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RSII bi or tri amp?

A

Austin-Fi

New Member
Earlier this summer I scored a nice pair of RSII speakers. Unlike the RSIIA or RSIIB, they did not come with the bi-amp option on the back.

I started off powering them with an old Sansui 80 wpc amp and they sounded good. I then hooked them up to a Rotel 200 wpc amp and they sounded better. I have since acquired several more amps ... a Parasound (6x80 wpc), a Parasound (6x135 wpc), and a couple of Crown 200 wpc amps. The Parasounds make them sing really nice but they seem to run extraordinarily hot (don't know if it is just a Parasound characteristic or what).

Anyway, when I first got the RSIIs I was encouraged by some of the members here to bi-amp them for optimal sound pleasure. Well, now I have plenty of amps to do just that and even maybe go tri-amp.

I have an old Heathkit electronic x-over but I have not yet tested to see what shape it is in. I actually built the thing from sctratch about 30 years ago but it has been stored in my mom's closet for the last 25 years (had totally forgotten about it). I have also considered getting a newer digital x-over which would allow me to tri-amp but have not yet settled on a brand/model.

So I ask you the experts for advice/suggestions on bi-amping or tri-amping my RSIIs. I suppose I will have to custom rebuild the existing passive x-overs but I have no idea how to do that right now.

Thanks,

roberto
 
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I have had a pair of RSII since 1981 mine are revised pair from Infinity, have foam on the backside of mids. Ive used a Yamaha 70 watt receiver and since 1997 an Acurus a250 400 watt @ 4 ohms per channel power amp. With my new Marantz sa 11 s1 cd/sacd player the sound is awesome. I've never has interest in by amping as speaker is not designed for that. With the right equipment they sound great w/o more. A clean powerful amp is all you need
 
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Agreed, the bigger Infinity's all need lots of headroom (extra reserve current capability). The need is sort of a minimum of power amps rated at 200 W into 4 ohm loads. That's why your amps are getting hot - they don't like the 4 ohm load :(

You might try horizontal bi-amping with the Crowns? One for each speaker if they can be bridged to mono? If your ROTEL will output to the Crowns from the preamp (pre outs?). Get some good cheap video IC cables (double shielded - look at WalMart) long enough to put the crowns a few feet from the speakers and run short big wire (12 ga, or 10 if it'll fit?) from the Crowns to the speakers. Fire the test rig and see what you get. It might need refining, but could be the way to go?
 
Thanks for the replies.

What kind of foam did you put on the back and what purpose does it serve?

Only the Parasounds run hot, the other amps seem fine. However, the Parasound have a very high damping factor and are supposed to be capable of handling low impeadence ... Oh well, they do sound nice.

They sound nice with the rotel and crowns too though ... so I'll play it safe.
 
it was done by factory

Austin-Fi said:
Thanks for the replies.

What kind of foam did you put on the back and what purpose does it serve?

Only the Parasounds run hot, the other amps seem fine. However, the Parasound have a very high damping factor and are supposed to be capable of handling low impeadence ... Oh well, they do sound nice.

They sound nice with the rotel and crowns too though ... so I'll play it safe.
Click to expand...
Heavy foam with cut outs for the three midranges, It was done by factory . serial number have a "9" before them to signify factory mod.do not know if anything internal was also done
 
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