To biwire or not to biwire, that is the question


I have a fairly long run of speaker cables, 18 feet.  I am using Cardas Golden Presence and have been happy with them.  But I now have Vandersteen Treo CT’s and Richard Vandersteen insists his speakers are designed to perform their very best when biwired.

Well, I can’t find, much less afford, a second run of Golden Presence but I’m haunted that I might not be getting the best from my Treos.  If the run was shorter, I’d ask the Cable Company to send me a biwire pair to demo, but they don’t have any that long.  Or I could by a less expensive biwire pair, like Speltz Anti-cables and hope the biwire improvement would exceed any loss in quality from using a modest cable.  

Or I could go to Home Depot and buy 70’ of 12 or 14 gauge wire, cut into four lengths and solder some spades on the ends.  Then I can compare a single pair to a biwired pair with exactly the same wire.  Of course, after the experiment, I’d be left with a big pile of wire that I have no use for.

Suggestions?  


77jovian
Well, I can’t find, much less afford, a second run of Golden Presence but I’m haunted that I might not be getting the best from my Treos.

Can’t help out with bi-wire, I think its a poor use of funds. But relax, there’s no point letting this haunt you. Rest assured bi-wire or no bi-wire you will never be getting the best from your Treos. Its simply impossible. You can get better, and better. And better again. But you can never ever get the best. You can however torture yourself endlessly, and there is no end or limit to that one either. So why do that to yourself?

There. All better now. I do not charge for these exorcisms but donations of any amount are always appreciated.
“But I now have Vandersteen Treo CT’s and Richard Vandersteen insists his speakers are designed to perform their very best when biwired.”

If designer of the speakers says above then my gut tells me you won’t be at peace until you try. I would use Cardas for bass and get a pair for mid/tweeter like this for under $600.
https://audioenvy.com/product/speaker/sp9-each/

Cheap or poorly made cables won’t give you real measure of uptick in performance. Do it right or don’t do it all.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/audio-envy-dang

An alternative that might be more economical, and this suggestion presumes you use separates power amplification and preferably balanced, is to use one pair of longer interconnects and two pairs of shorter speaker cables.
I agree with unsound for longer interconnects and shorter speaker cables if possible if not I would recommend one set of better speaker cables with better jumpers. Of course everyone has an opinion of what a better speaker cable is. I also find bi-amping sounds better to me than bi-wiring if you can swing it.
Check out the Silversmith Fidelium Bi-Wire configuration.
Best buy for the buck.....