Bi-amping

[Chris_D]

OK first off, 'Bi-amping' for the non-inititiated is not something kinky! :lol: :roll: It's a way to power speakers from 2 separate sources with an effective way of controlling frequency crossover. The benfits are that it reduces distortion and separates out the workload for the amps.

https://www.audioadvice.com/content/speaker-bi-wiring-bi-amping-explained/

I noticed while I was soundproofing the doors yesterday and today that there are 2 connectors on the midrange door speakers, but only one connector is utilised. Weird.

I'm a fan of bi-amping hifi speakers at home and therefore it's piqued my interest as to whether bi-amping is possible with the stock or other speakers.
I have 2 identical working Carver amps now so if I could figure out a way of powering the second and having a dedicated power/signal feed to the bi-ampable speakers I might be in for some audible treats.

Long-shot?
Not worth the faff?
Or, give it a go Chris, like you have all the time in the world to explore this you silly tw@t!

 

[LittleZ4]

Give it a go!! Better to know than continuously wonder

 

[skelters]

What's the worst that could happen?.....

 

[Worcester_spoon]

Slightly off topic, but how easy was it to remove the door panels to do the soundproofing, and did you have to disconnect the airbags first? If so, how and how long did you wait.?

 

[MrPT]

Is this for the stock paper cone speakers with their little drivers and GCSE project looms, in a car where even the best AV kit would sound mediocre?

Wouldn’t bother...

 

[Chris_D]

What's the worst that could happen?.....

Bwaaaaaahahahahha :lol: I LOVE that photo. Stood there lookin like he's watering the begonias!

Slightly off topic, but how easy was it to remove the door panels to do the soundproofing, and did you have to disconnect the airbags first? If so, how and how long did you wait.?

I followed a few posts on here as well as the BavSound youtube channel to remove the doorpanel.
Battery disconnected after dropping the windows to remove the doorpanels and airbags. Just go easy and use plastic trim tools. Store all screws/clips in a cup so u don't lose them.

Is this for the stock paper cone speakers with their little drivers and GCSE project looms, in a car where even the best AV kit would sound mediocre?

Wouldn’t bother...

I might upgrade the drivers if the bi-amping experiment is successful, so it's a good exploratory exercise in that respect.

 

[noiseboy72]

Bi-amping assumes that the speakers have their own built in crossovers and you are just adding a tiny bit more power and slightly reducing driver intermodulation. Not really worth it in a car TBH. That 2nd connection is probably just in parallel with the 1st, so you can't bi-amp it - just run 1 driver from 2 amps. That's not a good idea and won't really gain you anything.

Unless you are replacing all the drivers, amps and cabling, is there really much point? Mine came fitted with a JVC head unit and sounds so much better than the standard radio, plus it has decent bluetooth, USB connection and hands free all integrated. It has a sub woofer output and full DSP, so I can tweak it quite happily and it now sounds quite good for car hifi. I can roll off the bass just before the bass drivers start to struggle and set speed sensitive auto gain and loudness compensation.

Bangin' tunes

 

[abar121]

I also bi-amp at home with seperate amps for the mids / tweets and bass end, but there is no point in the zed.

Follow that old DSP thread to get the best out of the stock carver system. Otherwise replace the system in it's entirety for a big improvement. I wouldn't personally bother in a car as noisy and with a fabric roof / tiny doors, like the zed.

 

[MrPT]

The PSU line noise is terrible as well, judging by the output of dashcams, mics etc - makes sense when you consider the EM environment, cheap components and the fact that there is probably some common circuitry with EPAS etc.

I bet the power supply goes all wobbly under any kind of serious audio load - in a bi-amped situation the impact of this would be still shared across drivers/channels. If you want incremental quality gains, better power isolation/management might get you further than bi-amping.

If you just want to do it for fun, however, fill yer boots! Can't say it's not the kind of thing I've done in the past.

 

[NeilP]

Bi-amping seems like less work than running an active front stage, but the potential loss of power wasn’t enough to sway me when putting together my audio setup for one of my coupes.

If however you have a spare amp laying about...go for it. I do would be interested to know if they need any time delay given their location though!