Bi-Wire

Marakanetz: I've read your post three times and I think you had things backwards or confused.

If you were running the speakers with the jumpers on you were not bi-wiring. (even if you were using Bi-Wire cables). The use of the jumpers negates any benefits, and makes your speakers the same as non-biwire speakers.

Now you are running separate single wires without using the jumpers in the binding posts. This is exactly what bi-wiring is.

If this is correct, then you may unknowingly believe bi-wiring helps.

Bi-Wire speaker cables are just combined in a single package as opposed to running separate cables to the speakers. This is called single bi-wire cables. Double Bi-wire is running separate cables for the top and bottom. Some companies make special bi-wire cables that are double the single cable in one jacket (MIT, Analysis Plus Bi-Oval, Nordost and others); These cables cost more that the single version, because there is more cable. Many use different size conductors for the top and bottom very much like you mention using using different single cables.

Other companies separate the mulitple conductors in their regular single cable version into four conductors at the speaker end (AudioQuest, Straightwire, Blue Circle, many others). These cables only cost a little more than the single version (more spade or banana terminations needed). One system of mine has double Audioquest even though a single cable can be made into a biwire. This is more costly because you need twice as much cable. For the regular single version audioquest uses the larger gauge cables for the bottom and the smaller gauge for the top.

RKolluri: If the speakers are designed for bi-wiring it is usually better to do so. (B&Ws for one)

If you try to bi-wire, either connect all the wires to the A or B (not both) on your Onkyo receiver. The A/B on your receiver is meant for running separate pairs of speakers. I am not sure the load will be right going to the same speaker from A and B.

Some amplifiers have 4 binding post made for bi-wiring purposes, which are all on the same circuit.

Whether you buy bi-wire speaker cables or use 2 pairs of single cable is up to you. The results will be different, but one way is not necessarily better than the other. Depends on many factors, including the quality of the cables and your system.

If you already have a pair of good single cables, you could just buy another pair to bi-wire. This may not work if you have bananas (you could re-terminate them). You can put spades/pins or bare wire in the same binding post in your receiver.

Sugarbrie, read Marakanetz's article again. He's talking about a comparison of single-wiring with the jumpers against bi-wiring without the jumpers. His final configuration seems to be a single cable threaded through both pairs of binding posts, thus replacing the jumper with the cable itself.

If it is more practical to hook one cable up to the Speaker-A outputs and one cable up to the speaker-B outputs, there's no reason not to. When the speaker A and speaker B outputs are both switched on, they are tied together at the same point inside the amp.

Orthonormal: Yes I guess you could be right. But if so, then it seems he may have been more interested in comparing various jumper configurations with various jumpers ("trivial biwire") and never took bi-wiring seriously.

RKolluri: I still do not think you should connect one speaker to both the A & B terminals on the receiver. I have my Onkyo HT receiver manual here and it sais specifically NOT to do it; including a diagram of one speaker connected to both terminals with a big X through it. I am not a electrician, but depending if something is wired in series or in parallel, will double the current and voltage. I guess you could blow your speakers depending on the way the A & B are wired. If A & B were the same circuit, Orthonormal is right, it would not matter. Since they specifically tell you not to do it, probably means otherwise.

I want to B-wire it on the speakers side. So if I understand these posts.

The first cable will run from recvr Speaker(A) Left to the Left Speaker (which will be B-wired)

The second cable will run from recvr Speaker(B) Right to the Right Speaker (which will be B-wired).

A-Left-Recvr ----< Left Speaker
B-Right-Recvr ----< Right Speaker

Am I right???