Best discription of why you SHOULD bi-wire that I have ever read

This just says it all..

Bi-wiring (Cables, Speakers, & Amplifiers) Talk about counterintuitive. How does my amp know how many sets of cables I’m running from it? Or my speakers how many I’m running to them? And why would they care? The truth is theydon’t know or care. It’s the cables themselves that do. Bi-wiring is a technique to make two sets of cables sound better for the same or less total expenditure than a single-wire set-up. How does it work?By removing detrimental low frequency (bass) energy from the cables carrying the delicate voice and imaging signal to your midrange and tweeters and, to a lesser extent, providing a similar dedicated path to the woofer(s). There are three ways one band of frequencies can negatively influence another in a speaker cable: in the conductor (metal) itself, by electromagnetic infiltration, and mechanically (physical movement).True bi-wiring (running one set of cables from your amp’s output terminals to a low frequency input on your speakers and another set to a high-frequency input) eliminates all three and should significantly increase clarity, openness and definition in your sound. So much so that adding the two prices of those cables and running single-wired for the resulting total price should still sound worse. And therein lies the benefit: the price/performance ratio improves.What’s going on? A bi-wire ready speaker (one with two sets of inputs) lets you move the crossover (electronically, not physically) from inside the speaker after the speaker cable to back at the output of the amplifier beforethe speaker cable. The speaker’s separated filters will then draw only highs down the top cable and only lows down the bottom one yielding a substantial performance improvement in your cables. Let’s imagine a tweeter with its filter in Chicago, a woofer with its filter in Minneapolis and an amplifier here at Ultra Fidelis in Milwaukee. The filters would telegraph their actions back to Milwaukee and only highs would head south on the wire to Illinois. Likewise, only bass would go north to the Twin Cities.Caveats? Be careful mixing brands or philosophies of cables. A cable with “nice highs” mated with a different one noted for “great bass” all too often results in an unhappy marriage which sounds less good than either one by itself. Keep all cables the same length. Many speaker cables can be “internally bi-wired” within one cable package and this can be a nice, cost-effective improvement over standard termination. Just remember that, although you have eliminated the interaction within the conductors, you have done much less to address the other two distortions which are cured by true bi-wiring.Finally, while any amplifier can be used in a bi-wire setup (there is no such thing as a “bi-wired amp” although some kindly offer two sets of output connectors or extra long-throw binding posts), make sure your amplifier can accommodate the additional wire or we can terminate your two sets of cables into one connector.

 

Thanks for the post. You made many good points. I have some speakers that I bi-wire. I use Blue Jeans Cable speaker wire for those with good results.

That being said, I am so glad my Wilson Yvette speakers don't use a bi-wire configuration.

 

Uhm, this doesn't make any sense, does it? The amplifier will be delivering a full frequency signal through the speaker cable regardless of wether there's a low-pass or high-pass filter at the other end. There's no "removing detrimental frequencies" going on before the actual filter.

And where is the text from anyway? Got a link to the original piece?

 

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True bi-amplification requires an external crossover to be used instead of the speaker's own internal crossover.

Bi-wiring is simply means running two sets of wires - each carrying the full frequency range of the original signal to each section of the crossover.

Bi wiring alone does not eliminate any portion of the frequency range from arriving at the speaker inputs from the amplifier.

 

It's silly.

Doug

 

What's your point? I was only referencing "bi-wiring"

 

The point is the statement above is not correct.

 

The crossover doesn't draw, it is force fed by the signals the amplifier sends. The person who wrote that doesn't understand the basics.

 

The point is the low frequencies "see" the impedance in the hi-pass crossover at the amplifier output. Therefore they do not traverse the hi frequency cable.

 

The key to the point in the original post wording is that he says "...low frequency energy..." The current flow is negligible for lows in the feed to the high pass side of the speaker. The energy being transferred is changed.

It is truly basic electronics. The demand from the driver/crossover impedance and phase angle, the wire length and values and the amp output impedance are all big variables that make a difference in the result of the individual situation. And explain why some hear differences and some don't. Assuming they've actually experience trying it and not just using internet folklore for their "knowledge".

CJ

 

I've only ever read reviews whereby bi-wiring has improved the sound quality (however slightly), never how it was detrimental. That's good enough for me.

 

Well actually to make it more realistic, here in the UK we have towns named Tweedale, Woofferton & Ampfield

(sorry, couldn't resist )

 

How long have you had the Yvette speakers, wow, it's a beautiful speaker indeed! Tell us about your experience with them so far? What color did you buy? Was the set up painless, etc. My gosh, Wilson speakers are just the best.

 

That's false. The crossover + speaker are the load on the amplifier. The load is what draws current.

That's false. All frequencies traverse the cable and are then filtered out by the crossovers.

 

It's only a flesh wound.

 

This is an old article:

Bi-wire, not only an advantage

 

Apparently there is no lack of competing and strident views on bi-wiring. I have my PSB X2T's bi-wired from my Yam A-S801 amp - because I had decent wiring laying around, same lengths, same wire, so I figured I'd try it. It's been a while now that they've been wired like that. They seem to make nice sounds.

 

This is just dumb. Both sides of the crossover are tied together .. be it at the amp or by bridging the terminals at the speaker. The amp does not 'see' anything different.

 

Excelent article!
But one thing I don't quite understand, if the filters telegraph their actions back to Milwaukee, will these telegraph signals not interfere with the audio signals on the cable? Isn't that like fighting fire with fire? Or, like introducing a larger disadvantage in search of fighting a minor disadvantage?

Best regards

 

I posted this in another thread on the same subject. From the manual for my Mirage OM-7s.

 

Hogwash!

 

I biwire. I don't believe that HF and LF are separately going to each cable, not even sure how that could occur. The only reason I biwire is that I was running Clearday Silver Double Shotguns which have deep bass extension and "slam", but highs were too forward in my Tannoys. So I run the Clearday for the LF and Stager cables (all around good performers with "accurate" highs, but subdued bass vs the Clearday) for the HF. This sounds better than either set of those cables alone and seems to be the best of both worlds.

 

Here's how I handle the amplifier end.