To bi-wire or not?

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forums, so I apologize in advance for the dumb questions.

I was wondering: would my system benefit from bi-wiring? I have two Polk LsiM707 Speakers, Yamaha A-S701 Integrated Amp, Chord Signature speaker cable jumpers, TARA Labs TL-2/14 speaker cables. My dealer is offering me a great price a TARA Labs Prime bi-wire, could anyone tell me if this would benefit my system? Appreciate the input

 

Ultimately only you will be able to tell if bi-wire is worth the expense. I have never experienced a benefit from bi-wire so my usual advice is spend the money on upgraded single wire runs and jumpers but I see you have what appear to be good cables and jumpers already. Interconnects? More music? And if you were asking about bi-amping then thats another subject completely!

Your Polks look very nice (just read the Tone Audio review http://www.tonepublications.com/review/polk-audio-lsim707-loudspeaker/)! The prior version of your Yamaha integrated has a good rep; I think I would have paired them with the S-1000 if not the S-2000. What are you using for a source?

And welcome to the SHTV where you will find many opinions...

 

I advocate biwire if your system can accommodate it.

 

Would your dealer give you a home audition? that's the only way you'll know for sure.

I think (like in most things) everyone has an opinion ... I personally haven't even tried it, I have Analysis Plus Oval 9 cables and Oval 12 jumpers, seems excellent to me.

 

I've never noticed any difference, your mileage may differ

 

IMO, the benefit from bi-wiring has more to do with getting rid of the stock jumpers (most are horrible) and since you've already upgraded those I don't think you'd find an advantage going to bi-wire cables.

 

I don't think this is a dumb question however
no one can tell if they will benefit your system.

Ask your dealer to lend you the bi-wire cables
so you can test them at home.

If he won't let you do that forget about it.

 

If you are already using Chord speaker jumpers don't bother . Bi amping or Mono Block amps different story.

 

I am a bi-wirer!

 

Me too. Until 1997, I'd never had speakers that needed biwiring but bought some Epos ES12 speakers and a new Arcam amp. I got QED biwire cable and plugs as part of the trade-in of my old amp and speakers (would have cost me around £80) and was floored by the sound. I compared it by borrowing some good quality jumpers from the shop and there was really no comparison. The sound of David Gilmour's solo on the studio version of 'Comfortably Numb' absolutely nailed it for me.

 

Bi Amp yes and do it.. Bi Wire - Not sure - I really cant see the logic of how it makes any difference = but the best thing to do is try it if you can demo some cable

 

Thanks everyone for the replies!

Gonna see if my dealer will loan me the cables for a bit. Definitely agree about bi-amping (haven't done it yet, but I plan to).

 

Thanks, I absolutely adore these speakers.

For a source, currently using a VPI traveler turntable that I picked up used. Not the best I've ever heard, but it seems to work well with my current setup.

 

Update! My dealer was happy to lend me the Tara Labs biwire - thanks so much for suggesting this! The difference in sound quality was slight - as expected - but I think it was an improvement. (Of course, my brain may be more biased than I realize...) The audio quality seemed to be a tad more neutral and engaging (one of my biggest pet peeves is when music is sterile)...

Again, this is my first experience trying any sort of bi-wire. Though I can't say how others may fare; it seems to work well with my system synergy.

 

are you in a position where you could try bi amping..

 

I'd want to audition some new single-wire cables that sell at the same price as the bi-wires and audition them back-to-back with the bi-wires. Of course, it isn't that simple, since each cable sounds different, but it would, perhaps, give you a useful feel for what's truly what when it comes to holler for your dollar.

 

I liked your post because you seem to feel it works well in your system, and that's all that matters....expectation bias be damned!

 

I am bi-curious myself. If you tried it and like it, that's great. I have been doing some research, and found a discussion on the Audioquest site that seems suspect from a common sense perspective. First they say that it is better to separate the bass and treble signals, but I don't think biwiring does this as both cables are connected to the same output terminal so the same signal is going through both cables (both bass and treble frequencies). Second they say that it is always worthwhile taking advantage of the biwire capabilities that the speaker manufacturer has spent money to provide, but I think the dual terminals are more for biamping. You don't think they're trying to sell twice as much cable, do you?

Anyway, from an electrical and common sense logic perspective, it doesn't make sense to me, but YMMV.

 

I bi-wire on my speakers and like the improvement it makes. If you have the cables for it then try it for yourself and see if you find it an improvement. The effect will no doubt vary from system to system so I can't say to you that just because my system is this way yours will be also.

See what the manufacturer of your speakers recommends for your model and go from there.

Scott

 

My experience with bi-wiring is that is has been beneficial in my system(s). I used to use two runs of speaker cable per channel, which was possible due to the amp I was/am using. Now I use a bi-wire terminated cable, not sure IF this is the better solution....however, it is a less costly proposition.

 

I have an ignorant question about bi-wiring. But I'd rather PM someone about it rather than expose myself. I looked around on-line but didn't find anything. Simple question though.

 

The designer of my speakers suggests it. When I first listened to them, I used the cables I had (11AWG) silver over copper Litz cables with matching jumpers and also the stock jumpers. The matched cable jumpers (basically the matching 28AWG IC terminated for speakers) were a little better. I then stepped down in the line to plain copper, cumulative 11 AWG and the same geometry (no silver), biwire. In this configuration, electrically, the resistance is a bit higher. If you used a biwire and a jumper, the resistance should even out, but you defeat any theoretical betterment. It may ultimately depend on the crossover of your speaker, but you must remember that the full frequency exists in each run. Low frequencies don't go down one wire while highs go down another. Could a very simple, completely discreet crossover, say a theoretical cap and coil, benefit from connecting to the amp at the amp separately rather than collectively at the crossover connection? Seems unlikely, however you could use slightly different weight wires of similar design and change the way the crossover worked by modifying the way each driver or array sees the amp. I'm OK with what I've got.

 

Ask your question mate. The people that hang out here are very helpful. You can learn a lot here. I did.

 

I used to biwire, although now I no longer do. No sonic benefit to my ears and arguably better as single wired.

 

If you think that bi-wiring doesn't produce any real benefits could you instead have bi-wire capable speakers set up to two different audio systems at the same time without damaging them (i.e. have stereo listening and home theater both simultaneously wired the same speakers so you can interchange between them without having to constantly re-wire the speakers)?