Why do you think Bi-Wiring improves the sound ?


I now know of 3 people that have converted their speakers to be bi-wired but are not bi-amping .

What is your experience or opinion on why bi-wiring without bi-amping might or does sound better ?

I am concidering converting my speakers but I do not want to be fooled by the addition of increased AWG .
128x128vair68robert

Showing 7 responses by ieales

@vair68robert
See http://www.ielogical.com/Audio/CableSnakeOil.php. Jump down to Bi-Wiring if you don’t want to read the whole screed.

Bi-Wiring is provable and measurable. Audible depends on myriad factors.

Too many with zero technical skill or training hear phantasms, some chemically induced. Their posts are not worth the bits to transmit.

As far as millercarbons nonsense, after repairing, recapping & Bi-Wring my 35 year old Spica TC-50, and verifying I liked what I'd done with lesser cables, I spent 8x their original cost on Kimber BiFocalXL. Worth every penny.

YMMV depending on hardware and acuity.
^^^^ typical post of someone reading the title and inserting their 0¢.

'Good' speaker wire is meaningless. The cable is part of a system and $$$ is often sonically and measurably worse than ¢¢¢.

If you want to know, there are plenty of well written papers explaining the electrical theory. See  http://www.ielogical.com/Audio/CableSnakeOil.php
Hint, is the emitter resistor in the feedback or not?
Irrelevant in the models which show that changing 1 parameter affects response.
Considering that the feedback changes the effect of this resistor and makes it approach 0 ....
... and the load changes the feedback.

Historically this was never provided for bi-wiring, it was provided for Bi-Amping to reduce IM distortion and/or tailor amps to frequency range.
Systems designed to be bi-amped typically do not have internal crossovers. Systems with properly designed passive crossovers make poor candidates for bi-amping. Amplifier response varies with the load and driver response varies in combination with the driving amplifier and the parallel loads of the additional drivers.

This is quite easy to demonstrate:
2 identical power amps y'd from the source.
Drive the LS full range, bi-wired and bi-amped. There are 3 distinct responses, all easily identifiable.

Some drivers make poor bi-amping candidates without either active or passive equalization other than crossover slopes.

There is no, and never has been, any free lunch.

@heaudio123
I don't understand why you are so antagonistic. My examples are stated necessarily simplistic to communicate concepts. Are you a manufacturer? Audio sales?
"atmasphere, as someone who designs amps (for many applications), I cannot agree at all with your comment w.r.t. amount of feedback and sounds profile." from  https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/it-looks-like-a-debate-to-me?page=2

What amps, pray tell!
Maybe getting higher quality jumpers rather than using the typically crappy factory ones would be a factor too.
Definitely for the high quality jumper vendor. He'd have your money.

I should have asked if bi-cabling or 2 seperate runs of cable sound better ?
Better to whom?
Different? Possibly.

I've since come to see that the amount of benefit of a power cord depends on the application.
What a concept: S Y S T E M    D E P E N D E N C Y
Who'da thought? <vbg>

As oft opined, any specific claim is only valid for the claimant! YMMV

mirolab:
What amplifiers, cables, connectors, etc. for single and bi-wire?

Speakers are 'voiced' to the room and equipment the designer has.
They sound different everywhere else.