CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[jeffslife]

OK so I am hooking up a new center and surrounds and I have the option to remove the connectors and either Bi amp them or Bi wire them. So Bi amp I get that that, have been doing it forever in car audio, makes perfect sense you get control over the whole FR range. But Bi wire ? I dont get it. The manual says you will be able to hear a subtle difference. What I see is dropping the speaker to 4 ohms. I dont see why it wouldnt already be in 4 ohms with the connectors in place. I dont know what I am missing here. The connectors are in parallel not series. Im confused.

[Tom.W]

I think the idea is to bridge the drivers at the amp instead of at the speaker. Less cable resistance over two pair ? I doubt you could hear a difference though...

[kal]

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi-wiring

[kal]

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi-wiring

[dturco]

Jeff, all bi-wiring does is allow the use of more speaker cable to be at the speaker, which you've already done. Whether its as one big run of copper, or 2-3 smaller runs, the benefit is just more signal can get through.

There's a debate in bi-wiring circles about using "better" grade wire on the highs and mids and the "lesser" grade, size, whatever, on the woofers. The argument is it will improve the sound at the frequencies we humans hear the most detail at, were the human voice frequency is at.

I posit it make zero difference, copper is copper. The sound improvement as I stated in one of your other threads, is just it allows the signal to get there with as little resistance as possible.

For more fun there are those who Bi-wire the Tweeters and Midranges with silver wire and the woofers with cooper to make the upper frequencies shimmer....

I don't buy that either. Copper, lots of it, works at the least amount of cost given the circumstances.

Could it work? Silver make a difference? Hell if I know, the cost to performance ratio is way out of line for me; plus as I age [you too] we lose upper frequency hearing, sounds like [pun intended] a losing {ha} proposition to your wallet to go along with the hearing loss too.

Did that clear it up, or just add more sh*t to think about?

[jeffslife]

I like the way it sounds now and I am basically running 8 gauge to the speakers so I think I will just let it go for now maybe I will bi amp them at a later date.

[kal]

Bi-amping is certainly something that can make a difference. I'd be careful doing it however, meaning that unless you're running good quality separate amps in the first place I wouldn't bother. More doesn't mean better if the equipment is so-so to begin with. Better to have less but better quality stuff to begin with (IMHO).

I actually see this a lot with speakers too: People wanting to put together 7.1, or even 9.1 setups with what amounts to cheaper/crappier speakers. More is better right? Nope. I'd rather have a 5.1 setup with better speakers than 9.1 with crappier speakers.

Kal

[kal]

Bi-amping is certainly something that can make a difference. I'd be careful doing it however, meaning that unless you're running good quality separate amps in the first place I wouldn't bother. More doesn't mean better if the equipment is so-so to begin with. Better to have less but better quality stuff to begin with (IMHO).

I actually see this a lot with speakers too: People wanting to put together 7.1, or even 9.1 setups with what amounts to cheaper/crappier speakers. More is better right? Nope. I'd rather have a 5.1 setup with better speakers than 9.1 with crappier speakers.

Kal

[Jeremy112]

[draganm]

I bi-wired my Quad 22L full range speakers but later undid it and went back to a single wire and brass bridging straps.
The quads are a very forward sounding, high detailed and rather "bright" sounding speaker. Bi-wiring made this even more exaggerated, it was an obvious and unpleasant change. I think what's happening is your changing the impedance to the second set of drivers. Typically, you wire to the lower posts and the brass straps carry the signal up to the tweeter and or mid-range driver. Those straps can have significant impedance to them.
Actually, what I finally did was replace the straps with Resistors to roll off the top even more.

So i think it depends on how your speakers are voiced. A speaker that's too laid back and maybe a little muddy might benefit, but this characteristic is rather rare in today's loud-speakers.

[jeffslife]

I never even considered the impedance of those straps.

[Curt Palme]

[Curt Palme]

[draganm]