System too bassy - Primaluna & Usher

Ok I think I got it. So the only terminal that will have more then one wire would be the 0 terminal at back of amp. Correct?

Yes!

To be sure it's clear, let's just consider the situation where you are NOT using cables that are specifically intended for biwiring. You would have four ordinary speaker cables, two for each channel.

On each channel, one wire of one of those two cables would connect the - (0 ohm) amp terminal to the speaker's - low frequency terminal. The other wire of that same cable would connect the 4 ohm amp terminal to the speaker's + low frequency terminal.

One wire of the other of those two cables would connect the same - amp terminal to the speaker's - high frequency terminal. The other wire of that cable would connect the 8 ohm amp terminal to the speaker's + high frequency terminal.

Alternatively, the same thing could be accomplished with biwire cables, which would provide 4 wires in the cable for each channel, but ONLY if it were the kind of biwire cable that provides 4 independent connections at both ends (rather than just providing 2 connections at the amp end, as many of them do).

BE SURE to remove the jumpers on the back of the speaker that connect the low and high frequency terminals to each other, when and if you try this. I don't think any damage would occur if you failed to do this, but the sonic results would not be as intended.

Regards,
-- Al

Al - thanks again. So my issue is that my amp terminals are banana so how can I put 2wires into the 0ohm terminal?

AL - I was looking at some speaker cables that were " bi-wired". They were one set of cable with one end having the normal - & + ends and the other being bi-wired, having the 4 ends. This would not be utilizing the advantages of what you're suggesting (as far as I'm understanding). Please let me know how I can put two wires in the 0 ohm terminal. Only thing I can think of is if I take out the banana plug and twist the other wire into it and then put back the banana plug. IS this what I'm supposed to do?

Sorry for the ignorance, this is all new to me. I don't want to ruin any of this equipment.

Al - I just had some time to re-read all of your comments and looking at the figure 1 link you posted. Wow! Thank you so much for looking into this. I'm floored at how much knowledge you have on this. It took me a bit to understand it even a bit. It makes a lot of sense. I'm excited to try this. Just waiting for an answer on how to actually put two wires into 0ohm. Maybe its just as simple as I think. Waiting to hear back. Thanks again !!

O, I am already using the 4ohm in my current setup. Does that mean it won't help the bass issue? Or will it still help because the low impedence power will be more focused on the lower frequency instead of shared with the highs? Also, will this put more stress on my amp, making it put out power from both? Anything to be concerned about?

I was looking at some speaker cables that were " bi-wired". They were one set of cable with one end having the normal - & + ends and the other being bi-wired, having the 4 ends. This would not be utilizing the advantages of what you're suggesting (as far as I'm understanding).

Correct. As I mentioned earlier, you need 4 independent connections at each end.

I am already using the 4ohm in my current setup. Does that mean it won't help the bass issue? Or will it still help because the low impedence power will be more focused on the lower frequency instead of shared with the highs? Also, will this put more stress on my amp, making it put out power from both? Anything to be concerned about?

Given the impedance characteristics of your particular speakers, changing from having both sections of the speaker driven from the 4 ohm tap to having its low frequency section driven from the 4 ohm tap and its high frequency section driven from the 8 ohm tap will alter the overall frequency balance in the direction you want.

Obviously there are no guarantees as to how much of a difference it will make, considering the other factors that are contributing, and there are no guarantees that it won't have some unpredictable sonic downsides. But it seems to me to be well worth trying.

You won't overstress the amp by doing this, or cause any other problems I can foresee. As I'm sure you realize everything should be turned off when connections are being worked with, and obviously you should make sure that any connections to adjacent terminals are not in contact with each other. Also, a tube amp should not be operated without a speaker being connected to it.

Please let me know how I can put two wires in the 0 ohm terminal. Only thing I can think of is if I take out the banana plug and twist the other wire into it and then put back the banana plug.

You can probably judge that better than I can, based on the physical dimensions that are involved. But a good approach that would appear certain to work would be to use a banana plug such as this one, which can accept up to an 8 gauge (VERY thick) wire into its rear opening, and up to a 12 gauge wire into its side opening (or perhaps vice versa; it looks like the description may have an error). (Keep in mind that the lower the gauge number, the thicker the wire).

You would want to have a wire stripper to be able to strip off the insulation cleanly, something like this.

Some of the other listings here might provide additional possibilities.

Good luck! Regards,
-- Al