What is the correct process for bi-amping a Denon Rec.

This is what I did last night to no avail....all I got was a low hum from the low range.

1. Connected a short pair of RCA cables from the front pre-outs to an un-assigned input.

2. Used the remote to turn on Zone 2

3. Selected VDP for Zone 2

4. Disconnected RCA cables from the front and hooked them up to Surr/Multi Pre-out and into VDP input.

5. Removed connectors for bridging the speakers

6. Connected the standard L & R fronts via speaker wire to the High Freq. inputs on the speakers.

7. Connected the surrounds from the Denon 3805 to the low frequency on the speakers.

I get a chitty hum.

I adjusted the Zone 2 Master Volume up to 0.0. I then turned it up a couple dbs and the hum gets louder and when it goes up to 3 dm I get a nasty feedback from the low range and then rec. shut offs and flashes blinking red lights meaning it is protecting itself.....

What the hell am I doing wrong?

My 4806 power supply took a dump and is back in for service and this is my old rec.....but wtf is the problem?

I'm surprised your receiver didn't hold up the white and then give you a right good kicking.
Seriously though, what speakers are you using?
It's usually only worth bi-amping with two separate amplifier components. Your Zone 2 power is a shadow of your main L&R outs.
If you really feel the need to experiment with 'bi-amping', you just need to hook up the speaker 'A' L&R outs of your 3805 to the HF speaker terminals and the speaker 'B' L&R outs to the LF speaker terminals. Then select speakers A&B. Don't be surprised if you don't hear a difference though.

no harm no foul tho; it's fun to experiment...as long as ya don't fryolate your circuit boards!

<ul><li><a href="http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/denon-avr-5803/bi-amping-the-denon-avr-5803">clicky</a></li></ul>

He'll need another amp/receiver to do what he wants to do properly with his 3805.

He's better-off just buying a decent power amp and by-passing the L&amp;R speaker-outs of his 3805 altogether and just using the pre-outs to the power amp.

after some volume level matching........it gives a little more headroom to the tune of 3dbs.....it will float the boat until I find a decent set of separates that can drive two channels at 500 watts each @ 8 ohms

the mids and highs are a little clearer and that was the idea.......I know it does not double the wpc but it helps in regards to clarity.

Wh do you want that much power? Are your speakers 3.5 Ohm with a sensitivity rating of 81db and being used in a huge room?

so a decent size room

I would have bought powered towers at that price and saved money......Lsi, Def Tech, or something along those lines.

What speakers are they?

and I would prefer to use the pre outs and just use the Denon for just processing duties it DTS, Dolby, and etc.

I have been trying to find a used Arcam, Rotel, Anthem power amp.

If the price was right I would even mind finding a multi channel amp to drive all five speakers. I don't think in my current room 7.1 is necessary...maybe down the line but not right now.

BTW passively bi-amping made the sound better to my ears after some adjustment on the zone 2 volume....it is set at +3 db now. Everything is a little clearer and my wife is the one who noted on music that the voices were a lot clearer. We heard details in Jack Johnson's guitar that we previously didn't even know we there........

Either 2 x GFA555, 5500, 5800 or 5802, or they also make multi channel versions. The 7700 has 5 channels, so you could biamp the fronts, and power the centre. Rears could be handled by the receiver, or try all 5 speakers powered by the 7700. A lot of flexibility with that amp, try different combinations and see what you like best.

They really are outstanding amps, well biased into class A.

I had a 5800 driving the Maggies, and struggled to better it until I bought the Audio Research.

Pair of used 555 or 5500s should set you back about a grand, same for one 7700, double for a pair of 5802s.

There are 555s, 5500s, and 7700s on Ebay right now.

It is rated for 200 wpc but is this enough when the speaker can handle 500 wpc?

I have been reading reviews and I am going to need a bigger entertainment center if I start loading it up with separates.....I see how this can get very addicting quickly.

Or better yet, toy with disconnecting your center channel completely. Just go into your Denon's on screen menu and switch the center channel to 'off' and let the front L&amp;R's do the rest.
I'm actually being quite serious. I tried this a few times with systems where there wasn't room for a center channel and it worked really well for most of them, significantly better than with the center channel on two of them.
Most receivers should send the center ch. info to the L&amp;R's. No need for mono sound in these times!

My wife likes Jack Johnson too. That and having to talk myself out of shagging other women are the only things that suck about marriage. Heh-heh.