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

@kirkwallace Yes, the gauge of the cables is reduced but only for about the last 6 inches. It's not halved either from what I've read. I larger percentage goes to the lower frequency connection since it would theoretically use more power. As we've recently learned though, it's all hogwash. 

@roadcykler Yes, I see that now thanks to the video link provided by ditusa. That's why asked about all of this, to learn about it. Bi-wiring has no real benefit to the consumer, just the producer. 

@shooter41 I would be curious as to why Greg from Volti Audio recommends bi-wiring. Again, I'm learning here so my assumptions may be wrong. I would guess the only benefit to running an entire set of cables would be if you only had a smaller gauge than you needed laying around and wanted to use them anyways. Or maybe you have speakers that demand so much power that even the largest cables aren't sufficient. 

@mark200mph The video is very informative, especially for those  would want to understand the mechanics of bi-wiring. I don't recall the speakers being named in the video but the power was coming from an integrated. 

@dekay It can be hard to find a good image online for the rear side of a KEF R11 Meta. There's one at:

https://australiahifi.com.au/products/kef-r11-meta-floorstanding-speakers

I see what you're talking about now and Googled it. This is the way to go apparently for the cleanest signal. Wish they would have mentioned that on the website when I bought them! Thank you dekay!

 

Another loudspeaker designer/manufacturer who recommends bi-wiring is Richard Vandersteen.

 

As for bi-amping, one major benefit of doing it requires the removal of low frequencies from the signal sent to the amp(s) powering the midrange and tweeter drivers. It may be done passively (just a single capacitor installed on the amp’s input jacks to create a 1st-order filter: 6dB/octave) or actively (for higher-order crossover filters).

A power amp freed from having to reproduce low frequencies sounds better, and plays louder. And the tubes last longer.

 

"I would be curious as to why Greg from Volti Audio recommends bi-wiring. Again, I'm learning here so my assumptions may be wrong. I would guess the only benefit to running an entire set of cables would be if you only had a smaller gauge than you needed laying around and wanted to use them anyways. Or maybe you have speakers that demand so much power that even the largest cables aren't sufficient."

Well, no and no. The purpose of using two separate cables to each speaker would be maximum signal isolation. And Volti's definitely aren't power hungry. They're one of the most efficient speakers on the market and can run just fine on a handful of watts.

Also, there are no "middle binding posts" on Kef speaker terminals, those are knobs to either connect or disconnect the built-in jumpers. You connect your cables to either the high frequency or low frequency posts and then turn the knobs to engage the jumpers. If bi-wiring make SURE to turn the knobs to disengage the jumpers.

I don't understand why you would want to bi-wire. You're spending more money that way without any sound improvement. People purchase Morrow cables because they are relatively inexpensive, and they want to save money so you are cancelling out some of those savings by bi-wiring.. I use Nordost Odin 2 cable to connect my Sonus Faber speakers to my primaluna monoblocks. I bought them used to save money, and I bought Nordost jumpers because I could not justify the cost of purchasing two sets of cables. I'm very happy with the results. People bi-amp if one amp is better for bass, and the other is better for treble. As others have stated, this increases cost a lot because one needs to purchase another amp. This seems logical for someone who has money to burn.

From the Wilson-Benesch ACT 3zero manual:

"3.1 Bi-wiring

Improvements can be heard through separating the energy from each filter in the crossover. Cables vary in construction but a good quality cable should be low in impedance, inductance and capacitance. Do not use cables that act as additional crossover components. Experimentation is crucial in this situation and a cable that works well in one situation with a given amplifier may not always perform as well when one of these variables is changed."

Since my monoblocks have dual speaker outputs, it is not difficult. In fact, it’s seemingly encouraged, it is so convenient.

Does it help?  Don’t know, but it doesn’t hurt.