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Flash! Bi-Wiring Breakthrough!

209.215.72.190

Posted by Jon Risch on November 3, 2000 at 21:45:35

The big debate over single wiring vs. bi-wiring is quite timely.

I did not want to post until I had some more results, and from a number of different systems, etc.
I have now heard back from enough guinea pigs regarding an experiment of mine that seemed to be too good to be true.

First, there does seem to be some truth to the problem with dis-similar cables. I never noticed it that much, but several of my regular correspondents would deal with this issue themselves or with friends of theirs. Matched cables DO seem to make a difference on certain speaker systems, much more so than I ever suspected.

Secondly, there are TWO possible adjustments that can allow one to 'tune' the sound of a bi-wire set-up to be more in line with single wiring sonics. Theoretically, one can dial in ANY character from full single wiring, to full-biwiring.

Incredibly ridiculous bi-wiring tweak #1:
If you are getting sound from your bi-wire set-up that is less than satisfying, or seems less than totally cohesive, try shorting JUST the grounds together on the speaker terminals. Even though the speaker MAY already have internal ground connections, this can make a difference. In cases where two different cables were used, this often brought the sound together to be more cohesive and singular sounding WITHOUT losing the positive aspects of bi-wiring.

BTW, this does NOT eliminate the separation of current flow in the cables, but DOES provide a local ground connection for some speakers that have completely separated crossover sections. Bi-wiring is still occuring in full, but the ground reference has been equalized locally at the speaker.

Utterly ridiculous bi-wire tweak #2:
IF #1 still does not do it for you, or you just want to try this and see what happens, place an 8 -10 ohm resistor between the LF hot and the HF hot at the speaker terminals. This should only be done in conjunction with tweak #1, or sonic degradation is more likely than any improvements.

To create a nearly continously variable continuum from full single wiring to full bi-wiring, one could take a 50 ohm rheostat (they usually have an open spot where the unit is open circuit) and connect it at this location.

All I can say is, try it yourself, and see what it does for your system.

Jon Risch

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Analog Engineering Associates

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