Bi-Amplifying Front Speakers on AudioControl XR Receivers
Bi-Amplifying Front Speakers on AudioControl XR Receivers
The XR4, XR6 and XR8 receivers can reassign internal amplifier channels 6 and 7 to bi-amplify the front left and right speakers — feeding the tweeter/mid section and the woofer section from separate amplifier channels. This is a common request on higher-end CI installs. The work is straightforward but the jumper removal and polarity must be right.
Requirements
- Front speakers with dual binding posts.
- The bi-amp setup splits the tweeter/mid drivers from the woofer drivers across different amplifier channels.
Menu setup
On the front panel:
- Menu > Speaker Types > "Use Channels 6 & 7" > Bi-Amp L+R.
Note: enabling this changes the Surround Back speaker type to None. The installer trades surround-back channels for bi-amped fronts — confirm this suits the system design before committing.
Speaker connection
- Remove the copper jumpers between each binding-post pair before connecting anything.
- Front Left: Front Left output to the top binding posts (tweeter/mid); Channel 6/7 Left output to the bottom posts (woofer).
- Front Right: repeat with the right-channel outputs.
- Maintain +/- polarity throughout — a reversed post will put the drivers out of phase.
On the rear panel, Channels 6 and 7 are labelled "Zone 2 / Height 1 / Surr Back".
Output
XR receivers deliver their rated power per section and are stable down to a 4-ohm minimum load.
Processor variant — Maestro X7/X9
For the Maestro X7 and X9 processors the Speaker Types configuration is identical, but instead of internal channels the installer routes the Front L/R and SBL/SBR RCA or XLR pre-outputs to outboard multi-channel amplifiers.
This article was adapted from AudioControl's original guidance: "How to bi-amplify your front left/right speakers: XR 4/6/8 receivers" — https://support.avproglobal.com/portal/en/kb/articles/how-to-bi-amplify-your-front-left-right-speakers-xr-4-6-8-receivers-14-11-2025 Habitech-edited for UK trade installer context. Original © AudioControl (via AVPro Global KB).