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Need a good Nerd Opinion - Biwire Best Value

Hey guys,

I am by no means an audiophile, but I'm also not a novice. I've recently settled on a new reciever (Arcam AVR400 or 450), to replace my current setup, and will probably be upgrading to KEF R300's. Not the most elaborate system in the world, but much better than most. That said, I am having a hard time figuring out the cabling situation. I've decided to biamp my front mains, but am not sure what biwire solution offers the most value. To complicate things, one run will be 3x's the length as the other. Any suggestions on a brand and/or configuration I should look in to? I am not spending $500 on cables. I just can't bring myself to do it. Since you guys are the experts, I figured you might know about some hidden gems that are at a good price point, and offer better than average performance.

Thanks!
Tony
unctonythetiger
unctonythetiger OP
12 posts
 
Thanks for the offer - I'm going to go with what I think is sometimes refered to as the vandersteen configuration ( 4 x 4). The Arcam kit is specifically designed to split the HF/LF across two discrete circuits, so unfortunately I don't think 2 x 4 cables will work. Also need one cable to be 15' long. The other will only be 3'.
unctonythetiger OP
12 posts
 
Thanks everyone else for the suggestions. Anticables are what I had found in my research to be the best value, so I'm glad to get some feedback and confirmation I was heading in the right direction :-) Just thought of something, any difference in termination? Should I do spades or bananas?

Thanks again!
foster_9
1,638 posts
 
JW Audio Cryo Nova cables
zd542
5,339 posts
 
I don't understand what you are trying to do. I have several pairs of Vandersteen that are biwired. How you do it with them is to just use 2 desperate runs of the exact same cable. That said, if you are biamping using 4 channels on your Arcam, instead of 2, you cant biwire unless you have more than 2 sets of binding posts on your speakers. For example, 2 channels would run single wire to the bass binding posts and the other 2 channels could go to the binding posts for the mids and highs in a biwire config. But I think your speakers only have 2 sets of posts, so biwiring wouldn't be possible. If you were just using 2 channels on your Arcam, then yes, you can biwire.
unctonythetiger OP
12 posts
 
Sorry meant to say biamp. KEF R series have 4 binding posts (2 sets). I didn't realize that there was even a distinction in language between biamp (4-wires) and biwire(2-wires on one end with 4 on the other)! They were interchangeable in my head until about an hour ago. You are right, I'm going to *biamp* the front R & L, using 4 channels on the Arcam.
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