Have you experimented thoroughly with speaker positioning? You'll get more noticeable results by moving the speakers a few inches than you will by varying cables. Especially for a speaker with the bass output of the Paradigm Studio 100.
Bi-Wire Tuning
I'm wondering if anyone has experience tuning bi-wired loudspeakers with different sized wires in the high frequency and low frequency inputs. Does it work? If so, what sizes would you recommend switching to?
Basically, I'm trying to improve bass accuracy and overall soundstage/imaging on a recently acquired pair of towers that have four binding posts each for low frequency and high frequency inputs.
Here is the system:
* An older, high end Sony CD player
* Arcam A75 integrated solid state amp
* Nordost interconnects
* DIY speaker cables: Belden 5000UP 12 AWG with gold plated BFA and banana plugs
* Paradigm Reference Studio 100 V.2 towers
At first I used my old Nordost Flatline cables in single pair with the jumpers that came with the speakers. I liked the way they sounded but, partly owing to the room dynamics and partly to the two 8.5" woofers that handle the lows, found that the bass could overwhelm and subsume the mids and highs, especially in ensemble jazz and rock. To remedy the excessive bass, I experimented with speaker placement and decoupling the speaker feet from the floor with aluminum receiving cups, to which I later attached furniture floor sliders -- which to my surprise *dramatically* improved instrument separation and imaging. But the bass could still be overpowering at times, so I decided to try bi-wiring to see if I could improve accuracy and sound stage.
I made two 6' pairs of cables with Belden 5000UP 12 AWG wire. The Paradigms have separate crossovers for the high and low frequencies. The Arcam has two output pairs per channel that operate in parallel, so one pair in a channel goes to the high frequency binding posts on the speaker, while the other pair goes to the low frequency binding posts.
I do think the bi-wiring led to subtle improvements in sound stage, instrument separation, and bass accuracy, but I want even more. What if I went down to a 16 AWG (or something else) for the low frequency inputs, or even used 4-conductor wire from one of the amp outputs to the two speaker inputs? Is that likely to have a noticeable effect? Are there any rules of thumb for figuring out optimal wire thickness?
Thanks,
Jeff
Basically, I'm trying to improve bass accuracy and overall soundstage/imaging on a recently acquired pair of towers that have four binding posts each for low frequency and high frequency inputs.
Here is the system:
* An older, high end Sony CD player
* Arcam A75 integrated solid state amp
* Nordost interconnects
* DIY speaker cables: Belden 5000UP 12 AWG with gold plated BFA and banana plugs
* Paradigm Reference Studio 100 V.2 towers
At first I used my old Nordost Flatline cables in single pair with the jumpers that came with the speakers. I liked the way they sounded but, partly owing to the room dynamics and partly to the two 8.5" woofers that handle the lows, found that the bass could overwhelm and subsume the mids and highs, especially in ensemble jazz and rock. To remedy the excessive bass, I experimented with speaker placement and decoupling the speaker feet from the floor with aluminum receiving cups, to which I later attached furniture floor sliders -- which to my surprise *dramatically* improved instrument separation and imaging. But the bass could still be overpowering at times, so I decided to try bi-wiring to see if I could improve accuracy and sound stage.
I made two 6' pairs of cables with Belden 5000UP 12 AWG wire. The Paradigms have separate crossovers for the high and low frequencies. The Arcam has two output pairs per channel that operate in parallel, so one pair in a channel goes to the high frequency binding posts on the speaker, while the other pair goes to the low frequency binding posts.
I do think the bi-wiring led to subtle improvements in sound stage, instrument separation, and bass accuracy, but I want even more. What if I went down to a 16 AWG (or something else) for the low frequency inputs, or even used 4-conductor wire from one of the amp outputs to the two speaker inputs? Is that likely to have a noticeable effect? Are there any rules of thumb for figuring out optimal wire thickness?
Thanks,
Jeff