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Wiring two post speakers with biwire cable

I have speakers with one pair of binding posts each. My amp has four binding posts for each channel (biwiring capable).

I have a set of biwire cables (one end has two terminations, + and -, the other end has four, two + and two -).

Is is safe to connect all four terminations at the end of this cable to the two posts on each speaker, or should I leave one set of + and - unconnected? What if I connected the four termination end to the amp and the two termination end to the speaker?

I don't want to run into any problems with running cables in parallel, messing with impedance, etc. Thanks.
128x128turnaround
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
What cables do you have? I would say Yes, go ahead and connect all four. Unless it is a BiWire only brand of cable, the Biwire post versions that are a single cable are the same cable as the standard cable, just terminated for Bi-wire. Many cables have more than one insulated conductor per channel, they just separate them into 4 instead of 2 on the speaker end.
bob_bundus
1,834 posts
 
Turnaround: It is OK to connect the 4 ends at the amp & then parallel the both pairs at the speaker end. I have a similar situation & confirmed its safety with none other than Mr. Bruce Brisson, who happened to pick up my call. However do not "turnaround" the cable's signal direction; it was not designed to operate that way. If you ever replace or rewire your speakers to bi-wirable mode, the cable would have been run in incorrectly & would require considerable time & effort to properly reverse back to normal.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Most amps with 4 binding posts for easy bi-wiring are coming out of the same circuit inside the amp (they're just split into 4), so I agree what Bob is saying is OK. (And don't reverse the direction).
garfish
1,840 posts
 
For this proposal to make sonic sense, don't the speakers have to be already set up for bi-wiring, ie have an internal cross-over built in to accomodate it? I can see why you could attach the wires as proposed, but can't see any advantage to it without the internal crossover. Craig
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