2. cables
  3. 1038064370

B-wire - four cables or jumpers?

I have a pair of speakers for which the crossovers are specifically optimised for bi-wiring/bi-amping (Von Schweikert VR5s). As the singal current reaching the speakers comes from an identiscl source, namely the amp teminals, what is the difference between running a second set of cables from the amp, as opposed to using jumpers between the input terminals on the speakers? It seems to my uneducated electronic mind that the only differnce is in the length of the second set, as the signal is merely taken from the speaker terminals, rather than the amp terminals.

If that is so, then what is the sonic (realtime audible) advantage in spending twice the amount of money to run two sets of cables from the amp?

This really puzzels me!
brianjh

Showing 1 response by bigshutterbug

bigshutterbug
387 posts
 
Another reason why one would use a bi-wire configuration with these speakers would be in the case of using them with a tube amplifier. Tube amps typically have a 2, 4, or 8ohm tap on the back for your speaker outputs. that would allow you to match the load of the bass drivers to say a 4 ohm tap on the amp, where the mids/higs portion of the speaker
are better matched to the 8 ohm output of the amp. The different taps on tube amps also have a different sonic characteristic typically due to the number of windings used
on the output transformers. Hope this helps..
More to discover