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One more BI-WIRE question

I've read as many of the expert opinions on the bi-wire subject as possible and have done my own research and listening test with different speakers I've owned.The electrical theory as to the advantages make sense to me.The question I pose is this:I just bought a pair of monitors from a well known Italian maker that are equiped for bi-wiring.The dealer and US distributor both claim that these speakers would not sound better bi-wired and indeed were not designed to.The only reason for the bi-wire provision was to satisfy the demand of the European market.Does anyone know if one type of crossover design is considered optimum for bi-wiring.Other than marketing I'm trying to figure the makers logic here.....Thanks
mar00
sagger's avatar
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sagger
120 posts
 
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.
fpeel
455 posts
 
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.
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sagger
120 posts
 
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.
leafs
414 posts
 
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.
redkiwi
1,092 posts
 
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.
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