Bi-Wire question, interesting perspective?

It depends on the fidelity of your system. With a decent, resolving system and speakers, you'll hear a subtle improvement between single-wired vs bi-wired cables. But it's not night and day like bi-amping a pair of 87db 4ohm speakers. I owned a pair of Marten Coltrane Alto's driven by a Boulder 1060 and modded Ayon CD-5s as tube linestage/digital source, with Jorma Origo bi-wire speakers cables & thought I heard again - a subtle improvement vs using the standard jumper bars.

I currently own a pair of 2.0 mtr Jorma Statement sc's which aren't exactly cheap. If my next pair of speakers had biwiring terminals, personally rather than buying a second set of Statement sc's to bi-wire, i'd order a set of Jorma Statement jumper cables which would be a superior option to the normal gold-plated jumper bars. Still technically not as good as bi-wiring, but close enough for me given i've got finite funds. My 2c.
 
Since this topic was well discussed less than a month ago, I have merged the new "Bi-Wire - Snake oil?" Thread into the previous thread, since we don't need 2 threads on that same topic.
 
First off, I've never tried it nor set my crossovers up to do it, but can conceive of how it could help.

Many say they hear a "subtle improvement" in the sound. Exactly what improvements are you hearing?
 
toddalin said:
First off, I've never tried it nor set my crossovers up to do it, but can conceive of how it could help.

Many say they hear a "subtle improvement" in the sound. Exactly what improvements are you hearing?
Click to expand...

I can only speak for myself, but there's a slight improvement to clarity in the mids/highs, better separation, and better soundstage.
 
Last edited:
w3jn said:
The amount of current is certainly different. The waveform at each end is, however, identical, with the exception that the voltage at each end will be slightly different to account for I^2R losses in each power cord.

As I stated, given decent speaker wire (ie having sufficient capability to handle the current, with low I^2R losses) the differences at the end of each branch will be minimal.
Click to expand...

And it's the I^R difference of the wire, which is interacting with the varying Z (impedance) and the back -EMF of the drivers, which causes the difference in the signal at the speaker ends of the speaker cables.

Not only is the current different in the two legs- but the voltage isn't even completely the same at the two legs of the cable (at the speaker inputs) in a bi-wire system. However- since the amp is usually MUCH closer to zero ohms (at least for most amps with any decent degree of negative feedback)- this effect is "shorted out" at the amp.

As mentioned above- what constitutes "sufficient capability", in terms of wire impedance? It varies depending on the impedance and back-EMF characteristics of the speakers in question. Some speakers have a lot more interaction-effects going on, than others...

This is also why some observe better sound, with tube amps (which sometimes have higher output impedance, comparable to what a speaker wire has, or more) when using TWO AMPLIFIERS (one to the HF section, one to the LF section), rather than simple bi-wiring or single-wiring, from a single amplifier. This TOTALLY isolates the LF from the HF, in terms of back EMF and modulation.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
henrylr said:
I have a pair of B&W 803N speakers and they have bi-wire/bi-amp connections and jumpers. I just can't envision how using the jumper bars or a second set of cables, from the amp. can make a difference. Does it really make a difference?
Click to expand...

To be clear, you need to use either the speaker jumpers, or bi-wire. Of course, It also works if you bi-wire with the speaker jumpers in place, but you lose most of the potential benefits of bi-wiring (you get resistance reduction from two parallel paths, but you don't get isolation of high and low currents).

The only thing that is "fact" (e.g. physics/Ohm's Law) in bi-wiring is that it creates separate, distinct, and isolated currents down the high and low circuits.

Whether that isolation of current (theoretically reducing interference) makes any audible difference in real-life is up for discussion (hopefully based upon real-world experiences with bi-wiring).

Since the physics of current isolation has been discussed and proved ad nauseam in prior posts of this merged thread, probably the most effective discussion would be posters sharing their real-world experience of whether on not they heard sound improvement in their system (as imperfect as that usually subjective assessment is).

From a cost perspective -- 12awg speaker wire costs about double what 14awg speaker wire costs, and two pairs of 14awg speaker wires in parallel has roughly the same resistance benefit as a single 12awg wire. So, if you're going to buy 12awg wire, buying twice the length in 14awg wire and bi-wiring might be a better option for some -- roughly the same resistance reduction benefit, but with the added potential benefit of current isolation from bi-wiring.
 
Last edited:
Actually, if you can get 14g speaker wire for half the price of 12g, then it's a BETTER bargain. Each doubling of conductor area, corresponds to three gauge sizes lower. So, two 14g wires in parallel, gives 11 gauge.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
I needed crossover caps for some Boston Acoustics T1030's I'm fixing. Upon building up my shopping cart I found that shipping was expensive enough that adding more stuff to qualify for free shipping meant that the extra stuff was effectively discounted. ( at least that's my story)
So I added 50 ft of OFC 14 GA cable and a pack of 16 banana plugs.
Well I hate to admit that my wiring between my Adcom 5802 and my B& W 801's used to consist of a length of 12 GA wire nutted to a short length of 16 GA for the further speaker (the12 ga was about 3 ft short) and a short length of 16 GA for the other channel. So unequal lengths, different conductor sizes and wire nuts!!!
To finally rectify that situation I cut the new cable into 4 equal lengths, and utilized the biwire capabilities that both the amp and the speakers have.
Don't know for sure if it sounds better, but I finally feel good about the hook up and I think it's better...
Now on to more listening to see if I can conjure up some good confirmational bias!!
I'm not going back to the wire nuts!
 
Bradbrews said:
... Don't know for sure if it sounds better, but I finally feel good about the hook up and I think it's better...
Click to expand...

This to me is what it's all about. It's very easy and inexpensive to do (when using non-esoteric OFC), and it feels good to connect it the best you (pragmatically) can. Bi-wiring is electrically different. Whether it actually sounds better may never be settled, but who cares when it's so easy and inexpensive to do?
 
Can’t say with certainty that it sounds better but it doesn’t sound worse. On the plus side it makes isolating woofer or tweeter issues easier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom