If Bi-Wiring is an option, should I choose Bi-wiring over single banana with free jumpers


Hello All!

Newbie here : ) I have a pair of speakers (MartinLogan Motion 40i) that have, according to the website, "dual five-way binding post speaker terminals which allow bi-amping or bi-wiring." As you can see in the top right photo of the speaker terminals in this link, the speakers came with free jumpers (the jumpers look like just a sheet of conductive metal) between the 4 terminals. 

https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/motion-40i

So when purchasing speaker cables, placing the best quality connection over cost, should I:

1. (Cheapest) Get single banana plugs and use the included free jumpers, or

2. (More costly but will it be WAY better?) Get Bi-wire speaker cables and remove the free jumpers.

3. Get single banana plugs, and find some high quality jumpers to replace the free included jumpers.

If it doesnt matter much to sound quality, it seems option #1 is best as its cheapest. However my goal is to get the best/most efficient connection so i suspect options #2 or #3 might be the way to go? 

Many thanks for any advice!

 

steve_a001

My experience has been to use a higher quality single run of speaker cables with the same make for jumpers. Factor in the cost of the jumpers when choosing a line of speaker cables and you'll be fine. 

All the best,
Nonoise

Having rebuilt many speakers many 4 binding posts are BS internally jumped then cheap gold over cheap brass , unless the speakers terminals are directly dived highs and Bass from the Xover then it’s just a marketing ploy

that being said , you want = equal quality jumpers to the Loudspeaker cables with gold over Copper , if you can internally bywire your speaker cables that is the best way to do this .

One run of good quality cable with jumpers made of the same cable is better than 2 runs of an inferior cable if cost is an issue.

@alan60 

+1 

Get the best quality cable you can. Then later when you have exhausted other improvements in power cords, interconnects and direct lines... bet some good quality jumpers. I always try to approach one thing at a time in ascending order of effect, which also allows me to spread out the cost over a very long time... and experience each change to make sure it is cost effective. 

I suspect some speakers benefit more from biwiring than others; some manufacturers will recommend it.  Some cable manufacturers now make special biwired sets, so you have four connectors for each cable, so you only run the two cables--less visually objectionable.

I suspect that the more demanding and high-quality the system, the more benefit from biwiring.