biwire trick

Shadorne and Riley804, I'm not so sure.

Keep in mind that the swap Tholt is describing will result in different frequency components flowing in the + leg and the - leg of each two-conductor pair of wires. It seems to me that would in effect amount to a change in the inductance of the cables, because the magnetic fields associated with current flow through adjacent conductors would no longer be equal and opposite.

As you probably realize, depending on cable length, cable type, and the impedance of the speaker at high frequencies, speaker cable inductance can sometimes have a significant effect on upper treble response. And upper treble response would seem to be something that can subjectively correlate with soundstaging.

The connection swap would also reduce the degree to which any noise pickup that may occur is common mode. I would not expect that to generally be significant in an amplifier-to-speaker connection, because of the low impedances and relatively high signal levels that are involved, but I would be hesitant to totally rule out the possibility.

As you know, I am certainly one who tends to be skeptical about a lot of tweaks that are reported, but in this case I would not rule out the possibility that the differences were real.

Best regards,
-- Al

you guys just got almarged.

I vote Dcrugby's post as Post Of The Day.

Almarg, I can no longer count the times I have learned something new from your posts.

Audiogon moderators,
Would you consider a 'Post of the Day' button/link one could push next to each post?

I love all you pessimistic audiophiles out there. For us, it's "prove it."

The reason I tried it is as follows from the aforementioned description of the Nordost jumpers on MD:

"Diagonal Bi-Wire
For those looking for maximum performance from their bi-wire speakers, Nordost has a recommendation. Connect your speaker wire to the speaker as follows: Red lead to the Red midrange/bass post, Black lead to the Black tweeter post. Then insert the Norse Jumpers as you normally would, sit back and hold on to your socks. The effect is astounding, with greater focus, detail and less haze and grain. We don't really understand how it works, but it does so try it for yourself!"

This theoretically could make sense. I translated it to evening the load between cables, though perhaps Almarg has more properly defined it. I really shouldn't have described it as a tweak or trick, since I really don't believe it is one. It's switching the leads.

3 things can happen: it sounds worse, it sounds the same, it sounds better. You be the judge on how neutral your analysis is. Don't think about why it should or shouldn't work. It wasn't very hard for me to hear a difference. Make sure to turn off the amps first.

01-02-11: T_bone
I vote Dcrugby's post as Post Of The Day.

Almarg, I can no longer count the times I have learned something new from your posts.

Audiogon moderators,
Would you consider a 'Post of the Day' button/link one could push next to each post?
T_bone (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

Almarged! Almarg, thank you for your insight and wisdom, always.