Audience Au24 in Bi-wire configuration?

Why not simply have two identical runs?

(That is what I have done with my Revel Studios, and I am extremely happy with the results.)

>Why not simply have two identical runs?<

Biggest reason is price. I am getting a used pair at a rather attractive deal.

Oz

Yeah, I bought two pairs of used 2.0m AU24 as well. One from a friend, and one from a guy on Audiogon. (I lucked out that I managed to find two the exact same length, although 2m seems to be a pretty popular length. Together the price was about $900) Keep your eyes open and you might luck out as I did.

FYI, I let slip through my fingers a bi-wired pair of AU24 speaker wire, which went for $800, shipped no less. (Dumb, huh?!) Apparently, the way AU24 is bi-wired, (or at least this pair was made), was not internally bi-wired, but really two pairs of Au24, but with only one set of terminations at the amp end. This seemed like a logical way to do it, given the thin nature of the cable itself. Therefore, I doubt there is much difference between the way I did it and the way these were made, IMHO.

FWIW, while I did not A/B the cables in the same sitting, my buddy went from the AU24 to the Nordost Valhalla cables. I got to hear both in his system, and while the Valhalla was slightly better, it was only very slightly better. (Not in my mind worth spending $3K vs. the $500 for the Au24.) I think the imaging was a little better.
I think the AU24 is really a pretty impressive speaker cable for the money. (I use it for my I.C. between my cdp and my preamp, and it is very good there as well, but there seem to be quite a bit of competition in the I.C. market at that price range.)

I agree with John from Audience. I tried both options with a pair of Tyler Reference Monitors. The best results were running single wire Au24 to the tweeter and jumping to the woofer with the Au24 Jumpers... But as I am sure you know, things are always system dependant. Good luck.

Chris

Kurt,

The pair I got (I did end up buying them) is as you described. Two separate runs joined at the amp end. At 2m they are just long enough. Sounds pretty good to me.

Oz

Oz,

Congrats on getting the cables!

I am sure you will enjoy them, as I have.
I have no plans on upgrading these wires either.
(Well, not for a really long time anyway.)

(BTW, regardless of what John thinks, IMHO, some speakers simply sound better bi-wired, rather than single wired. I know my Revel Studios fall into this catagory. In fact every Studio owner I know has theirs bi-wired. My opinion is that the speaker controls whether it should be bi-wired, rather than the cable.)

I did testing in my home and at a friends house. In my home system the single run with jumper was judged better, but in my friends system we both preferred the shotgun of a pair of the cables.

It was a matter of taste. In both cases, the single run sounded more coherent, but the shotgun pair sounded more free flowing, graceful - and just a hair less coherent.

The differences are observable but not huge.

Your choice might depend on your mood. Single run is probably more accurate. Double more fun.

Art