Who bi-wires?

I've Bi-Amped before with McIntosh amps & pro-JBL and yes, if you can do it properly with another matching amp, a really good active dividing network and cables there is no better way to go.

In your case you have very good speakers and amplification (love the way those Autoformers "tube out"' the sound) and even though you don't want to invest in bi-amping you certainly should give bi-wiring a try. If you like what you hear maybe someday down the road you could consider Bi-Amping.

Give the Bi-wiring a shot (even if you have to borrow some cables) and let us know the results. I'm sure a lot of us would be interested.

 

Well for the price of some esoteric speaker cables, one could buy a decent amp with cheaper cables instead; the amplifier certainly has more influence on the result than the speaker cables...

Just my 2 cents.

 

Re: Re: Re: Who bi-wires?

I wonder which theory that is? THere seem to be so many theories about such things, most of which don't make a lick of sense, regardless of whether there is a real audio benefit or not.

I haven't gotten around to trying biwiring. Heck I haven't gotten around to putting in proper speaker cables yet, since I moved. Gettin' old and lazy. I do know that just the fact of having more copper (or whatever) is likely to produce a benefit. THere's enough resistance in speaker cable to produce measurable changes in performance.

 

I have a pair of Von Schweikert VR 4.5's which are made for bi-wiring - so I went with it. The speakers sound great. I never took away one wire to see if it would make a difference. Could be a conspiracy between the wire makers, the speaker manufacturers and my local audio guy, but I feel better about it psychologically.

 

I have my speakers bi-wired, basically because I could. I can't say it improved the sound. The sound was definitely improved by the wires I did purchase -- a pair of Nordost Superflat wires. Thankfully, even my wife noticed an improvement right away. I, of course, say thankfully because it made it easier for "the wife" to accept the price of the wires.

 

Marty,

Welcome to the Forum. The term that you are reffering to in regards to the wife is known as the WAF (Wife acceptance factor).

 

wire is wire

According to the engineers and scientists who comment on the "rec.audio.high-end" newsgroup 12 guage speaker wire from Home Depot and Radio Shack "gold" interconnects are as good as it gets.

 

I have the PAradigm Studio 40's set up with 4 corners of my room.

The two fronts are Bi-Wired with Monster M1000 and the rears are not
Bi-Wired and used regular 14 gauge Monster speaker wire.

I can't really notice a difference.

 

A number of years back I had a pair of Alon IV loudspeakers with three sets of binding posts - I experimented with a number of different cable configurations and they only really sang when Tri-Wired - the difference was not subtle.

All the best - Andrew

 

Are these really in the corners Gary, or are you speaking in general terms? You know, of course, that a speaker in the corner will get tremendous reinforcement from both walls (and the floor). This will add considerable bass energy to the overall sound. Some speaker designs are meant to be "corner loaded", but unless this is part of the design, placing speakers in the corner will lead to a bass heavy sound.

How close to the corners are they?

Regards,
Geoff

 

Re: wire is wire

I would be careful in ascribing too much credence to the views of those posters. They have been pushing the same tired barrow up the same old hill for so long you would think they'd have exhausted themselves. You'll have to sort out your own sensitivity to wiring - some don't feel that it makes much difference, while for others it's very important. It's best to hear for yourself.

Regards,
Geoff

 

If I were an Engineer or a Scientist using RS equipment I may believe this also, but thank goodness I'm not.

 

Hi Geoff,

My Paradigms Studio 40's are set about 4 feet from the walls behind them and are set about 8 feet from the side walls in the four corners of my listening room. The Paradigms have two rear ports in each speaker. My Velodyne HG10 subwoofer is set about 2 feet from the each wall in a corner behind the seating area.


Hi Dave,

It seems as though many Electrical Engineers don't believe in speaker wire
claims.

As a structural Engineer, I can understand where they are coming from but
I can't agree.

All metals will color the sound differently. Silver , Copper or Aluminum
or even hybrid speaker wire each will affect the sound in a different way.

Silver that might sound great for a tube based system might not be the
right choice for a solod state sound system.

Best Regards,

Gary

 

A lot has to do with the loads that your speaker require...My Pipedreams towers accept bi-wire, but the manufacturer admits that without the bass requirement (separate subs), jumpers will do the job just fine.

Even the folks at Siltech say that you are better off using a high quality jumper cable that diminishing the "amount" of cable to a primary connection. I went with what they told me....