I think I know what make you are talking about. Moreover, I recently purchased them (probably the same ones), too. This is not a direct answer to your question, but FWIW, according to the hand-made speaker cable vender who volunteered to talk to the distributor on behalf of me for binding post configuration, the bi-wiring feature will be eliminated in the future model. Besides, I would like very much to know why the manufacturer made them bi-wirable in the first place, too. |
The vandersteen site quotes r. vandersteen that "the difference is not subtle", re: bi-wire vs. single. Pat Mcginty of Meadowlark says about the same thing. Determining if there is a commonality in the crossovers might put you on the right track.BTW, "not subtle" is certainly true of the Meadowlark Kestrels and I am a believer in people putting in a new component and then playing the system louder than usual "to see what she'll do" and of course there follows a difference. |
Rega also does not make provisions for bi-wiring. They state that there is no advantage in it - at least for their designs. One would hope that if a manufacturer is able to design an excellent pair of speakers that it was not by accident, and that if there WAS an advantage they would have explored its potentials in the development. Rega is also a company that relies on its honesty and integrity to sell its products. Who else makes a turntable for a few hundred dollars whose very same tonearm is used by other manufacturers in packages that sell for many times the price. I am personally very skeptical of what many mag's, shops, and manf's pander as the truth. |
In order to gain advantages of better sound with bi-wire design speakers, the internal electronic crossover design of speaker must not allow bass signal from amp to travel up speaker cable connected to high frequency pair of mounting posts. If could be your speakers do not have true bi-wire design crossover, and second pair of mounting posts are for cosmetic marketing reasons.....hard to believe that any decent brand of speaker would stoop to this deception. Some high end speaker manf. design more elaborate internal electronic crossovers and do not provide external bi-wire feature, although they are few in number because most recognize the improved sound of external bi-wire feature. |
So, why don't you try bi-wiring the SF's and let us know what the results are? |
My guess is your refering to Sonus Fabors. I own a pair of the original Electa Amatours. Simply put, they sound better in the single wire configuration. I strongly recommend not using jumpers. Pull your woofer out & redirect one set of leads unto the other post internally. You will gain more resolution & detail. Enjoy. |
Oh, I forgot to mention. Why does SF make their speakers bi-wireable if they sound better single wired? I believe it's all marketing. Most people feel or a least a lot are under the impression that any given speaker will sound better if it has biwire capabilities. A lot of people will not buy a speaker unless it has that option. Hence SF could potentialy lose market share. In theory maybe biwiring should sound better, but this is one of those things where you have to trust your ears. |
Not to refute what anyone has said above, but making a speaker bi-wireable also makes it bi-ampable (are those really words?). So, while a bi-wire configuration on a speaker might not be an improvement, bi-amping would. Could that be the true purpose of the design? Just curious. |
Interesting Fpeel...you could have something there. Bi-amping would be a definate sonic improvement, however I got to believe the amount of users bi-amping has to be extremely small. In my humble opinion...way to small to warrant speaker manufacturer's a reason to incorporate bi-wiring for bi-amp users only. This lingo getting tricky. |
I recently had my speakers changed to single wire from BI Wire.They sound much better.The MFG had done the biwire as a special for the Original owner.The MFG does not bi wire his line of speakers. |
I have experienced speakers that sound better bi-wired and speakers that sound better single-wired. I would go with the designer's preference and agree with Sagger re simplifying the connections. By the way it is really quite difficult to compare single-wire with bi-wire without changing how the speaker cable acts as an interface and so what you hear may not be the separation of the bass return (ie. star earthing) but the change in the effective speaker cable being used. |
For Example in the Aerial 10T literature Michael kelly explains why the 10T Crossover is designed to work properly with bi-wiring . I do think the 10t's sound better with my monster m2.4 cables |
It really depends on the crossover design. If a crossover is designed properly, Bi-wiring would NOT make a difference. A properly designed crossover will not inject what is a so called "back EMF" from the speaker back to the amp. Bi-wiring really helps control or eliminate this thing. Therefore, bi-wiring might NOT benefit all speakers. I hope I answered your question...... |
Thanks everyone so far youv'e helped get to the point of my post and that is if the manuf.has an explanation for thier suggested wiring config.than by all means elaborate in your literature and in my case the SF owners manual.I can respect the opinions of the makers that do make this clear ie; Dynaudio,Thiel ect.in favor of single wire;Vandersteen,Aerial ect.insist that bi-wire is optimum for thier speakers.Lastly if anyone cares to know after trying several wire combos on my SF Signums,I like them better bi-wired..... |
