Bi-Wire

[disturbed]

mate made some bi-wire cables for me. have connected them and have heard no difference. is better sound by bi-wire a myth. should i just go get some quality speaker cables like Van Den Hul.

[geebo]

Bi-wiring will not make an audible difference for you. I've tried it as well. But it won't hurt anything, either.

[Deleted]

Just get some good quality 14 ga. OFC copper wire and be happy - any cable that has a "sound" is monkeying around with the real sound of the music.

-RW-

PS: When you pose questions in English, it is advisable that you end your sentences with a question mark (?)...

[AudioHTIT]

Dec 18, 2012 6:42:58 GMT -5 disturbed said:

mate made some bi-wire cables for me. have connected them and have heard no difference. is better sound by bi-wire a myth. should i just go get some quality speaker cables like Van Den Hul.

If your cables make solid connections with the amp and speaker, and are of sufficient gauge, what you are using will probably work quite well. I'd leave the bi-wire you built and enjoy your system. If they are exposed in your living area and you want to make them look nicer you might check out the DIY threads on building speaker cable, there are some ways to dress them up if that appeals to you.

[Deleted]

I never heard a difference with "bi-wiring". I did hear a difference with "bi-amping".

[jackfish]

I agree with AudioHTIT. If you already have it set up there is no need to try more expensive cables. Enjoy your biwire setup.

[hemster]

In most cases, Bi-wire = Buy-wire!

[emovac]

Check out Blue Jeans cable. Canare 4s11 or Belden. DIY or custom terminated. Reasonable prices, good quality.

[12elfthfloor]

I tri-wire with 1 metre cables. Mainly to get rid of the jumpers using different wire, length, and connections.

im the some cases, it did make a difference, however subtle but i think it was to do with synergy as opposed to more wire.

[klinemj]

I buy-wired mine. That is, I "buyed" some 10 gauge stranded copper wire from Home Depot...enough for dual lines to the red and dual lines to the black (for an effective 7 gauge per terminal), twisted them up, and shoved them into the amp outs and banana plugs at the speaker ins.

They sound great. And, with one terminal in blue wire and one in white, they look nice, too!

So, I advise buying wire also...not necessarily bi-wiring...but buying wire...big stuff, short runs, enjoy it and that you will spend about $20 doing this.

Mark

[bobbyt]

Dec 18, 2012 21:20:55 GMT -5 12elfthfloor said:

im the some cases, it did make a difference, however subtle but i think it was to do with synergy as opposed to more wire.

Ha, I would love to hear what physical phenomona you think make up this "synergy"...

[audiosyndrome]

If anyone wishes, I can give a detailed explanation of why bi-wiring has the CAPABILITY to make a system sound better if the system it's being used in has the CAPABILITY to resolve the subtle differences bi-wiring can make.

For now I'll just point out the Richard Vandersteen, who has sold more speakers than most manufacturers combined, specifically designs his speakers for bi-wiring.

My Hyperion 938Ws sounded better tri-wired than with single wiring and jumpers, although I have to admit that the cables lent to me by the manufacturer were in the "if you have to ask ...." category.

Russ

[charlie7]

Yes, bi-wiring is a myth. The use of two separate speaker wires connected to the same amp and feeding a passive speaker crossover can not split frequency ranges between the wires. Resistance, inductance and capacitance are the wire properties that matter.
Charlie

[klinemj]

Understand the capability...but capability and audibility are different. I have actually tried it, and I didn't detect anything with my Paradigm's. But I left them that way. Now, my Maggies do not have the ability...so, it is not a consideration.

Mark

[12elfthfloor]

Dec 18, 2012 21:45:48 GMT -5 bobbyt said:

Dec 18, 2012 21:20:55 GMT -5 12elfthfloor said:

im the some cases, it did make a difference, however subtle but i think it was to do with synergy as opposed to more wire.

Ha, I would love to hear what physical phenomona you think make up this "synergy"...

I thought this thread was about sharing one's personal experiences based on the gear they have and how it works together.

It's such an interesting hobby and one that i continually enjoy and often surprises me.

Must be a real bugger that you've heard them all and experienced everything. I'm sorry for you mate.

[Deleted]

ALL speakers are capable of accepting bi-wires. You simply connect both sets of wire to the single input terminals on the speakers. However, there is NO electrical reason for using bi-wiring *unless* the cables you are using are especially wimpy (small gauge). In that case, you are effectively increasing the wire gauge. And this will really only come into play when you are using 50+ ft. runs of wire. Longer wires exhibit greater resistance. But most of us use runs of 15 ft. or less.

Long story short: use any good-quality wire that is 14 ga. or thicker - Home Despot wire is *plenty* good enough. And a 12 ga. wire is thicker than a 14 ga. wire - go figure...

-RW-

[klinemj]

True...but then, doing it this way would totally defeat any possible theoretical advantage I have ever read of buy-wiring. Not that any options would result in any audible advantage relative to the theory...but...why let that stop us?

Meanwhile, I am loving my Homely Despot wire...very pretty colors...white and blue...

Mark

[RichGuy]

Dec 20, 2012 17:53:47 GMT -5 @rlw said:

ALL speakers are capable of accepting bi-wires. You simply connect both sets of wire to the single input terminals on the speakers.

-RW-

Actually that is incorrect, bi-wiring does require separate terminals to the low and high frequency speakers.

There is more to actual bi-wiring than just running two sets of wires and separate terminals at the speaker end are required. The theory behind bi-wiring is more complicated than just using two sets of wires.

Here is a link to a good explanation in how bi-wiring works and also why the separation only needs to be at the speaker end when bi-wiring.

www.audioasylum.com/audio/cables/messages/4953.html

While the differences are very subtle I have found I do prefer my system bi-wired.

[emovac]

I tried it banana at amp, to bi-wire banana at the speakers using Canare 4S11 Star-quad, removing the jumpers. In my case, I couldn't hear any difference. I ended up going back to standard configuration. Thought it was worth a try.

[mickeyharlow]

Dec 21, 2012 1:15:33 GMT -5 emovac said:

I tried it banana at amp, to bi-wire banana at the speakers using Canare 4S11 Star-quad, removing the jumpers. In my case, I couldn't hear any difference. I ended up going back to standard configuration. Thought it was worth a try.

Same here!