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Speaker Jumper Cable Experiences

Rob84

Rob84

Addicted Member
Hi All, So I keep reading that replacing the stock speaker jumpers with bona-fide cables results in an improvement in sound from the speakers. I may try this out but I wonder what experiences others have had in doing this? I am on the fence. Thanks for your thoughts and time.....
 
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Had a look at some in a (very) high end hifi store and decided I couldn't afford the $600 price tag, so I made my own. I use the same speaker wire as the main run, with a banana plug on one end and a spade on the other.

Since I bought most of my speakers "open box" with some of the original jumpers missing, obviously I'm going to find more of a difference than most people. That is, my speakers now work properly.

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I'd be skeptical that such a short run of wire will make an audible difference, however it's pretty easy to test with a few pairs of banana plugs and a few inches of wire.
 
Higher End speakers that are bi-wirable usually have more serious jumpers on them stock vs the thin little sheet metal strips on less expensive speakers.
 
Hmm, I made some jumpers for the mighty AR9's out of bare pieces of Romex copper. Just wondering if I should use stranded wire, after reading a thread yesterday about skin effects. :idea: OTOH it's only about 2" of wire...
 
toxcrusadr said:
Hmm, I made some jumpers for the mighty AR9's out of bare pieces of Romex copper. Just wondering if I should use stranded wire, after reading a thread yesterday about skin effects. :idea: OTOH it's only about 2" of wire...
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I wouldn't worry about that too much. :p
 
Hyfi said:
Higher End speakers that are bi-wirable usually have more serious jumpers on them stock vs the thin little sheet metal strips on less expensive speakers.
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So are those little sheet metal strips not good? I am looking a tweaking my system and wonder if patch cables would be better?
 
I've never heard a difference on my speakers. But going from 12 gauge to 8 gauge jumpers on my strapped amps has made an audible difference..
 
Hyfi said:
Here is an interesting read on bi-wiring and jumpers
http://www.nordost.com/downloads/NorseJumperinstructions.pdf
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I found this claim a bit hard to swallow:
Often, the very best results are achieved using a diagonal connection. This involves connecting the red cable to the bass/mid terminal and the black to the treble, with the jumpers arranged accordingly, bass to treble on the red (or +ve) side of the crossover, treble to bass on the black (or -ve) side. This is slightly more confusing to wire, however, with a little extra care and patience the results can be well worthwhile, and once you are familiar with bi-wiring procedures this often becomes the new default set up, offering greater air, transparency, dimensionality and subtlety.
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BMWCCA said:
I found this claim a bit hard to swallow:
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I only said it was an "interesting read". I have played around with some those suggestions with my Clearfields. I think I may hear a difference, but cannot say for sure. Mainly connecting one side to the top and the other side to the bottom. Doesn't take but a few minutes to try for ones self.
 
I was more taken aback by an earlier claim:

  • Only use the best cable that you can; one run of cable will invariably

    sound better than two runs at half the price.
Because if it costs more, it has to sound better. Along with the corollary, if it's not expensive, it can't sound good.
Slippery slope here, I know...

Chip
 
To further expand on my earlier comment, there are two sets of binding posts for two sets of wires, not for jumpers. Give it a try, even with inexpensive wires. You might want to take a look at what Richard Vandersteen has to say about the benefits.
 
Seems like this is a subjective benefit-some hear improvement and some do not. My former speakers instructed to bi-wire them but I could not perceive any benefit from it, so I left them with a single connection, Perhaps I'll just have to try it for myself and see if replacement jumpers do work (or not). What do I have to lose? Oh..and thanks for your input! I appreciate it.
 
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