Thread: Yamaha A1000 + Marantz MM8003

I recently found a Marantz MM8003 - its a 8-channel power amp and i have a 7.2 speaker setup. My fronts and surrounds are floor-standing towers capable of being bi-amped and my center and surround backs are obviously not as powerful. So i am thinking if i could use the Marantz to power only the fronts and surrounds and let yammy continue to provide juice for center and surr-backs. Now three things i need clarification from you good folks here:

1. If i only connect pre-outs for fronts/surrounds and leave center/sb connected to speaker terminals, will Yammy still continue to provide amped output for center/sb?

2. As Marantz has 8-channels amping, can i bi-amp all my fronts and surrounds? I listen to my music in 7-channel stereo mode and am hoping by having these 4 speakers bi-amped, it will provide me with a better listening experience. Sure at higher volume i probably won't be able to hear the SBs and center powered by Yammy but that's OK if i am getting my towers to deliver full potential.

3. Will bi-amping have any real impact? I have read in some other threads about only ACTIVE biamping works and that requires removal of crossover circuit from speakers and doing so up stream in pre/pro? I once tried bi-amping my fronts with Yammy and did not notice a difference. And yes i did it properly by removing the brackets from speaker terminals and changing the configuration of amp section on Yammy to use SBs for bi-amping.

Let the opinions roll in

Hi mejazz.

Originally Posted by mejazz

1. If i only connect pre-outs for fronts/surrounds and leave center/sb connected to speaker terminals, will Yammy still continue to provide amped output for center/sb?

It should. I know some HDJers adopted a similar solution for their theaters, powering their fronts and center with a three channel amp and letting their AVR power the rears.

Originally Posted by mejazz

2. As Marantz has 8-channels amping, can i bi-amp all my fronts and surrounds?

Yes.

Originally Posted by mejazz

3. Will bi-amping have any real impact?

There's only one way to know. My experience with biamping is twofold: once, I was at a friend's house with some of our audioholic fellows and we tried biamping his B&Ws. He owns an extremely high end Krell/B&W theater and the difference was pretty evident, so much that he eventually bought more Krell EVOLUTION amps and modified his speaker wires so that he could biamp his theater (the test was done with biamping-ready speaker wires gently provided by one of our audioholic fellows). I later tried biamping my Klipsch speakers with NAD separates (I own neither at present) and the difference was significantly less dramatic. I guess the benefits of biamping are rather "case sensitive". Since it sounds like you're going for the Marantz regardless, you might as well just try it and let your ears be judge.