Question about biwiring vs single wiring

Kevin C Brown · 09-14-2003, 03:26 AM

If I can bi-wire the front 3, but the surrounds and rears can't be, and if I want to "balance" the gauge all around, how would I do it?

For example:

a) front 3 biwired with 16 gauge for each conductor (16 + 16 = 13 gauge), surrounds & rears with 14 gauge

b) 14 gauge all around

Am I thinking correctly that (a) is what I want because since I'm splitting the load between the low and high freqs, that the gauge does effectively add together?

brucek · 09-14-2003, 10:12 AM

Kevin,

Since your speaker cables are likely to be different lengths, I feel your plan of 'balanced' gauges has a few holes in it. Not that it would matter, but you would have to make the calculation of length combined with appropriate gauge to ensure the resistive load was matched all round. The result of course, is that your inductive reactance wouldn't match all round since the longer cables would have a higher cumulative inductance (since gauge has minimal effect on inductance per foot). This would throw off any chance of balanced impedance.

My guess is that all you're looking for is the best sound for a reasonable price, and since the science behind bi-wiring is questionable at best (anecdotal evidence only), my advise would be to spend money on something that's actually got a chance of making a difference and use a single good quality 10 gauge cable all round, and keep them short as possible - it's not expensive in bulk. That's it......

brucek

Kevin C Brown · 09-14-2003, 05:46 PM

Cool. I guess I was only really looking to biwire the fronts just because it could be done, not necessarily because I believed I'd get any sonic benefits.

SeanA · 09-14-2003, 11:43 PM

Quote:

since the science behind bi-wiring is questionable at best (anecdotal evidence only)

If bi-wiring is anecdotal, why do so many speaker manufacturers incorporate two pairs of binding posts ???

Kevin,

If you want balanced sound levels, you simply need to use test tones and a good sound meter to measure and adjust each channel through your receiver. If I recall correctly from my studies, I don't think small differences in length of wire will result in a large enough change in resistance to noticeably affect power output. Maybe there are some electrical engineers that can chime in. (I am a mechanical engineer, so I could be wrong... didn't much care for all those electron thingys).

Kevin C Brown · 09-15-2003, 01:16 AM

Sean- No, not balanced as in the physical sound level meaning, but "balanced" as in the same effective gauge.

If the signal is being split between high and low freq for one run, then would a higher gauge for each run of the bi-wire be effectively the same as using a lower gauge but single wired?

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brucek · 09-15-2003, 11:51 AM

Quote:

If bi-wiring is anecdotal, why do so many speaker manufacturers incorporate two pairs of binding posts ???

Of course the speaker manufacturer is recommending it. If everyone else in town was recommending it, wouldn't you? That's good business. If putting three pair of posts on a speaker would increase sales, there would be three pairs.

Generally it's accepted that the two binding posts are beneficial for bi-amping.

I'm all for bi-wiring. If you have bi-wiring installed, put the straps back on your speakers and let all the drivers realize and enjoy the benefit of the heavier gauge that's created as a result of combining the two cables. Certainly this would increase your system damping factor, which is far more important.....

Quote:

If the signal is being split between high and low freq for one run, then would a higher gauge for each run of the bi-wire be effectively the same as using a lower gauge but single wired?

To the power amplifier it would be the same, but each driver section will be connected with a smaller wire. As I said above, if you are using two cables in a bi-wire fashion to your speakers, you can lower the resistance of the connection (for example) between the LF driver and the amplifier by putting the straps back in and the LF driver will now see a less resistive path back to the amplifier. This will increase system damping.

brucek

Bill Kane · 09-15-2003, 02:03 PM

Bruce, it's nice to see you posting again at HTF...

I decided to replace the "gold" terminal straps on my Paradigm spkrs 6 mos ago -- on the basis of your observations then.

After a year's experience bi-wired, I heard no change, anecdotally speaking. I'm keeping the Monster basic HDXP cable in place for an effective 11-12 gauge connection.

bill

Matt_Doug · 09-15-2003, 05:55 PM

I was reading the "market speak" on Audioquest's website and they claim a benfit of biwiring is that there is better filtering of bass and mid harmonics from the high frequency path resulting in cleaner highs and a more defined mid and bass To my ears I've always heard subtle improvements with biwiring mainly better definition.
As per balanced impedance all round, to what pupose?

Chu Gai · 09-15-2003, 07:11 PM

You might want to reconsider the damping factor aspect Bruce by browsing the following article by Richard Pierce. He's a speaker designer, consultant, and among other things is part of the peer review board over at the AES.
Damping Factor: Effects on System Response A Technical Analysis

Chu Gai · 09-15-2003, 07:57 PM

How does the wire know what frequency it's supposed to handle?

Matt_Doug · 09-15-2003, 10:28 PM

the crossover and Ohm's law E=IxR or rather E/R = I From which you can see at any given E voltage when R (Impedance) is infinitely high, I (current) will be 0. frequencies rolled off by the crossover have infinite impedance and current will not flow to the speaker at those frequencies. Which means that in a biwired system certain frequencies can be relegated to a particular wire depending on the crossover points [Edited for incompetence

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