Better quality Single Run vs Biwiring lesser cables (1 Viewer)

[Howard_S]

Which is better? To use a single run of better quality cables or biwiring lesser quality cables. Obviously due to price concerns most of us has to choose between biwiring or simply getting better quality cables.

 

[KeithH]

Howard, if you had, say, $250 to spend on speaker cables, you would likely be better off buying a single pair of non-biwire cables than a pair of biwire cables or two pairs of non-biwire cables for biwiring for the same price. There are no absolutes, but this usually the case. Using a $250 budget as an example, you would be better off buying a good pair of cables with banana plug terminations. Then, if you wanted to biwire later on, you could save another $250 and get second pair of the cables you bought before, this time with spade terminations. You can insert the spades "under" the binding posts on the amp that are housing the banana plugs.

I have read many opinions stating that it is better to biwire with two separate pairs of quality cables (i.e., one with bananas and one with spades) than with one pair of pre-made biwire cables. Some say that many pre-made biwire cables lead to "crosstalk" between the high-pass and low-pass leads. I can't confirm this, but I have read it many times.

 

[Robert A. Willis Jr.]

What does the speaker manufacturer say? Some put the extra bindings on the speaker just to have an additional "feature". Others actually design the speaker for bi-wire or bi-amplification (these are not the same thing). The Martin Logan hybrids almost always sound better bi-wired.

rw

 

[Chip E]

PSB's stance on this (i own the Stratus Silveri 's )is, they put the biwire terminals there because customers want it however, they don't recommend biwireing.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

AR puts Bi Terminals on the Hi Res series because they
recommend Bi Amping (they don't say they recomend Bi Wiring)
There are measurable Benefits to Bi Amping but Bi Wiring is
as unsubstantiated as all these cable claims in general.
I Bi Wired with pure 12awg OFC and IMHO there is nothing
"better" short of solid 24K Gold or Sterling Silver conductors
that will actualy show a measureable improvement in resistance.
other than that.. it's for looks..

 

[Jeff Adams]

I second that with Chip, I own a pair of PSB Image 6T'S which are biwirable. I tried it out both ways. And I DID not like the way they sounded biwired. With most speakers I would say that biwiring is a waste of time and money. And sometimes makes your speakers sound worse. I just bought some pretty thick Monster cable speaker wire have them one pair going to each speaker and they sound great.

 

[Marc H]

Howard,

It will depend on the specific amp/speaker combination. As you can see from the other comments, bi-wiring is not always necessarily a good thing.

Try and see if your dealer will lend you a set of both to try and then use your own judgement. If bi-wiring is a benefit to your specific combination, you will hear it immediately.

 

[Matthew Anderson]

I would go with a single run of good quality cable at first like DH Labs T-14 and then try biwiring later if want to try it. I have my fronts and center birwired but not my surrounds.

 

[KeithH]

I wrote here awhile back that I tried biwiring Totem Arro and Energy e:XL 25 floorstanding speakers in my two stereo systems with Monster MCX-IS biwire cables. A 10-foot pair of these cables with Monster Lock banana plugs cost me $127.50 at Tweeter. I was only using Monster XP wire off a 50-foot roll for these speakers prior to biwiring. I tried the biwired configuration on both speakers for a few days, but ended up returning the cables because I was not pleased with the sound. The Energy speakers sounded particularly awful biwired. The Totem Arros responded better to biwiring, but I still was not pleased with the results. I am now using a standard pair of BetterCables Premium speaker cables with Vampire banana plug terminations with the Totem Arros, and they are great. I am hoping to biamp the system with the Totems, at which time I will buy another pair of the BetterCables cables. With the Energys, I went back to the Monster XP wire for now and am actually quite happy with the sound there too.

 

[Marc H]

My Energy V2.8 took on a whole different character all together when tri-wired (for the better).

I find Arro's sound good biwired with some of the little British integrateds. Shrill though when on a receiver.

 

[KeithH]

Marc, thanks for the information. Have you ever tried biwiring the Energy e:XL 25s? If so, what cables did you use and what was the outcome? Good or bad?
I am using the Totem Arros with an NAD C 370, which I suppose constitutes one of the "little British integrateds". Actually, at 120W x 2 continuous power into 8 ohms with both channels driven (reported by NAD; probably measures out higher*), the C 370 isn't too little. Anyway, I feel the Arros work very well with the NAD C 370. I plan on biamping the Arros by adding the NAD C 270 power amp instead of biwiring.
* In its October 2001 issue, Hi-Fi Choice out of the UK said of the NAD C 370, "It's also extremely powerful, being capable of driving 185 Watts into 8 ohms." I don't know if that's continuous power with both channels driven or what.

 

[Howard_S]

Paradigm doesn't say much about it. They do say that biwiring CAN improve sound quality. They also think it's an inexpensive upgrade option.

So you think I should go with a better set of speaker cables instead of biwiring?

 

[Scott Basham]

Just as a point of reference, a while back I had done some speaker (Klipsch rf-3ii) moving and upon sitting down and listening, I kept noticing that the left and right sounded a lot different. One sounded a little muddy, while the other sounded a little bright (like I like it).

At first I thought I had a defective speaker or something, but after a quick run down, I noticed that I had one set of speaker wires connected to the upper terminals on the back of the speaker and the other was connected at the lower set.

This gives me some idea that there may be some advantages of bi-wiring, but I still haven't done it. Is it possible that the improvement of bi-wiring would be dependant on how well the jumper connecting both sets of terminals does its job?

 

[KeithH]

Scott, as long as you have quality jumpers (often referred to as shorting straps) between terminals, it does not matter which pair of terminals you use (upper or lower). The speakers will sound the same either way. I verified this with my Energy e:XL 25 and Totem Arro floorstanders. Also, the owner's manual for the e:XL 25s shows wiring a single pair of cables via the lower terminals, and I called Energy about this, and they said it doesn't matter which terminals you use.

Note that when you biwire or biamp, you remove the shorting straps.