Bi-wiring - That much difference? (1 Viewer)

[Matt Brighton]

Hello all, I don't know why I'm thinking about this now, but I've had my Polk Audio speakers for about 4 and a half years now and was seriously thinking about upgrading my speaker wire to accomodate bi-wiring. However, this is fairly expensive (around $100 for each speaker), but wanted to know if I'll really be able to tell that much of a difference?

If it's minimal, then there's no point to upgrading; but if it's "night and day", then I'll take the plunge.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give...

 

[Shane Morales]

I did this with my Mirage OM7s just to try it out. There was a very subtle difference (a bit brighter). I don't know that if I hadn't known about the bi-wiring that I'd ever have noticed it. Just yesterday I got rid of the extra wires.

It is *not* a night/day difference. YMMV, of course. I say spend the extra money on something else.

 

[Matt Brighton]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Thanks for the tip!

 

[John Garcia]

Why would you need to spend $100? ANY decent speaker wire will work. There is NO NEED to buy a bi-wire cable. True bi-wiring (bi-amp) requires a dedicated channel of amplification for each of the two terminals on the speaker or you are not buying yourself much.

IMO, if you are still using the jumpers that came with the speakers, you will probably see a moderate improvement by just swapping that out with a short run of the same speaker wire you are using now.

 

[Philip Hamm]

There is no difference at all whatsoever. Don't waste your time or money on biwiring.

 

[John Garcia]

I biwired my Mordaunt Short 902s and got a noticable improvement in clarity, so I would not go so far as to say it is a waste of time. I only did it because the wire I went with was 4 conductor for biwiring, so I tried it out (only 5' runs). Is it worth another $100? I'd spend that somewhere else.

 

[Matt Brighton]

I'm sure the difference would be minimal and if it were to be a drastic improvement, I'd probably need a lot more expensive speakers that I currently have right now. Plus, I'm living in an apartment, so I don't want to wake the neighbors!

Thanks everyone, for your help. I'll use my money on DVD's as opposed to wire.

 

[Ron-P]

Save that $100 per speaker and by amps with it. Bi-amp those Polks and you'll notice an impressive improvement. I bought 4 2-channel Adcom amps for roughly $125/ea off ebay to power my RT55s/CS400 and AB755's. An excellent upgrade in sond quality over the Marantz receiver I was using.


Peace Out~

 

[Ted Lee]

nice read:

http://www.soundstage.com/synergize/synergize031998.htm

 

[David Judah]

It would help if you were using very high gauge wire to begin with since bi-wiring increases the effective overall gauge, but if you have 18 gauge or below on a short run, I doubt it would matter.

DJ

 

[Ernest Yee]

Yeah - that's $200! If you really want to just upgrade the cable (which really is only truly useful for longer runs), just get some 12ga Oxygen Free Copper cable from Lowes or Home Depot or online. I think I got my car audio 12 ga cable off Ebay for $50 (250 FEET).

Or for a better improvement in sound, you might want to just spend a bit more and get a pair of RTis on discount right now.

 

[Steve_Ma]

I had some extra 12ga speaker wire, so I bi-wired my B&W's (which are "made" to be bi-wired). I noticed no difference at all. I'm glad I tried it, but all it did was give me some "peace of mind" that I wasn't missing anything.

--Steve

 

[JohnSmith]

Don't bother. Save up to bi-amp your system (left/right speakers) that'll give a improvement in sound.

 

[Guyza]

Bi-Wiring = Buy Wiring!

Tried it once on my Dahlquist QX6 bookshelfs. With an HK-525 driving them, I noticed no difference with the 3 recordings I was attuned to.

If you have an esoteric system that distinguishes very small changes, then maybe it's for you. For me, $100 would equal a new DVD, case of Sam Adams, 4 lobsters and a great movie night w/my girlfriend!