Thoughts on this approach...

[Pedro Alvarado]

 

[ryanosaur]

If you don't remove those jumpers, you got problems.

No real reason to bi-wire, or bi-amp, though... It is generally considered to not produce any noticeable effects. Other than cause you to BUY more wire, or more amps.

Also of note... if you are using extra channels on the AVR to bi-amp, you are likely robbing power away from all other channels, thus actually weakening the signal to all speakers.

Regardless, if you do it right, no harm should come. But you need to remove those jumpers.

 

[Pogre]

If you don't remove those jumpers, you got problems.

No real reason to bi-wire, or bi-amp, though... It is generally considered to not produce any noticeable effects. Other than cause you to BUY more wire, or more amps.

Also of note... if you are using extra channels on the AVR to bi-amp, you are likely robbing power away from all other channels, thus actually weakening the signal to all speakers.

Regardless, if you do it right, no harm should come. But you need to remove those jumpers.

Omg yes, remove those jumpers! My *ahem* 'friend' decided to experiment with bi wiring and forgot to remove the jumpers from one of the speakers. That was the end of that amplifier...

Thank goodness for warranties and stellar customer service!

 

[lovinthehd]

I'm hoping this is a troll post for laughs.

 

[Pedro Alvarado]

I'm hoping this is a troll post for laughs.

how could this be a troll?

these, pair of nht 2.9, are for sale on craigslist right now.

 

[MR.MAGOO]

If you don't remove those jumpers, you got problems.

No real reason to bi-wire, or bi-amp, though... It is generally considered to not produce any noticeable effects. Other than cause you to BUY more wire, or more amps.

Also of note... if you are using extra channels on the AVR to bi-amp, you are likely robbing power away from all other channels, thus actually weakening the signal to all speakers.

Regardless, if you do it right, no harm should come. But you need to remove those jumpers.

Leave those jumpers in place and you may be buying a new component and / or speakers in your quest to bi-wire bi-amp! Worst case scenario maybe buying a new house to replace the one which burned down due to electrical short circuit.....

 

[lovinthehd]

how could this be a troll?

these, pair of nht 2.9, are for sale on craigslist right now.

So some guy is advertising these hooked up that way? I'd pass.

 

[Pedro Alvarado]

So some guy is advertising these hooked up that way? I'd pass.

just in case your question is not rhetorical, the answer is yes.

 

[ryanosaur]

Agree with Lovin'... that should be a hard pass.

 

[Pedro Alvarado]

i wonder what they sound like with that configuration.

 

[ryanosaur]

Bi-wiring and Bi-amping don't really affect the sound. Bi-wiring, if anything, decreases the impedance of the cabling by adding "extra pipe" for the current to pass through. You can do the same for your speakers with a good quality 12AWG speaker cable. nothing fancy needed.
Bi-amping sounds much more exciting, but when you bi-amp passively... you aren't really doing anything different. then sending the wattage required to drive the speaker... twice over... but that wattage doesn't stack... each part of the XO still sees the same amount if you were to just traditionally wire the speaker. You are using twice as much energy for the same task.
To the best of my knowledge, there have been no studies that show any measurable benefit to either technique. People, of course, will claim great things... but the science doesn't back it up. Or at least, has yet to.

Again, if you decide to experiment... there is much written about the topics, you should be able to figure it out. If you do it correctly, no harm will come to your system.
That photo... is a bad example.

 

[killdozzer]

i wonder what they sound like with that configuration.

Maybe you really don't know so you're not catching on the sarcasm, don't be offended, but I'll put it blatantly; If those speakers were IN USE CONNECTED IN SUCH A WAY, don't buy them!! Combining bi-wiring and jumpers can and will cause problems for the speakers. Even if they're still working, you don't know what you're getting if this guy played them like that.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Bi-amping sounds much more exciting, but when you bi-amp passively... you aren't really doing anything different. then sending the wattage required to drive the speaker... twice over... but that wattage doesn't stack... each part of the XO still sees the same amount if you were to just traditionally wire the speaker. You are using twice as much energy for the same task.
To the best of my knowledge, there have been no studies that show any measurable benefit to either technique. People, of course, will claim great things... but the science doesn't back it up. Or at least, has yet to.

Actually, Ryan, this isn't technically correct. Taking the example where the midrange and tweeter drivers are connected to one amplifier channel and the woofer(s) are connected to another amplifier channel, the amplifier channels will see different electrical loads. The woofer's amplifier channel sees a very high impedance above the low-pass frequency, and this effectively limits the power the amplifier channel sends to the woofers at, say, 1KHz, to a very low level. The same is true for the mid/tweeter channel. While the woofer channel may see a load requiring many watts into 30Hz, the mid/tweeter channel will see a very high impedance at bass frequencies, limiting the power requirements at 30Hz to a very low level, even though through the line-level amplifier inputs receive identical signals from the pre-amp to the woofer amplifier channel and the mid-tweeter amplifier channel.

