effectively you will be doubling your power (for a set "volume" on the processor or amp) so you will probably need to adjust levels on your processor or amp.

It's quite likely you won't hear a difference. You might notice it more when you crank it up since the amps won't have to work as hard then.

[glenncol]

Assuming your speakers are capable of biamping, that's probably a better solution all round.

Amen to that

[SlawMan]

Amen to that

Hey Glenncol,

Did you notice much benefit? I am driving Studio 20s and a CC590.

[Gutty]

I am driving Studio 20s and a CC590.

Doubt you'll see much if any benefit. The Elektra should be driving your 20's with ease.

[SlawMan]

Doubt you'll see much if any benefit. The Elektra should be driving your 20's with ease.

Yeah they sound spectacular but you know how it is. Three spare channels and an endless itch to upgrade.........

[AndrewW]

Did you notice much benefit? I am driving Studio 20s and a CC590.

I did, no way I'm going back to a non bi-amped configuration.

[glenncol]

Hey Glenncol,

Did you notice much benefit? I am driving Studio 20s and a CC590.

Hey Slawman for myself yes i did notice a difference but it's not night and day i have found i receive a little more openess and heavey bass passages are handled with a little more control.

But again not night and day

I am not sure if there will be any benefit with the 20's as i have never tried them as mains Bi amped, currently i have my three fronts bi-amped but with the redisign on my H\T room i will be Bi-amping all 7 channels not expecting any benefit from the sides and rears it's just that will have the channels spare

[SlawMan]

Hey Slawman for myself yes i did notice a difference but it's not night and day i have found i receive a little more openess and heavey bass passages are handled with a little more control.

But again not night and day

I am not sure if there will be any benefit with the 20's as i have never tried them as mains Bi amped, currently i have my three fronts bi-amped but with the redisign on my H\T room i will be Bi-amping all 7 channels not expecting any benefit from the sides and rears it's just that will have the channels spare

Well I had a fiddle last night and hooked the fronts up using two channels each.

Noticed a distinct improvement in detail and "punchiness" when listening at matched levels. On Apollo 13, using the DTS track, where the rocket carrier vehicle with the caterpillar tread is in closeup, I could hear the gravel crunching which was not distinct before. I also found it was easier to hear the distinct music score along with the launch effects just a few minutes later on the same DVD. I was plesantly surprised at the improvement I heard on my Mika live in cartoon motion DVD. Sounded a lot more "live".

Nothing like a good fiddle

[glenncol]

Well I had a fiddle last night and hooked the fronts up using two channels each.

Noticed a distinct improvement in detail and "punchiness" when listening at matched levels. On Apollo 13, using the DTS track, where the rocket carrier vehicle with the caterpillar tread is in closeup, I could hear the gravel crunching which was not distinct before. I also found it was easier to hear the distinct music score along with the launch effects just a few minutes later on the same DVD. I was plesantly surprised at the improvement I heard on my Mika live in cartoon motion DVD. Sounded a lot more "live".

Nothing like a good fiddle

LOL , yeah fiddle a day keeps arthritis at bay

I dont disput you have heard a difference at all, but do yourself a favor and rig up a set of cables that will make it easier to change from Bi-Amp to single channel (Dont forget the terminal plates)and have one of your mates or wife change between them while you are out of the room. Then play the same passages of music and movies to see if the difference is as big as you first thought.

This will tell you if it's all worth the effort

[quijibo]

LOL , yeah fiddle a day keeps arthritis at bay

I dont disput you have heard a difference at all, but do yourself a favor and rig up a set of cables that will make it easier to change from Bi-Amp to single channel (Dont forget the terminal plates)and have one of your mates or wife change between them while you are out of the room. Then play the same passages of music and movies to see if the difference is as big as you first thought.

This will tell you if it's all worth the effort

Are you for real? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through.

Have you tried this yourself?

Edited September 16, 2008 by fallout boy

[AndrewW]

Are you for real? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through.

Have you tried this yourself?

We do seem to be suffering a severe bout of "if you haven't double blind tested, then you must be seeing/hearing things"-itis on the boards these days ...

[glenncol]

Are you for real? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through.

