Benefits and Drawbacks to Shotgun Speaker Cables

I think the only benefits to the "shotgun" type of bi-wiring is neatness and less cost. Richard Vandersteen specifically recommends TRUE bi-wiring for his 2Ce and better speakers. I've recently tried both on the Vand. 5s, and the 4 separate wires per speaker is better sounding. The shotgun cables sounded warmer, somewhat more veiled, more congested and less dynamic-- especially with complex music than the true bi-wired system.

The differences were noticeable but not dramatic, and the warmth of the shotgun wires was nice with some music. I was using Syn. Res. Sig. #2 cables vs the new Sig. #10 (shotgun)-- which is the replacement model for the #2. Cheers. Craig

Hi (again) All; to me, and to Richard Vandersteen, TRUE bi-wiring is four SEPARATE cables going to each speaker from the amp(s)-- these four wires are not enclosed in common sheath. The Vandersteen manual makes this clear. A shotgun system has all the wires (either two or four) enclosed in a sheath with four terminals at the speaker end but only two at the amp end. So, given equal quality, a TRUE bi-wire system will cost more, and be "messier", than a shotgun system. Cheers. Craig

Maxgain; you are correct, I was not differentiating between "shotgun" and "internal bi-wiring". I do know the difference, but was just trying to specifically define true bi-wiring. Cheers. Craig

.........went back and re-read the posts above-- it turned my brain to cheese. The Syn. Res. Sig. #10 that I recently tried (in addition to my own true bi-wire set), had only two cables per speaker with four terminal wires on the speaker end but only two (+ and -) on the amp end. The dealer called it internal bi-wire, but because of the 4 spades on the speaker end, I took it to mean "shotgun". Sorry about the confusion on my part. I'll look up the AQ site-- after I have some chinese;>)

The only thing I'm now clear about is what true bi-wiring is 'cuz the Vaqndersteen manual has a very good diagram of it. Cheers again. Craig

........Buck, if you get them cryo treated, don't bend them or they'll shatter into 10,000 pieces.......like The Terminator;>). Cheers. Craig