That said... for most speakers in most rooms with most program material at most volume levels passive bi-amping is unlikely to result in an improvement in sound quality. For some speakers with several drivers that present difficult amplifier loads (the Legacy Audio Focus comes to mind),used in very large rooms, with a listening seat at a substantial distance from the speakers (e.g 15 feet),playing wide-range highly dynamic music (e.g. symphonic works of Aaron Copeland) at high volume levels, it is possible that passive bi-amping could result in an audible improvement, even with powerful dedicated power amps. But IMO that's probably a much less than 1% scenario. Most of the time, even in very large rooms with relatively inefficient speakers, playing pop or most jazz music (and certainly most classical music) any amp is going to be cruising along at average levels of only a few watts or less, with peaks of perhaps a few tens of watts. And that's assuming you're running your L/R speakers full range; if you're using subs with a classic 80Hz crossover it is even less likely you'll highly exercise a single amplifier channel.

So while I agree with you that passive bi-amping is unlikely to provide audible improvements, there are technical reasons why in corner cases it could improve sound quality.

 

[Pogre]

i wonder what they sound like with that configuration.

"Bzzzzt!" *smoke...*

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

"Bzzzzt!" *smoke...*

lmao...

 

[ryanosaur]

Actually, Ryan, this isn't technically correct. Taking the example where the midrange and tweeter drivers are connected to one amplifier channel and the woofer(s) are connected to another amplifier channel, the amplifier channels will see different electrical loads. The woofer's amplifier channel sees a very high impedance above the low-pass frequency, and this effectively limits the power the amplifier channel sends to the woofers at, say, 1KHz, to a very low level. The same is true for the mid/tweeter channel. While the woofer channel may see a load requiring many watts into 30Hz, the mid/tweeter channel will see a very high impedance at bass frequencies, limiting the power requirements at 30Hz to a very low level, even though through the line-level amplifier inputs receive identical signals from the pre-amp to the woofer amplifier channel and the mid-tweeter amplifier channel.

That said... for most speakers in most rooms with most program material at most volume levels passive bi-amping is unlikely to result in an improvement in sound quality. For some speakers with several drivers that present difficult amplifier loads (the Legacy Audio Focus comes to mind),used in very large rooms, with a listening seat at a substantial distance from the speakers (e.g 15 feet),playing wide-range highly dynamic music (e.g. symphonic works of Aaron Copeland) at high volume levels, it is possible that passive bi-amping could result in an audible improvement, even with powerful dedicated power amps. But IMO that's probably a much less than 1% scenario. Most of the time, even in very large rooms with relatively inefficient speakers, playing pop or most jazz music (and certainly most classical music) any amp is going to be cruising along at average levels of only a few watts or less, with peaks of perhaps a few tens of watts. And that's assuming you're running your L/R speakers full range; if you're using subs with a classic 80Hz crossover it is even less likely you'll highly exercise a single amplifier channel.

So while I agree with you that passive bi-amping is unlikely to provide audible improvements, there are technical reasons why in corner cases it could improve sound quality.

Indeed, and thank you for clarifying.

 

[Pogre]

Maybe you really don't know so you're not catching on the sarcasm, don't be offended, but I'll put it blatantly; If those speakers were IN USE CONNECTED IN SUCH A WAY, don't buy them!! Combining bi-wiring and jumpers can and will cause problems for the speakers. Even if they're still working, you don't know what you're getting if this guy played them like that.

I got super lucky with the speaker that the jumper was left on. It's undamaged. The amp tho... instafried.

 

[Pedro Alvarado]

Bi-wiring and Bi-amping don't really affect the sound. Bi-wiring, if anything, decreases the impedance of the cabling by adding "extra pipe" for the current to pass through. You can do the same for your speakers with a good quality 12AWG speaker cable. nothing fancy needed.
Bi-amping sounds much more exciting, but when you bi-amp passively... you aren't really doing anything different. then sending the wattage required to drive the speaker... twice over... but that wattage doesn't stack... each part of the XO still sees the same amount if you were to just traditionally wire the speaker. You are using twice as much energy for the same task.
To the best of my knowledge, there have been no studies that show any measurable benefit to either technique. People, of course, will claim great things... but the science doesn't back it up. Or at least, has yet to.

Again, if you decide to experiment... there is much written about the topics, you should be able to figure it out. If you do it correctly, no harm will come to your system.
That photo... is a bad example.

i am referring to the configuration on the photo.

 

[Pedro Alvarado]

Maybe you really don't know so you're not catching on the sarcasm, don't be offended, but I'll put it blatantly; If those speakers were IN USE CONNECTED IN SUCH A WAY, don't buy them!! Combining bi-wiring and jumpers can and will cause problems for the speakers. Even if they're still working, you don't know what you're getting if this guy played them like that.

yes, i understand. that is the reason i posted the photo to begin with.

the seller has been using the speaker connected this way.

i still wonder how they sound as they are on the photo.

 

[killdozzer]

yes, i understand. that is the reason i posted the photo to begin with.

the seller has been using the speaker connected this way.

i still wonder how they sound as they are on the photo.

In that case I apologize most sincerely.