Jumper Cables - use the stock or should they be upgraded ?

What speakers do you have?  Does the manufacturer suggest biwiring?

Upgrade the jumpers it's a relatively cheap upgrade that's a significant sonic improvement if you don't intend to bi-wire.

Wilson Benesch Square 5's and bi-wiring is not required...now back to the question friends

For a pair of speakers of that quality, biwire all day long, twice on Sundays!!  Pick up a couple pair of quality solid core speaker cables and get out of the speakers all they can give. The owner's manual for the Square 5 Does discuss the virtues of biwiring.

I was just researching this on the web last night. I found the argument made by
electrical engineers and some speaker designer the most convincing; they basically claim that the contact point at the provided jumper measures an extremely low resistance compared to the xft of cable and mostly speaker, and the 3in long body of the jumper measures even less. They conclude by saying that trying to improve a speaker performance by changing jumpers is a little bit like trying to improve the aerodynamics of a turtle. I prefer the manufacturer’s jumpers as they look neater than my 3in/10awg ofc copper conductors.

I would never have believed it, but changing the jumpers may change the sound. When I had my Harbeth SHL5's, changing to Audience AU24 jumpers cleaned up the somewhat boomy bottom end I was experiencing and made the bass pitches much more defined.  But different isn't always better, so I would suggest trying some aftermarket jumpers and seeing if they improve the sound to your liking.  BTW, when I had my Opera Callas speakers, the aftermarket jumpers rendered no improvement whatsoever.  So that pretty much sums it up, IMO. 

Of course! Even molecules soon can be upgraded ye kiddin' me?

The Vandersteen website has some great info under the faq portion regarding biwiring. So does Audioquest. I recommend biwiring your speakers if the manufacturer has gone to the detail to develope a high quality crossover.

As for manufacturers jumpers, I recommend replacement. Using the same cable manufacturer and exact cable construction as your speaker wire. Additionally, Nordost’s website has examples of different jumper configurations.
Google - nordost jumper cables pdf -To split or not to split -



N

I agree with viridian.
Also, you can easily make your own jumpers out of the many bulk speaker cable or hook-up wires available.  Put a spade connector on one end and a banana on the other so you can attach them without interference from your speaker cables, regardless of whether your speaker cables use spades or bananas.
Finally, if you plan to keep the speakers for a long while, consider removing the binding post plate and soldering the cables to a single pair of binding posts for the best connection, then no jumpers are required.  

I have found that good quality jumpers sound much better than the stock jumper

I would use one run of the best speaker cable I could afford, and a jumpers made by the same manufacturer, rather than bi-wire cable of a lesser quality and no jumpers

I have used the Nordost  Reference Bi-Wire Jumpers and they were a major upgrade over stock jumpers... without doubt. The quality of the speakers you own... and your ears... will benifit highly.

With that said... I now bi-wire my system with identical speaker runs. My opinion is if your speakers have high resolving power...go with bi-wiring. Its a much more expensive proposition ... but the sound quality improves dramatically.  my 2 cents.

.....the current speakers cables are the Cardas Clear Beyond and a 2.5 meter pair were almost 5 figures......ouch. They took me awhile to pay off. I will check with Cardas as getting another run of those speaker cables in order to bi- wire is out of the price range. I will check with them to see what jumpers they have or would you run / use another company's ????   

I would use jumpers made of Cardas Clear Beyond if available

Whilst we're on the subject, jumpers aside, different results may sometimes be obtained from connecting the single wires to the upper or lower set of binding posts.  Some do one upper and one lower.  It's worth a try.  

I just bought a Nordost Norse jumpers I have not try them, I used heimdall 2 on top n clear day on the bottom, for my diapason, they sound amazing, I moved the diapason farther, so the clear day are only 8 ft, I felt the Norse might equal or maybe better, I have to try first to know if indeed are better than clear day, I saw vertical Biwire go on Nordost web site, this might work, will see.

 Nordost norse jumpers are amazingly good, $90 used, I did vertical biwiring, as good as the clear day.they are on my diapason adamantes, the main sp cable is the heimdall....

We have to ask ourselves these questions:  Does a resistance of 0.0003 ohm worth fixing?  is there a SINGLE speaker manufacturer advocating changing the provided jumpers?

I can't answer @chrisr  question as a matter of science. I can say that the factory jumper cables that came with my Avantgarde Duos circa 2006-7 were quickly replaced with Cardas jumpers to match the rest of the speaker cable I used at the time, and when I went to a different speaker cable- K-S, the jumpers were part of the 'loom.' The initial upgrade from the stock jumper was significant; the subsequent change of cable more so, in my system. 

chrisr172 posts11-15-2016 12:59pmWe have to ask ourselves these questions:  Does a resistance of 0.0003 ohm worth fixing? 

ANSWER:

jayctoy990 posts11-14-2016 12:31pm Nordost norse jumpers are amazingly good, $90 used,

Brand new they are probably twice as much!
Many smart people noted that global IQ depletion of US population and it's really goldmine of the nation for good extra income. Therefore started making sub $100k or over cables as well. All you need to do is to pay professional to publish any kind of bullfeces to the the glossy and beauuuutiful pages of audio magazines, possibly make some videos and here ya go!
 To void that global stupidity, I home-school my children.

I sort of agree with czarivey. There is a lot of snake oil in the cabling business, in my opinion. 
Though you have a pair of Cardas, I wouldn't be slavish and get a matching pair, especially if the cost was not affordable.
There are many other cables out there that should do the job.
Of course, you are introducing variables, but why not enjoy the ride?
FWIW, a set of Zu's would not be a very costly way to go. Try them on the low frequency side and then reverse with your Cardas. You might be surprised.

Though I am not familiar with the Square 5s I am familiar with Wilson Benesch and they are a company that is all about the details. If they supplied jumpers then they must think that they are good enough to represent their name. I would not make this statement about most speaker manufacturers but WB is a particularly dedicated company. I would try putting the speaker cables on the high/mid posts and jumpers to the bass posts. However, we all love to experiment and different jumpers or bi-wiring may end up being your preference.

chrisr said....." is there a SINGLE speaker manufacturer advocating changing the provided jumpers?"

Well...yes... as a matter of fact,there is...Heres one. And there are probably many more...

From my Sonus faber speaker manual...

BI-WIRING
This type of connection improves the general reproduction quality, and in particular the bass frequencies. This requires two pairs of speaker cables used in the following manner: remove the connections between the terminals (bridges) ( g.11), connect each pair of terminals (high and low frequencies) independently to the amplifer as shown in g.12.

Actually, the question was not about the benefits of bi-wiring, it was about benefits of replacing the jumpers.

Yes upgrade them soon will improve your sound.

Everything matters

needfreestuff378 posts11-16-2016 9:13amEverything matters

...and nothing else matter!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj75Arhq5ho

I just replaced my Transparent Ref, XL (MM2) jumpers With High Fidelity New CT-1 level 2 jumpers. Use them from mid range to tweeter and WOW Very big improvement. B@W 800 Matrixs speakers, They are not coming out. Clarity and Realism  Just jumped higher for the better. Very defined with out any harshness almost 3D sounding if you will. i had them on trial for a couple weeks and purchased them.

68Pete if you are happy, and big improvement shows up, cool, enjoy it, czarivey it's only stupid when I buy things I can't afford, it's a matter of choice, I respect every choices you will have..,

If your cables are set-up for bi-wiring, it is usually best to do so.  That being said, DH Labs/Silver-Sonic offers seriously high-quality custom jumper sets for under $50.00.  I use them, and they made a very noticeable difference.