Wondering about BFD and biwiring...

[Snatcher]

I was reading this article at the Harman Kardon site and when reading about the different bass response of each speaker and how a sub woofer makes sense in such a setup, I then asked myself the following question, which I pose to you guys.

Would it make sense to have a separate BFD unit to equalize the bass of bi-wired front speakers?

I know it would probably not offer much of an improvement, and am also aware of digitizing the low end of a good pair of fronts (thus I thought about biwring and only having the BFD in there). But I also thought that it might give a smoother response around the crossover. It is just a theoretical question though I just got another BFD for a friend and I could test it out in a month or so.

[Otto]

Good morning Artemio,

Not a bad idea, but I see a couple problems.

1. Levels. Since you'd presumably use the BFD to provide cut to your incoming signals, your "bass" of your mains may no longer match the "mid/high" response of the mains. Unfortunately, there's no level control on the BFD to accommodate for this. You could get around this if you bi-amped, rather than bi-wired, though...
2. Delay. The BFD's processing path inserts about a 1mS delay, causing your "bass" to now slightly lag your "mid/highs". Unfortunately, there's no way to account for this, and adjusting delay at your receiver/pre/pro will only insert a wholesale delay for your front signal, including the "mid/highs".

Too bad. I like the idea, and I'm set up with a bi-wire system right now. The difference the BFD makes for subs is so great that I really like the idea of processing the "bass" of my mains. Now, all that said, if you can get another BFD from a friend and see how it goes -- why not? It's not going to break anything, and you may like it! Let us know how it goes...

[Snatcher]

Good morning Otto, thanks a lot for your reply.

I did get carried away there, you are right it could not be done as I first rushed to think. I'd need to place it between the pre-amp and the amp, and then I would have both of the problems you describe unless I bi-amped. It seemed too good to be true, and there was more than one reason for that.

Anyway, I might give it a try when the BFD arrives just to check it out.

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Snatcher wrote:

Would it make sense to have a separate BFD unit to equalize the bass of bi-wired front speakers?

Actually, it would be impossible to connect a dedicated equalizer for the bass only in a bi-wired set up. It would only work with bi-amping.

Regards,
Wayne