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shotgun vs. bi-wire cables

What is the difference between speaker cables that are configured in a shotgun vs. a bi-wire design?
fatparrot
mikesinger
572 posts
 
shotgun is literally two cables joined at the amp end.

the majority of bi-wire cables is when they split the cable, so 1/2 goes to the top and 1/2 to the bottom.
there are some exceptions where there is twice the amount of cable in a internal biwire cable

shotgun is generally better since you get twice the cable, the drawback is the expense

hope that helps,

mike
gs5556
1,242 posts
 
Normal configuration is one wire for each the positive and negative terminal for the amp and speaker (one cable with two wires per speaker), terminated at the ends.

Shotgun is two wires for each the positive and negative terminal for the amp and speaker (double the normal configuration). The two wires are run in the same jacket and are fused at the spade, banana, etc, and look like the normal configuration with the exception that you may see the twisted wires behind each spade.

Bi-wire is two wires at the amp end (one each for + and -) with four wires at the speaker end (2 + and 2 -)

Shotgun biwire doubles the normal bi-wire configuration (pair of wires for the + and - at the amp and 4 pairs of wires at the speaker).

All based on what I see on my cables - maybe there's something more.
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
Just to simplify "shotgun" is internal bi-wire where a traditional "bi-wire" requires two runs of cable.
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