Single vs Bi-wire Speaker Cable

I was drawn to Bi-wire; looked it up in Get Better Sound and went with it on my former Marantz / B&W (IA/Speaker) 2 channel speaker combo.  I was never able to "measure" an improvement, but it gave me peace of mind.

I've since upgraded to a McIntosh IA with Dynaudio speakers; neither of these offer the option to connect by Bi-wire.  So I guess if the better components don't see an advantage, then its probably just fine to do without.  But I'd probably still do it if the option existed 😉

I use William Tell Zero and it is fabulous.  That said, if you choose the single wire and jumper path, using William Tell Zero, Audioquest also sells high-quality jumpers that you can buy either as silver or copper wire.  The terminations are your choice of either spade or banana.  They are 8" in length.  Both of these jumpers use the 500 series of terminations.  The Audioquest website will show you all of these products.

Best to you.

One good cable costing say £1000 mostly trumps 2 cables costing £500 each, I would add that it is by the same cable manufacturer, so you are comparing apples with apples and you can then judge what better suits your speakers. Then you can compare equivalent value cables from other manufacturers.

Hello,

Typically you want to use the full cable going to the bottom binding posts because those are the drivers that need the most current to move them properly. If you split the cable in half you are halving that gauge. Sonically it does matter. A Nordost Heimdall and a Nordost Frey are really about gauge difference which costs almost 2 times as much. On most speakers you don’t need a lot of gauge to go to the top binding posts. Most people who have Nordost just buy the standard Norse jumpers which are not very thick. Once you get to Tyr 2 cables you can think about the reference jumpers which cost 3x as much. I say for that reason, for resale or you decide to get a second cable, which might be different than the other one you own you are better to buy a single and have jumpers made by AQ. Also, Just for fun try some different jumpers, even the $180 Nordost Norse jumpers. I have used them with several non- Nordost speaker cables because they are so good. My friend is using the Nordost Jumpers with the Kirmuss speaker cables. Also, you could use the cables you have right now on the bottom posts and the AQ on the top or vise- versa. I am using Straightwire Vurtuoso single with Virtuoso jumpers custom made. I also have the Crescendo jumpers but the Virtuoso sounded better in my setup. I hope this helps. 

I would PM member ctsooner.

He owns the WT Silvers and probably auditioned the Robin Hoods, too.

And, much depends upon the speakers/equipment you are using.

My own experience is with Vandersteen speakers. When I heard the William Tell's, I was astounded by the increase in 'clarity', as well as enhancement of the bass.

FWIW, though I never considered cables to be something that would affect sound reproduction significantly, auditioning the William Tell's made a believer out of me. The stuff Garth at AQ is making is really a game changer.

Bob