biwire trick


Some of you seasoned vets may have heard of this, but I had never thought about it. Researching jumpers led me to Music direct's website, where in the description of some Nordost jumpers it read to try switching one lead from both mid and tweet. IOW take the positive lead from the tweeter and swap it with the pos lead from the mid.

I have a true biwire setup (separate runs for mid and tweet), don't know if this makes a diff, but the sound definitely improved: fuller, more natural, larger stage. try it as one of the easiest, free tweaks to do. You may be surprised.
tholt
Al,

I think the spacing between the wires would need to be significant to be audible. If the wires were 1 meter apart (huge) then I calculate a roll off at 20 Khz of 0.25 dB into an 8 Ohm load (most tweeters) compared to the signal level at 200 Hz. This is peanuts and barely at the threshold of audibility.

Fortunately, someone has already worked it out for any configuration and the details are here

If the biwires are in the same jacket or are laid out within an inch of each other (most likely scenario) then my original statement stands.

However, not knowing what crazy setups people might dream up and use, I guess I stand corrected.
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.
I must be a little sow today as I can't seem to wrap my head around this hook up scheme. Someone please try to straighten me out. If I am getting this right, this would leave the negative mid/bass post with no connector attached to it at all. Is this correct?