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Biwire cable on a standard 2 terminal speaker?

Is this simply a dumb idea?

13 years ago after auditioning many different speaker cables I came across some MIT biwires which at the time were expensive to buy.The difference with these cables was the quality of sound they produced on my Def Tech BP2000's which are biwireable.

After all these years I finally took possession of a pair of AV13 LS-6 line arrays. They are not biwireable. I purchased a set of Reality cables which seem to work OK. I do have issues with sound as I try to marry my cables and equipment to these speakers.

Out of curiosity I connected the Reality cables to Def Techs, listened, then put the MIT biwires back in. The MIT cable produced far more magic in terms of soundstage, imaging, air, all the reasons why I bought them so many years ago.

The wife asked why I don't use them with our new speakers. The answer was simple, "they're biwires, 4 terminals don't fit on 2 binding posts. In reality, they could. Would there be a reason not to try other than reterminating the ends to spade lugs?

The biwires cables have a built-in network box which I pretty sure separate the high and low frequencies. So I'm defeating the idea of a biwire cable by connecting the separated wires (frequencies) together as one. Maybe I just answered my own question. More experienced folks may have better knowledge than I I'm sure.
128x128desalvo55
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Kal - you're right, they sell shotguns. It is in their price list but I missed it.
Audioquest, having already complex construction and spread spectrum, decided
against specific optimization. My Acoustic Zen had them optimized but I don't
know how. I re-terminated them myself and don't see any difference. On the
outside they looks the same. It is possible that arrangement (twist?) inside is
different or it is only a marketing ploy.
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,680 posts
 
Or it doesn't really matter. ;-)

Kal
desalvo55's avatar
desalvo55 OP
257 posts
 
So I did it. I silver soldered the leads of the biwires together and replaced the Reality cables with the MIT's.

First, I'll start by saying the sound of my newly acquired LS-6's was a disappointment. The whole presentation had a tipped up quality and a tizziness that begged the volume control down. The bass was so lacking I actually hooked up my Def Techs to utilize the built-in subwoofers!! That's bad in a setup like mine.

Setup is this:
Nuforce 9SEV2
Cary SLP-05
Transporter
Assorted VH-Audio power cords with Furutech plugs.
Considerable amount of room acoustics

In went the MIT's and in went the bass response. WTF. These speakers do bass. Deep, down low prodigious bass. In fact, the whole presentation tipped the other way - too much so. No more tizziness but no more sparkle either. Air had been lost as well. It was easy to listen to at first, really a relief but after about 10 minutes I felt something wrong. Leading edge transients were not so delineated and for lack of a proper description, it seemed timing or pace was screwed up.

Reality speaker cables don't work in my system. Modded MIT biwires don't work either.

Where does one go from here?
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
Try Anti-Cables...No lie. They are very neutral and revealing. They have a money back guarantee My dealer dropped by to voice my Vandersteen 5A's and was really impressed. They work better for me than anything I've tried, and I've tried lots
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