I picked up some vintage Magnepans the other day real cheap!  I see on the back of them you can bi amp them.  I've never had speakers you can bi amp.

My question is...can I use the two sets of speaker outputs on my B&O receivers?  Hooking speaker 1 with the right output of speakers 1 and 2 on the  back of the beomaster, and the same for the other speaker.  

Any ideas?

Guy      

Hi Guy,

I'm very familiar with Bi-amping in certain situations. Biamping , coming before separate powered subs. Was so that you could drive the higher end with a smaller amp and the lower end with a separate large amp. Usually the low end of these are very power hungry and especiallyl with Pan's....

There are stragetys that allow you to drive an outboard amp and this situation calls for just that. Even BnO offered those 150rms amps that were mono base units that were on the Penta's...or simply convert to RCA and drive a big clean amp...

Just an idea..

Thanks guys!  I like to idea of using two penta amps instead.  Now...if only two of them would show up!  Where the amp only pentas very good sellers? 

Guy

I don't think i've ever seen those amps on Ebay....has anyone else/???

I did see a set of beat up Pentas though that the amps worked on...

 As I look at the penta...I think you could take off the top cap and the speaker and be left with the Mono amp....kind of a waste..but these pentas went for $300 usd...they were in horrible shape and perfect for your project..

Well the price sure isn't bad!  Thanks...I'll keep an eye out!

Guy

I don't see the point in doing what you're suggesting. Both outputs on the back of the Beomasters are wired to the same amp, there's only the two amplifiers in there. I see no benefit in doing this really...

Some years ago I have had the opportunity to listen to a pair of these Magnepan speakers (2.5 model).
At that time they were known for their tortured impedance curve flirting to the short circuit at some frequencies.
I remember to have listened them connected to a 2x125W Audio-Research tube amplifier and have been very impressed by the precision of their sound stage.
So what would you think about a good serviced Beomaster 8000? With its ability to work at very low impedance I am quite sure it will perfectly do the job.

You are perfectly right Alex the benefit of the bi-amping comes from using two (or three) different amplifiers to prevent some interferences and distortions between the different ways of  the cross-over; for example a Beomaster 8000 for the bass, a Beomaster 6000 for the midrange and a Beomaster 2400-2 for the trebles. But the connections of the sources then become a bit complicated!

Marc

I agree with Alex. Absolutely no point as there are only 2 amps in most beomasters with the exception of the 1 quad model but there's not going to be enough power to adequately drive Magnepans.

If you have later Beocenters with the master link outputs I'd run them to a pair of Bryston 4Bs. I have a friend with a Magnepan and Bryston combo; it is a gorgeous combination.

Hopefully your Magnepans are in good condition. Many sell for cheap because the ribbon tweeters blow or the strings delaminate. You will hear a rattling sound when you turn the volume up if this is the case.