What is bi-wiring? (1 Viewer)

[Kyle_Y]

I keep hearing people talking about bi-wiring. I have no clue what that is! Is that when you have two speakers wires from one output going to one speaker? Could someone please explain what bi-wiring is, and what benefits it yields. Also, when should bi-wiring be used, with what ype of system?

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Some speakers have two sets of binding post. Typically the two positive and negative posts are connected with straps. In this configuration connecting the speaker wire to either set of binding posts will power the speaker.

Remove the straps, and the binding posts are separated, allowing the tweeter and woofer to be driven directly and separately.

So, biwiring is when you send two sets of speaker wires from the receiver or amplifier to the speaker, one for tweeter and one for the woofer. Some people say this makes an improvement in the way the speaker sounds.

Hope this helps,

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Kyle_Y]

So does this mean that I would run two wires out of each binding post on my receiver, or does my receiver have to have some kind of special bi-wiring output?

 

[JohnMW]

It means you twist 2 positive leads and 2 negative leads, then attach to the positive and negative of the receiver input.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Twisting the two wires will work if you are using 16 ga.or smaller wire. You will have a hare time getting a pair of 14 ga. wires under the binding post, and 12 ga. will be impossible.

If the receiver has a connections and switch for “A” and “B” front speakers, you might try using both of them.

However, a lot of receivers will only let you use “A” or “B,” not both. In this case the best thing to do is use low-cost banana plugs. You can stack or “piggyback” them, which means you can do both on the same bind post.

Regards,

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[KeithH]

Kyle, many cable companies make speaker cables specific for biwiring. Each cable has two leads on one end (+ and -) for connection to your amp, and the other end has four leads (two + and two -) for connection to the four binding posts on the speaker. The four leads are divided into two pairs, one of which is labeled "high pass", the other of which is labeled "low pass" (or something similar). The high pass leads go to the pair of binding posts feeding the tweeter (usually the top pair), and the low pass leads go the pair of binding posts feeding the driver/subwoofer. Read the owner's manual with your speakers to see which pair of binding posts feeds the tweeter and which feeds the driver/subwoofer.
As a point of reference, the link below shows a pair of MIT Terminator 2 biwire cables at Audio Advisor:
http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/pr...ble%20-%20Pair
When you get to this link, note the heading to the right that says "Additional Images". There, you can click to see a picture of the four leads that go to the speaker (high pass and low pass pairs). Note that the Terminator 2 cables are a bit pricey, but you can get a 10-foot pair of Monster MCX-IS biwire cables with connectors (sold separately) for around $125 in many quality hi-fi stores (not Best Buy or Circuit City).