J

jingka

Enthusiast
Hi,

Recently I bought a pair of bookshelf speakers which are bi-wirable, at the moment I don' t intend to use bi-wiring, the retailer told me that I can connect the speaker cables from one channel of the amp to the speaker binding post in a cross fashion, meaning I use one positive terminal of the upper pair and the negative terminal of the lower pair, is this advisable? If so, what is the difference between using the upper pair (red and black) and using one each?

Anothe question, do I really have to use speaker stands? Is there a significant difference when using this stand?

Thank you very much in advance and more power to Audioholics....:)
 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
No, you don't want to follow that fool's advice.

first off, you will be effectively connecting both "halves" of the speaker in series, which is NOT whatanyone (aside from that jackhole) ever intended.

Secondly, it's entierly possible that by doing this it may not work at all. You may wind up having to connect the two "unused" posts anyway.

Don't get too hung up on this biwiring thingie. The jury is still out on it's effectiveness.

Just put back those two jumpers that came with the speakers* (red to red and black to black) and simply run your one speaker cable to either set.

As for speaker stands, as long as they are raised to the proper height, they are not too fussy how it's is done. They don't really care if it's a pair of $500 stands or a few cinderblocks.


*He DID give you the jumpers, didn't he?
 
J

jingka

Enthusiast
Hi markw, thanks for your response....actually the jumpers are connected....red to red and black to black....

I spent some time in his showroom and witness some other customer dealings and this retailer always connect the speaker wires in the manner i described, red banana plug to red binding post(upper) and then black banana plug to black binding post(lower)...BUT I DID IT THE CONVENTIONAL WAY USING THE PAIRS RED AND BLACK (LOWER) AS DESCRIBED IN THE KEF MANUAL...

and thanks for the info on speaker stands, this things really are pricey! I'll probably look for a cheaper one if it's only the height that matters...really, since I'm a newbie, i thought that there is something in this speaker stands that adds up some sonic factor in ones setup....:)

Thanks again man, big help:)




markw said:
first off, you will be effectively connecting both "halves" of the speaker in series, which is NOT whatanyone (aside from that jackhole) ever intended.

Secondly, it's entierly possible that by doing this it may not work at all. You may wind up having to connect the two "unused" posts anyway.

Don't get too hung up on this biwiring thingie. The jury is still out on it's effectiveness.

Just put back those two jumpers that came with the speakers* (red to red and black to black) and simply run your one speaker cable to either set.

As for speaker stands, as long as they are raised to the proper height, they are not too fussy how it's is done. They don't really care if it's a pair of $500 stands or a few cinderblocks.


*He DID give you the jumpers, didn't he?
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
jingka said:
Hi,
, the retailer told me that I can connect the speaker cables from one channel of the amp to the speaker binding post in a cross fashion, meaning I use one positive terminal of the upper pair and the negative terminal of the lower pair, ...:)

Did he say anything about the shorting bars when you do this cross wiring? Are the bars left in place or taken off?
If left in place, nothing will happen, it will play properly. Makes no sense to do his way. Did he say why?
If you pull it, no signal will be passed to either speaker.
 
J

jingka

Enthusiast
Actually he didn't mention this shorting bars to me, I just learned about it when I read the manufacturer's instruction guide, he failed to educate me on it, probably assuming I knew these things....:(

Yes, the bars are left in place, he told me that doing it in cross fashion will result in wider frequency than the conventional way...



mtrycrafts said:
Did he say anything about the shorting bars when you do this cross wiring? Are the bars left in place or taken off?
If left in place, nothing will happen, it will play properly. Makes no sense to do his way. Did he say why?
If you pull it, no signal will be passed to either speaker.
 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
Well, since you put it this way...

jingka said:
Actually he didn't mention this shorting bars to me, I just learned about it when I read the manufacturer's instruction guide, he failed to educate me on it, probably assuming I knew these things....:(

Yes, the bars are left in place, he told me that doing it in cross fashion will result in wider frequency than the conventional way...
With the shorting bars in place, hooking up the leads as he indicates will have NO effect on the sound at all!.

Beware of any advice this jackhole offers you. This pearl of wisdom is harmless but future hints might not be.

As for resasonably priced speaker stands, http://www.audioadvisor.com is always having specials on these and you should be able to get by with under $100 for a solid, decent looking pair.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
jingka said:
Thanks for the help and advice, appreciate it:)

Just for fun as I would be curious to his answer, have him explain how his method would do what he claimed it would do, wider frequency. Ask him from what to what, if you go back there or are yourself curious to hear his response. I think we could use a good laugh:D
 
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