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Audio and speakers

Bi-amping

Driving a speaker's low and high frequency sections with two separate amplifier channels through its dual sets of binding posts.

Speakers with two pairs of terminals separate the woofer and tweeter crossover sections. Bi-amping removes the jumper between them and feeds each section from its own amplifier channel. Passive bi-amping keeps the speaker's internal crossover; active bi-amping replaces it with an electronic one.

The appeal at home is using spare receiver channels, such as surround back outputs on a 7.1 receiver running 5.1, to give the front speakers more headroom. Gains are modest because the full-range signal still reaches both channels.

Do not confuse it with bi-wiring, which runs two cables from one channel and adds no power. If you bi-amp, set the receiver's amp assign menu and use identical channels for both sections; mismatched amplifiers create a level offset between woofer and tweeter.