Bi wiring v single run w jumpers

Biwiring can sound marginally better than single wire cables if a/ the speaker is properly separated in the crossover to take full advantage of biwire terminals and b/ the cables are true biwire cables (ie: physically separated into positive and negative runs either internally within a single outer shieling, or preferably a shotgun run of cable). If not, then investing in biwire cables is a waste of money.

Alternatively, if the speaker is not properly setup for biwiring, then using high end jumpers (preferably from the same manufacturer) with single wire cables should sound noticeably better than using the cheap jumper plates which come with most biwireable speakers.

I can't comment on other options suggested above as I have no experience with them.

02-03-15: Geph0007
OK let me ask this One run of AP Oval 9 with jumpers or bi wire (two runs) or Oval 12?

I suspect that "or Oval 12" was a typo, and should have been "of Oval 12." If so, consistent with what has been said above and in the other threads I linked to I would expect the answer to be speaker, system, and listener dependent, and essentially unpredictable.

Something to consider, though: Two paralleled 12 gauge wires have the same resistance as a single 9 gauge wire of the same length, so two paralleled runs of Oval 12 presumably have (to a very close approximation) the same resistance as a single run of Oval 9. And two runs of Oval 12, whether purchased as a biwire cable or as two individual cables, cost significantly less than a single run of Oval 9.

So it might therefore make sense to purchase the two runs of Oval 12, either as a biwire cable or as two individual cables, compare the resulting sonics with and without the jumpers in place, and go with whichever of those two connection arrangements sounds best. Without the jumpers you will have the 12 gauge biwire configuration you referred to. With the jumpers and the same cables you will have, at least in terms of resistance, the equivalent of a 9 gauge cable.

02-03-15: Jmcgrogan2
Not much to add to these three excellent answers. I would only question how Michael came up with two-thirds of an answer. ;^)

My guess is that Michael was envisioning that there would be an odd number of half-baked answers, plus one answer that is 1/6th baked. :-)

Regards,
-- Al

Without prejudice to the effects that the absolute benefits
are always system dependent, Some of the high-end quality
build brands are moving away from bi-wiring in favour of
shotgunned runs and jumpers configurations.

Biamping ... Different story.

E.g. NORDOST

http://www.nordost.com/downloads/NorseJumperinstructions.pdf

CHORD

http://www.chord.co.uk/help-and-information/speaker-cable-
guide/bi-wire-or-single-wire/

"... Many hi-fi and home cinema loudspeakers have two
pairs of binding posts. This allows the speaker to be either
bi-wired using two sets of loudspeaker cable or bi-amped
using two amplifiers.

As a general rule (and there will always be exceptions) we
tend to find that bi-wiring will open out the sound stage
and increase perceived levels of detail. However, single
wiring will often sound the most musically coherent. There
is also an issue with single and bi-wire speaker cables. In
all the research we have carried out, a single wire speaker
cable out-performs a bi-wire cable of equivalent cost. This
makes a lot of sense; the single wire speaker cable has two
high quality conductors and the bi-wire cable requires four.
So for a given budget, we believe that a single wire cable
will always out-perform the equivalent bi-wire cable, so
much so that we no longer produce dedicated bi-wire
cables..."

For me:

(i) in my high-end "A" system, shotgunned NORDOST
Freys with matched FREY jumpers bested all contenders and
pretenders. (including bi-wires) - full stop. The
differences were not subtle. The only thing stopping me from
moving even higher in the NORDOST chain is price and also
limiting returns of the added big-time ka-ching. In
fairness, having matched FREY ICs for synergy with the
speaker cables helps.

(ii) in my more modest "B" system, I actually run
bi-wired sets. I do so primarily as a "pick 'em"
choice between quality silver-plated OCC copper single runs
with matched jumpers, versus, all-Cu copper quality bi-wires
as leftover surplus sets from prior systems.

I did not see any noteworthy differences between them in
THAT system. I retained the bi-wires and sold the
singles/jumper sets as hedge for potential flexibility later
(the bi-wires can be re-terminated into a shotgunned and
jumpers configuration)

FWIW.....

Good stuff I have the oval 9 (newer version ) I have owned for 3 years I owned the original from 2001 to 2011. I think the original my be more pleasing to me even though the newer version has sharper images/
I am on loan with the bi wire oval 12. If we were comparing bi wire and single runs of the same cable ie Oval 9 I would think that would be a no brainer going to the bi wire but we are talking one size of bi wire and one size of single hence the question. It was touched on by one of you.

"02-03-15: Geph0007
OK let me ask this One run of AP Oval 9 with jumpers or bi wire (two runs) or Oval 12? I did try this on one set where I could not tie things together inside. The biwire seemed more open and slightly relaxed. Voices where more vertical With the single run of 9 I felt like I was looking at the floor where voices were coming from, so to speak. More airy"

When dealing in areas involving biwiring, jumpers, etc.., results are application specific. You have to try different combinations, and see what works the best. A good portion of it depends on your equipment. My Vandersteen's are probably the best example of how biwiring makes a positive difference. Using 2 separate runs of cables, with them, makes a very big difference. On my other speakers, Wilson's, they don't even believe in biwiring. They feel so strongly about that, they only put 1 set of binding posts on the speakers. I couldn't biwire them if I wanted.

The only thing I can tell you for sure about all this, is to not let these relatively minor cabling issues, compromise or overlook areas in your system that are more important.