Have you tried this yourself?

umm the answer would be yes, as you can see in my sig i have three fronts bi-amped at the moment, If there was no reasonable difference they would not have remained bi-amped just for the sake of it. The only way for myself to be convinced was to do as i mentioned above to hear the difference between them and no just think there was a difference because i expected there to be one, if that makes sence.

[glenncol]

We do seem to be suffering a severe bout of "if you haven't double blind tested, then you must be seeing/hearing things"-itis on the boards these days ...

For myself dude its the only way for me to be sure that it is worth the effort.

At one point in time i was convinced there was a difference in Bi- wiring although a small difference, there was alot of heated discussions on this forum as well as many others for and against. I got bored one weekend and desided to do a double blind test and determined that in realistic terms for myself there was no difference and a certain element of expection had crawled into what i was hearing.

[AndrewW]

For myself dude its the only way for me to be sure that it is worth the effort.

I understand where you are coming from, especially with regards to subtle changes, but there was a night and day difference when I bi-amped my mains.

So much so that I swapped back to a non bi-amped setup just to convince myself that there really was that much of a difference.

There was no need for blind testing, no placebo effect, blind (deaf) freddy could have heard the improvement.

[glenncol]

I understand where you are coming from, especially with regards to subtle changes, but there was a night and day difference when I bi-amped my mains.

So much so that I swapped back to a non bi-amped setup just to convince myself that there really was that much of a difference.

There was no need for blind testing, no placebo effect, blind (deaf) freddy could have heard the improvement.

Hey thats cool dude, mine was more of a suggestion to slawman if he wanted to be 100% sure of the amount of difference e.g Night and day to dusk and dawn

[SlawMan]

LOL , yeah fiddle a day keeps arthritis at bay

I dont disput you have heard a difference at all, but do yourself a favor and rig up a set of cables that will make it easier to change from Bi-Amp to single channel (Dont forget the terminal plates)and have one of your mates or wife change between them while you are out of the room. Then play the same passages of music and movies to see if the difference is as big as you first thought.

This will tell you if it's all worth the effort

Hey Glenncol,

I would probably go to this effort if I was buying it but since it's just a re-wire and it's done, I will probably leave the wife alone on this one (she already thinks I am nuts). The pieces that I auditioned with are my reference tests for listening and I am extremely familiar with how they sound through different gear. I think most would probably consider it a "subtle" difference/improvement but to us audio nuts I am pretty confident it's the sort of incremental improvement we look for once everthing is optomised.

Just as a postscript, I think most of the improvement is coming through my cc590 as the difference on stereo music is less obvious.....

Edited September 16, 2008 by SlawMan

[fawlty99]

For myself dude its the only way for me to be sure that it is worth the effort.

At one point in time i was convinced there was a difference in Bi- wiring although a small difference, there was alot of heated discussions on this forum as well as many others for and against. I got bored one weekend and desided to do a double blind test and determined that in realistic terms for myself there was no difference and a certain element of expection had crawled into what i was hearing.

That's what i found as well. I've kept the fronts bi-amped as I have the amps and the cables so why not? Maybe different speakers would give different results (or younger ears).

Edited September 16, 2008 by fawlty99

[glenncol]

Hey Glenncol,

I would probably go to this effort if I was buying it but since it's just a re-wire and it's done, I will probably leave the wife alone on this one (she already thinks I am nuts). The pieces that I auditioned with are my reference tests for listening and I am extremely familiar with how they sound through different gear. I think most would probably consider it a "subtle" difference/improvement but to us audio nuts I am pretty confident it's the sort of incremental improvement we look for once everthing is optomised.

Just as a postscript, I think most of the improvement is coming through my cc590 as the difference on stereo music is less obvious.....

cc590 is a bloody nice centre dude

I wasnt suggesting that sort of test had to be done but more a suggestion to qualify the amount of difference if you were interested. Yeah my wife use to think i was nuts until i brainwashed her and honestly now i rely on her as a second opinion

[Jeffie1503561482]

but what about the difference between biamping and bridged? fair enough people get a difference with single channels but no one had stated any difference with bridging... ive always wondered since bridging usually more than doubles the power output.