Bi-wire-top post, bottom post, why a difference?

I have attempted bi-wiring on a couple of occasions and distinctly did not like the results. I could not quantify exactly what happened to the sound, but it really dried out the enjoyable qualities of my system. This is, of course, system dependant, and many audiophiles love the sound they achieve through bi-wiring so you may want to attempt it as a trial run. If you go to audioasylum.com you can find numerous long and fairly interesting/informative threads relating experiences with and technicalities behind bi-wiring. I suspect that you are better off using the same speaker cabling for both runs and I have not actually tried this yet. Good luck.

Well if your jumper cable is of lower quality than your speaker wire (or just different), it seems logical that the high post (to the mids & tweeter) was not getting as good of (or the same) signal as the low post to the bass. Also, since you are not going to notice as big of a difference in the bass as in the mids and treble, connecting the wire to the top post should be noticeable. In the best of worlds the jumpers should be the same cable. Using jumpers is not bi-wiring. Bi-Wiring is all the way from the amp to the speakers. You'll need that second wire you're saving for.

To me it makes sense if single-wiring to run the speaker cables directly to the midrange/tweeter section and then strap to the bass section. I think that the perceived differences in the midrange and treble quality will be more noticeable than whatever degradation occurs in the bass. This is mainly relevant when the straps are not the same wire or material as the speaker cables.

On my B&W speakers I run an excellent shotgun cable to the midrange/tweeter posts and use the gold-plated straps supplied with the speaker to strap down to the bass section. I have found this configuration to work quite well, though possibly using higher quality wire straps would work even better. To me it seems like a waste of money and space to biwire with two runs of the same cable. I may write to my cable's manufacturer to see if he will supply me with two pairs of straps made from his wire for a lower fee than buying another pair of 12 ft. cables. Heck, for that purpose they wouldn't even need to be terminated, as bare wire should provide the best connection anyway.

Thanks everyone for your input. Plato, I seem to have found the same effect as you using the top speaker posts and maplesahde jumpers to the bottom posts. regards, Bluenose

Am I wrong, or is the primary benefit of bi-wiring to bypass the crossover network of the speaker? My speakers for example, according to the manufacturer, are meant to be bi-wired for the best results. Some companies, such as Theil, don't want you to bypass thier internal crossover(s) and don't even provide the option for bi-wiring(at least on some models). Hence, IMHO, this issue is really dependent on the particular speaker in question. I would contact the maker of your speakers and ask them what is best.

Bryan1,

Bi-wiring does not generally bypass the passive internal crossover, although on some models it could defeat an internal link between the high-pass and low-pass sections, i.e., you are still using the internal the crossover, even if you biwire.

Personally I prefer bi-amping with an active crossover with a speaker that has no passive crossover networks (or has them bypassed/defeated). That gets better results because the amps are not forced to work full range, plus they can be optimized for the individual drivers' requirements.

Now that I think of it, removing the straps for a bi-wired configuration may circumvent the potential for back-emf generated voltages to interact between the respective driver/crossover sections. Perhaps that is the real advantage that bi-wiring offers. I'll have to look into this further and perhaps do some experimenting with my B&Ws.
Perhaps someone with a more technical background could provide further information in that area.

I read a post from Ray Kimber on the subject of bi-wiring at audioasylum.com and he seemed to think that the back EMF voltage generated by the woofer(s) in some systems was a large enough factor to make bi-wiring preferable in some but not all models of speakers. From all the posts I've read on the subject this morning (quite a few) the consensus appears to be that bi-wiring can result in worthwhile performance gains in many, but not all, speakers. The bottom line is that you really need to try it in your own system and hear the differences for yourself.

Because of the predominant sentiment, that bi-wiring is prefered by many B&W owners, I removed the straps and bi-wired my CDM 9NTs this morning. I used my shotgun run of InnerSound speaker cable on my mid/tweeter section, as I had been, and a pair of AudioQuest Hyperlitz IV for the bass section. My immediate impression of this hookup was quite favorable and after a few hours of listening to different cuts that impression has only gotten stronger. The sound seems cleaner, smoother, and more coherent. And with the strapped single-wired configuration the midbass was fatter and less defined, whereas the bi-wire seemed to make the bass better controlled and possibly more extended -- to my ears it sounds more correct. I believe I'll adopt the bi-wire permanently for the 9NTs.

I experimented with bi wiring my B&W N803's using Synergistic Resolution Reference .5 to the top and Phase II to the bottom, it made a very subtle difference, but I kind of liked just the Reference .5 cables by themselves. I then tried bi amping the speakers and was totally blown away by the difference that made. I could no longer go back to single amping the speakers. I ended up using a CJ MF-5660 (5 @120 watts) for the bottom and a CJ MV-60 (tube 2@60 watts).
Bi amping was the way to go!