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Totem Speaker Wiring

Hello all.
I found the following on the Totem website concerning speaker wiring. It's confusing to me or am I just dumb?
Thanks in advance.
Ben

Single-wiring Advantages
There are some cases where a high quality single wire allows for a better tonal balance for a particular need.

Single-wiring is definitely a very good way to proceed as long as the four terminals are there. The user has the choice of connecting just the lower two terminals and through this obtain a certain “tone”. Reconnecting the wire to the upper two terminals gives the user more high frequency emphasis. Connecting the red positive at the bottom and the black at the top (diagonally opposite) or vice versa will give you two more “tone” options.

In conclusion the customer/dealer has four possibilities with a high quality single wire. We recommend the diagonal connection when using the single wire to create a greater balance.


honashagen
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I have tried many configurations over the years, bi-wiring and single wiring. In many cases the best method is up to the individual user, and I have found in some cases bi-wiring works better, but many times a higher quality single wire run with matching jumpers can work better.

I have also found that different speakers behave differently regarding jumper configurations. Lately, I have found the diagonal connection describe by Nordost here, to work best for me with my current speakers.

http://www.nordost.com/downloads/NorseJumperinstructions.pdf

Just like there is no right answer for which tap on a tube amp will work best with which speaker, the same is true for speaker cables.
Try different methods and decide what sounds best on your speakers to your ears.

Cheers,
John
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
a+b=b+a ain't that simple?
lak's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
lak
4,648 posts
 
I totally agree and have found slight differences in sound when experimenting with the different methods of connecting the speaker cables to the four speaker terminals.
chrisr's avatar
chrisr
543 posts
 
Some manufacturers say plug the positive wire to the tweeter +, and the negative leg to the woofer -.
Because that's the way crossovers are connected to the speaker posts.
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