bi-wiring, is it essential?

[raypasote]

HI, I am a home theater newby and I have a question. Is bi-wiring of your speakers essential? Can you tell the difference? I read an article in audioholics.com by one of the experts who seemed to say that it didn't really help to bi-wire, that the sound came out the same. Did I misread that? (I got lost in all the equations) I would like some input from your experience with bi-wiring. What do you think? Is it worth it? my speakers (Klipsch RF 52) are 8 ohm so it may not be worth it.

 

[lsiberian]

HI, I am a home theater newby and I have a question. Is bi-wiring of your speakers essential? Can you tell the difference? I read an article in audioholics.com by one of the experts who seemed to say that it didn't really help to bi-wire, that the sound came out the same. Did I misread that? (I got lost in all the equations) I would like some input from your experience with bi-wiring. What do you think? Is it worth it? my speakers (Klipsch RF 52) are 8 ohm so it may not be worth it.

bi-wiring has little proven use IMO. But there are cases where it is needed. These cases are when a person must run a smaller gauge wire than is recommended. in this case bi-wiring will help reduce the resistance and improve sound. However this isn't a common case and is one example of an exception to the rule. I generally suggest 16 gauge wiring for most people and speakers.

1. It's the most readily available for reasonable prices.
2. It's easier to hide than 12 or 14 gauge which I think get to be a little large.
3. Use 18 gauge for in speaker wiring. Soldering 16 gauge can be problematic if you can't fit it in your connectors.

Never ever buy expensive speaker cable. Monoprice and home depot both have standard speaker wire that works just as good as anything else. Wires are very simple. Monster cable uses the same copper everyone else does.

In fact stick to monoprice for all your AV cabling needs and you should come out all right.

Now if you want to improve your sound. The easiest way is to experiment with the position of your speakers.

 

[greggp2]

I have my speakers bi-wired with 12 gauge cables and I really can't tell the difference between bi-wiring and when they were hooked up with 14 gauge single wires. Bi-Amping is whole other matter and that has yielded very good results for me, as it has provided more power to my main speakers, but I don't think you should worry much about bi-wiring...

Also, like the last post says, don't get crazy with expensive speaker wire. You can get great sounding wire through monoprice, blue jean cables, etc... I sold a pair of $1,500 cables for a pair of $200 bi-wires and can't hear the difference.

 

[Loren42]

Absolute hype.

lsiberian does raise a good point about impedance. You want your speaker wires to have as low impedance as possible, so if your speaker wire run length is long, use a lower gauge number wire like #12 or #14.

 

[CraigV]

If you have enough wire to try it both ways, give it a try and see what you think. Why else would a speaker manufacturer bother making bi-wiring possible?

 

[Rickster71]

There is no "One size fits all" when it come to shoes, or speaker wire.

The way to pick the proper gauge wire. One must know the resistance, the load, and the power.

 

[Alex2507]

Why else would a speaker manufacturer bother making bi-wiring possible?

For the most part to sell speakers to people who don't know any better.
You gotta watch out for the Flim Flam Man.

 

[just listening]

Bi-wiring is a waste of $$. The key is to understand the impedence level.

For Two Channel:
A good rule of thumb is that speaker wire shouldn't be more than 15% of the cost of your speakers new. I do advocate companies like Blue Jeans, Zebra and such over Home Depot, but if you do go with HD, get 12 gauge, 16 gauge in my experience just doesn't deliver the full impact after more than a couple of feet.

With Home Theater:
If WAF or visibility are not an issue for the rear channel HD 12 gauge is my choice as the runs are probably quite long, unless it's a very basic cube style rear speaker, then 16 gauge will suffice.

 

[ski2xblack]

Biwiring not only non-essential

it's a complete waste of time and money. All you are doing with bi-wiring is in effect pulling the jumper from between speaker posts back to the amp and using twice as much wire as a result. No qualitative improvement has ever been scientifically proven.

Bi-amping, however, is beneficial, wheather you're doing simple bass management (which relieves the main amp from pushing bass singals and the main speakers from trying to produce them, yeilding better dynamics and higher overall output), or going fully active (i.e. active crossovers, direct coupling of amps to speaker sans passive crossovers, which allows amp optimization for each driver and eliminates the phase problems inherent in passive crossover components).

Regarding wiring, I only use heavy guage, cheap *** wire that comes off a giant spool at the local electronics wholesaler (I go to JD Saunders in Boulder, out on 47th). Keep wiring expenses to a minimum, but don't skimp on guage if you have long runs.

 

[fredk]

For the most part to sell speakers to people who don't know any better.

Listen to the monkey. The monkey is wise... well, sometimes anyway.

 

[raypasote]

thanks everyone for your help.

Thanks everybody for your input. I see that this is a whole lot more complicated than it appears. I don't think that I will bi-wire for the time being unless I get newer, more expensive speakers (and a less expensive wife)

 

[mtrycrafts]

... Why else would a speaker manufacturer bother making bi-wiring possible?

So they don't lose the the must have buy-wire capability customers An economic decision.

 

[mtrycrafts]

... unless I get newer, more expensive speakers (and a less expensive wife)

That will not help them either

 

[griffinconst]

Using more wire won't help your speakers or the wife, sorry.

 

[cwall99]

I agree with ski2xblack... My AVR supports configuring the two unused channels (I have a 5.1 speaker set up) to bi-amp my left and right mains (my center could also be bi-amped and bi-wired), and it makes a huge difference, especially when you want to play things, like, rilly, rilly loud.

Crisp, clear, no fatigue at all.

I do agree that bi-wiring alone doesn't make sense, but if your system supports bi-amping and bi-wiring, give it a spin. It's especially fun on two-channel source material, but the 5.1 SACD of Pink Floyd's DSOTM will have me grinning like an idiot and drooling when I crank it up.

Of course, so will seeing an unopened and free 22 ounce bottle of Stone Brewing Co.'s Arrogant Bastard ale. But that's just me.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I love Bi-wire.............