I am stunned


After reading these forums for awhile I can finally say that I am a skeptic no longer with respect to biwiring. I recently purchased a demo pair of Martin Logans from a local dealer and found that I did not have enough money to purchase a decent set of speaker cables. As I was getting ready to take the speakers home the dealer stopped me and offered to loan me a set of cables until I had enough cash (Great Dealer!!!) to purchase some cables. Well, when I got home I discovered that the Logans were easily biwirable and that the cables he lent me were biwire cables. When I auditioned the Logans the dealer must have connected the jumpers when I told him I was not interested in biwiring a set of speakers. I figured what the hell, lets give it a try. I connected everything up, popped in a CD and my mouth fell to the floor. Unbelievable. So from one ex-skeptic to anyone who has a doubt. Biwiring works, I am an EE and frankly do not care why anymore.
liguy
Callahfc: Yes and no, I would guess on agreement. I have a tendency to view America as being divided/segregated on a whole. I do however prefer to live in areas that I find to be a melting pot (we live in West Hollywood, CA right now which is a good example of this) and do not feel comfortable in exclusive areas, regardless of who habitates them. I came from a very mixed family which I am certain influenced me in this regard. Anyway, back to audio and I hope that Liguy will be able to try out the ML's with both single and bi-wiring in his own setup and post the results.
I am stunned. By many of the responses above.

Of course Liguy's reported experience tells us nothing about bi-wiring. At a minimum, Liguy, you could compare "biwiring" with the jumpers or shorting straps in place to traditional bi-wiring (taking them out), and then tell us what you think. If you prefer the sound with the jumpers removed then we would "know" that with your speakers in your room you think bi-wiring is better than single wiring (that's for Callahfc, with whom I am in general agreement).

I also appreciated Jbhunter's post. I don't even want to talk about the voice analogy.

And I agree in spirit with Redkiwi and (I think) Chstob. We've beaten this issue to death. Nothing any of us can say will lead to any sort of conclusion about the merits of biwiring. If you have single wire cable now and you are happy with the sound, leave well enough alone and experiment with the placement of your speakers. You'll get more of a difference from repositioning your speakers than from changing wires unless there is really someting wrong with the wires you have.

If you have bi-wire cables like Liguy, experiment with leaving the jumpers/shorting straps in and taking them out. Decide for yourself if you can detect a difference and prefer one way or the other. I did and I like my speakers bi-wired. That proves nothing other than I like my speakers bi-wired.
Sugarbrie- I was ready to congratulate you (you're first post) on a first rate ecumenicalism, but then I found out it was really epistemological which certainly has ramifications for the ontology of the audible ephemera of the connective media in question. As Teilhard de Chardin wrote as commented upon by Alfred North Whitehead in response to the monograph by Soren Kierkegaard, (quote)
'Je parle espagnol a Dieu, italien aux femmes, francais aux hommes et allemand a mon cheval.'
Kitch rules! I have no horse, though I live in Texas. Now that we all agree (I think) do any of you know about a biwire tweak where you take the brass strap and put it back on the negative side only? I was reading at a nother lesser forum this is supposed to be the cats meow. Anyone tried it? I'm afraid to, without first knowing about it. It can't hurt right?
Thanks,
Chris
Chris, yes I suggested to Doug S that he try it on the last bi-wiring thread. It's as safe as leaving both straps in, which is safe as long as you dont cross positive and negative. Jon Risch, who recommends trying it says its system dependent and may or may not yield any benefit.

I think the majority of people who have tried it have said it sounds better that way, more detail. A few have said it makes no diff, and a few (like me) say it's worse. I notice a real difference in frequency response, almost as though the tweeter output is boosted with the one strap in, and subjectively, there's less bass. That is consistent with reports by others of greater detail and more air, but as to whether that is "better" is a matter of opinion. Seems like a modification to the speaker's design, which I would not want to with my speakers.