Biwire Speaker Question

I’m also contemplating bi-wiring my speakers. Some cable makers claim that they sell “true bi-wire,” which I take to mean the equivalent of the four separate wires described by Kurt tank but wrapped in one or two separate sheaths per speaker. If I decide to go with such a cable, I’m certainly going to question the manufacturer first to be sure that the wire connected to each speaker terminal is not half (the gauge) of the wire connected at the amp terminal.

My question is, from an electrical interference point of view, is it better for the wires to be packaged in two sheaths or even a single sheath per speaker, which looks neater and may reduce the chance of tripping over wire, or should the four wires to each speaker be kept apart?

You have to compare apples to apples here.

Whether your biwire cabling is two separate sheaths or one sheath with two cables inside, the wire gauge at the amp end is going to be the sum of the wire gauges at the speaker end.

The OP asked if the connection at the amp end was better made to a single output post (per channel), or divided between the two output posts available. Kal's monosyllable was correct IMHO, electrically and sonically.

The best reason to use both posts is convenience and secure connection. If you have two sparate cable runs, they connect to the speakers on two different posts, and the nuts on those posts are easy to screw down tight. When you connect those two wires to a single post on the amp, they may not be easy to tighten and keep tight, especially if the wires are heavy and the connectors are large spades.

If, like me, you have a single, two-in-one biwire cable (a "shotgun" configuration), the two wires are joined together at the amp-end connector. Connecting this to a single binding post is easy.

Thanks, Tobias. Of course, one can introduce spurious variables, like a pigtail which reduces the effective wire guage, but connecting the two pairs together at one set of amp terminals or internally when the amp has two sets of terminals, is exactly the same.

Kal

Some people run four separate wires instead of biwire cables to taylor the sound. They'll use one brand of cable for the low connector and another brand of cable for the highs.

With my SDAT SB-E639 speakers....they sound better with a single run up to the top posts (mids and highs) and then run jumpers of the same wire or cable going down to the bottom posts (bass) I think the sound is cleaner and smoother this way....