Bi-wiring and Bi-amping for Dummies (Well, One dummy amyways)


Thanks to fellow list member here I’ve learned recently some about my new equipment. Now about hooking it all up.....

Most of the new gear is pretty simple but there’s a couple of new twists I have no experience with. Bi-wiring and bi-amping.

Bi-wiring. I purchased a pair of Cambridge Audio Edge M monoblocks and a pair of

KEF R11 Meta speakers. The speakers will take normal wiring or bi-wiring  I now understand. I was lucky enough to contact Morrow Audio before they shipped out my new SP6 speaker cables and have the speaker ends changed to bi-wiring. 

The amplifier cable ends will have the normal two connectors while the speaker ends will now have 4. Pretty straightforward or am I missing something?

Bi-amping. Well, this will take another pair of monoblocks. That’s not in this year’s budget but maybe next year if it offers that much improvement. Does it add much improvement? Even when using monoblocks? Will it make the cables I just ordered obsolete? Will I need additional cables? Anything else I need to know? 

I’m sure bi-wiring and bi-amping are covered in the forums elsewhere but I’m trying to be specific for the brands of equipment I purchased. 

Your polite comments and opinions are valued, thank you. 

toddsyr

"...buy the best speaker cables and jumpers you can afford..."

What jumpers? What are they for? 

Never mind. I looked up jumpers. Small parts that connect the terminals on bi-wire capable speakers that one uses when they don't want them bi-wired. 

Bi-wiring eliminates any high frequency signal disruption or interference due to the "back EMF" produced by the woofer as its voice coil returns to neutral. I do not know whether or not this is a "thing". My amps and speakers allow it, so I do it. As with so many things in this hobby, don't know if it helps, but it doesn't hurt, so why not?

I am a big fan of monoblock amps and have some speakers requiring 4 monoblock per speaker. B&w nautilus  and cal audio sequoya ( spelling.). Then electronic crossover is another level. It is true that emf generated by the woofer can feed back to mid and tweeters.this is one advantage of bi amping. You can always take time and add as budget allows. I build my own speaker wire out of 6 gauge  ofc wire twist it and put ptfe insulate from Amazon. Air is a good dielectric so that's why some wrap with cotton lots of air. Have fun experimenting.enjoy the music.