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My experience with bi-wiring

Not wanting to debate the issue, which has been done ad nauseum, I just wanted to share my experience in case it's of help to anyone else in a similar position. Originally I single wired my speakers with jumpers made from my speaker cable, but I had been curious about bi-wiring and read all I could both pro and con. The main thing I gathered was that it is a contentious subject that there is no consensus on. I was reluctant to spend the money on something that may not pan out, but as the maker of my speaker recommended bi-wiring, I finally decided to give it a try.  I was impressed that there was a worthy improvement in detail/clarity across the frequency spectrum.  Admittedly any change is speaker dependent and YMMV, but if your speaker brand advocates it, I suggest it's worth a try.  
128x128xs1137
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,197 posts
 
Yup …. It’s a well-travelled theme here debated ad nauseam in all the audio forums - it is purely an entirely system dependent issue with no consensus.

Here are two simple contrasting examples in the no-winner debate

(A) VANDERSTEEN supports bi-wiring THEIR speakers (emphasis added)…. Fine.

(B) Both NORDOST and CHORD are just two of the upper-strata cable manufacturers that publish positions that simple 2-2 quality build single runs with matched quality bi-wire post jumpers are
(a) actually cheaper to Buyer all-in, and
(b) will also outperform a lesser quality build 2-4 bi-wire double run of that lesser quality speaker cable run in order to try and meet budget.
(c) Both do not promote bi-wire models anymore, and CHORD does not even make bi-wires anymore. Fine here too.

Simple takeaway:

It’s oft-repeated herein in AGON and all the other audio forums: just filter out all the noise pro AND con: and just experiment personally to see what works in YOUR system (emphasis added again …)

ghdprentice
6,803 posts
 
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have never done any real careful comparisons. What speakers and amp are you using?
xs1137's avatar
xs1137 OP
49 posts
 
I'm using Von Schweikert VR-33's and a Raven Blackhawk.   

I'm truly of the opinion that bi-wiring may OR may not make a positive difference, it's system dependent and you will only know if you try yourself. 
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,777 posts
 
aka_ca said it best. I went from using jumpers to using two sets of cables and thought I had it all sorted out. Then, I came across a big discount for some speaker cables I always wanted to try out, as I already have their ICs and love them. 

Long story short, I'm now using their speaker cables and jumpers and am amazed at the amount of music that was missing. Not just details, air, ambience and the like, but music.

They've broken in faster than any speaker cable I've had and continue to improve. It's one thing to acknowledge that all systems will sound different, but to say all cables sounds the same is insane.

All the best,
Nonoise
xs1137's avatar
xs1137 OP
49 posts
 
Nonoise,  out of curiosity what cables did you wind up with?
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