Absolutely you can, and should. That is referred to as "bi-wire". Ohm rating is not an issue if you are using the same cable on both feeds … best applied you should use the same wire for both connections and remove the speaker manufacturers provided interconnect between the speakers terminals. Typically the provided interconnect is gold plated brass, which has a detrimental effect on sound quality ,,, brass is crud for audio signal. The resistance presented by the bi-wire will not change in any meaningful way the resistance presented by the same wire as a single feed. If running different types of wire to each set of terminals, then you can directly impact the sound reproduction in a negative way. The amp will feed a proportionally greater amount of the amperage to the wire with the least resistance, thus changing the intended sound characteristics of the speaker. Unless you know the resistance per foot or meter of the two different wires are the same, or extremely close to being the same, the only time you should specialize which wires go to which speaker terminals, is if you are "bi-amping". Bi-amp is when one set of wires go to one amplifier that only feeds the bass, and the other set of wire for the mid/tweeter goes to a separate amplifier, or 3rd/4th channel feed of a receiver, which is basically a separate amplifier.
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Given the speaker’s 4 ohm nominal impedance, as well as the detailed "impedance magnitude" curve shown near the bottom of this page (the second from the last graph), it would presumably be best to connect the woofer section to the amp’s 4 ohm tap. Although it is conceivable that the 2 ohm tap might be sonically preferable. It can’t hurt to try them both. Regarding the connection to the mid/hi section of the speaker, presumably the speaker would come closest to performing as the designer intended if you connect the mid/hi section to the same tap on the amp that you use for the woofer section, which is likely to be the 4 ohm tap. However, given that the speaker has a sharp rise in its impedance to about 18 ohms in the upper mid-range/lower treble region, if you eventually find yourself wanting to alter its tonal balance in that region it would not be unreasonable to try connecting the mid/hi section to one of the other taps. Before doing so, however, be absolutely certain that the jumpers Sfcfran referred to have been removed from the rear of the speaker. Also, a slight correction to Sfcfran’s otherwise fine post: The amp will feed a proportionally greater amount of the amperage to the wire with the least resistance, thus changing the intended sound characteristics of the speaker.How the current divides up among the two cables will be determined almost exclusively by the impedance of the two sections of the speaker at each of the frequencies that are present in the signal, at any instant of time. In most and probably almost all home audio systems the resistance of the speaker cables will be vastly smaller than the impedance of the speaker at any frequency, and therefore will not have a significant effect on how the current divides up between the two cables. That said, however, I do agree that in general using the same type of speaker cables for both sections of the speaker will tend to be sonically preferable. Best of luck with your new equipment. Regards, -- Al |
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