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B-wire - four cables or jumpers?

I have a pair of speakers for which the crossovers are specifically optimised for bi-wiring/bi-amping (Von Schweikert VR5s). As the singal current reaching the speakers comes from an identiscl source, namely the amp teminals, what is the difference between running a second set of cables from the amp, as opposed to using jumpers between the input terminals on the speakers? It seems to my uneducated electronic mind that the only differnce is in the length of the second set, as the signal is merely taken from the speaker terminals, rather than the amp terminals.

If that is so, then what is the sonic (realtime audible) advantage in spending twice the amount of money to run two sets of cables from the amp?

This really puzzels me!
brianjh
bigshutterbug
387 posts
 
Another reason why one would use a bi-wire configuration with these speakers would be in the case of using them with a tube amplifier. Tube amps typically have a 2, 4, or 8ohm tap on the back for your speaker outputs. that would allow you to match the load of the bass drivers to say a 4 ohm tap on the amp, where the mids/higs portion of the speaker
are better matched to the 8 ohm output of the amp. The different taps on tube amps also have a different sonic characteristic typically due to the number of windings used
on the output transformers. Hope this helps..
audio_buff
38 posts
 


Check out this article on pros and cons.

http://www.sonicdesign.se/biwire.html
rockvirgo
587 posts
 
When you use one set of speaker leads all the current passes thru the same wires. When you split the leads for high and low frequencies, each carries only the current it uses because the high and low frequency drivers have different appetites for current. It is believed that separating the flows preserves the purity of the signal.
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
AS an aside-- Von S. uses Analysis+ Oval9 internal wireing. Does that tell you what brand you should be using? AND it should not be jumpers !!
brianjh OP
3 posts
 
Yes Rockvergo, I agree all the current passes down the cable. but the high and low frequencies are split at the crossover, not at the amp or the speaker binding posts. I know some say a low frequency signal will follow the line of least resistance, and that this is an arguement for mixing stranded and solid core conductors in the same cable. Hence it would, if this is really true, make sense that the second pair of a bi-wired set (the woofer pair)should be of a larger cross-sectional area (and therefore have greater current carrying capacity?) than the pair going to the mid/treble section. However, many very high quality cables do not do this, eg Nordost for one. And in any case, this could also be applied to the jumper leads.

So my basic puzzlement remains: if the current arriving at the speaker binding post is the same as that leaving the amp - which it is - then apart from the length, aren't the jumper leads simply acting as a second pair of cables in a bi-wired system?

I will check out the sites suggested by Bomarc and Audio_Buff, to see if these articles throw any light on this.
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