Bi-wiring and speaker calibration...

[Syxix]

Hello!

I'd like to know what you guys think of bi-wiring (without bi-amplification). Does it really make the sound clearer? I'm considering buying some 12 gauge Ultralink speaker cables with 4 wires in them to bi-wire my system, but I'd like some opinions first... I also heard about using 4 wires for one speaker but combining the wires two by two (the resistance is decreased with the parallel wire configuration). Did anyone try that?

Also, what do you guys use to calibrate your audio? A movie sequence? If so, what movie? Calibration CDs? Which ones???

Thanks!!

Syxix

Oh yeah! If anyone has specific calibration tips for my system, please, type away! I have a Marantz SR8200 receiver, a Marantz DV6200 DVD/CD player and a 5.1 set of Boston Acoustics reference speakers (VRM80 towers, VRMC center, VRMX bipole satellites, and PV800 sub). I don't have added amplifiers. Are those really worth it?

 

[av_phile]

I bi-wire if only to increase the effective gauge of my speaker wires. And i don't use 4-wire cables as the capacitance between parallel wires have been known to attenuate high freqeuncies. Not that it really matters with small cable lengths, but i'd rather not gamble with it.

Some "experts" point to the proper impedances that the amp "sees" when it is wired separately for the HF and LF. Maybe it does. Frankly I can't here any difference. Or my ears aren't "golden" enough to do so. But if your speakers are bi-wireable, taking advantage of it does increase the total wire gauge and thus lessen the DC resistance, however negligible that is. And if only for that, and if i can afford the added expense, I don't see any harm bi-wiring.

 

[av_phile]

Also, what do you guys use to calibrate your audio? A movie sequence? If so, what movie? Calibration CDs? Which ones???

Right now I only use my inadequate ears to calibrate. But I am in the market for a good SPL meter, maybe from Radio Shack. I use the Sheffield My Disc test CD's LF sweep to check on the transition between my main fronts and the sub. I think those THX calibration tools in many THX certified DVD(disney?) can do the job as well. There are others I've heard but I don't have them.

I don't have added amplifiers. Are those really worth it?

Using external multichannel power amps that are correctly rated and more powerful than your receiver simply allows you to go up the power ladder. It's well worth it if you are unsatisfied with the SPLs of your current reciever. Assuming also that your receiver has multichannel pre-outs to take this upgrade step. Otherwise, you'd having nothing to feed your new external amps with.

Just make sure the real power is at least twice that of your Marantz. A doubling of power yields a 3db incremental volume increase which is presumably the minumum volume change that can be perceived by the human ear.

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

(...) a 3db incremental volume increase which is presumably the minumum volume change that can be perceived by the human ear.

It's less than that. "The smallest step-change in amplitude that can be detected is about 0.3dB for a pure tone. In more realistic situations it is 0.5 to 1.0dB". From the Douglas Self site; citing an audiology journal.

Even smaller changes down to 0.1dB are perceptable, but not recognized as a difference in loudness.

 

[av_phile]

It's less than that. "The smallest step-change in amplitude that can be detected is about 0.3dB for a pure tone. In more realistic situations it is 0.5 to 1.0dB". From the Douglas Self site; citing an audiology journal.

Even smaller changes down to 0.1dB are perceptable, but not recognized as a difference in loudness.

I sit corrected. Thanks. I should have said "the minimum the ear can perceive as significant when upgrading."

I myself can perceive incremental volume changes from even a slight movement on my volume control. But it can be straining to try to hear such small changes when you are supposedly upgrading to a higher powered amp and attempting to compare the two. A +1db difference, while perceptible, wouldn't sound significant if you try to recall how loud your old amp sounded. Many consumers would even think they both have the same loudness. It's still best to get a 3db difference or even higher so you can be convinced with unmistakable definitiveness that your new more powerful amp is indeed sounding more powerful than the old.

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

A +1db difference, while perceptible, wouldn't sound significant if you try to recall how loud your old amp sounded. Many consumers would even think they both have the same loudness. It's still best to get a 3db difference or even higher so you can be convinced with unmistakable definitiveness that your new more powerful amp is indeed sounding more powerful than the old.

Good point. Those tiny differences I was talking about apply mainly to direct A/B comparisons. Yep, no point replacing an amp to gain 1dB -- I'm with you there!

 

[jeffsg4mac]

AV, I sit corrected? I am dying man, you cracked me up