Biamping Questions

SEARCH, Rustler, SEARCH. You'll learn a lot.
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There are a ton of options, but I would caution you to avoid spending too much. Buy some good cable at a reasonable price and spend the rest of your money on other aspects of your system. Cables are an expensive way to tune your system - better to buy components that are well matched to begin with. As for specific cable, Linn K400 is great for biwiring or biamping, and a wonderful value as well. It is fairly massive in appearance when you first see it, but it will actually disappear along the floor boards where you lay it (really).

You have a 7 channel arcam and want to run your low frequencies from your front L&R and mid highs from your rear L&R out of your amp? Also you wish to find cables best suited to the frequencies? Are you simply trying to throw more power at the speakers, looking to improve sound or both? I gotta say, this type of setup has never crossed my mind, but then again I am not called nuguy for nothing!!!

I'm running biamped and have played a bit with single amp/biwire, dual amp/dual wire ... My speakers are small and easy to drive (Paradigm Signature S4) and I run Levinson ML 23.5 (200 WPC) and a No 27 (100 WPC) for power. I have tried silver and copper speaker cable and now a combo of both. I think there is something to what you suggest. The silver wire and copper sounded vastly different. You open up a whole can of worms in terms of trying and swapping. I have a local guy I can borrow/try cables out so that has helped. There are plenty of deals so if you keep your eyes open you won’t throw money at anything. I like to experiment so this kind of post interests me. I read the forum and selected a particular cable based on what I learned both here and on the WEB. I had a totally different experience however. I think you just have to play with it. I settled on SignalCable copper ultra for now - I know it's a more budget cable but it simply sounds great on my system. My next move will be to step up the much more expensive Audioquest set and see if "I'm simply amazed" if not I will sell them and try Transparent or something else. I have learned that if you are patient and fair you can find a great deal here and if it doesnt work out - sell them and try something else.

In terms of running biamped ... my amps are so similar and the power is so much more than the little Paradigms need I cant say it's made a huge difference. This fall I'm looking at trying a tube amp and maybe a different SS amplifier just to see what the effect is. I was even considering mixing tube AND SS in a biamp configuration (God forbid) just to see what the effect is. In your case maybe your speakers could benefit from some extra power. Only your ears will know for sure.

I like my little speakers and I am rock solid with my other components so I admit I am obsessing with little details. I am making small improvements as I go so I figure in some sort of bent logic - It makes sense.

At least as long as my significant other never finds out I spent a grand on a set of speaker cables ...

Good luck and have fun !

Thanks so far, folks. I've read in reviews that one great way to run the Arcam AVR 307 (7 X 100) with a 5.1 A/V set up is to use the two extra amp channels to biamp the two speakers through which I'll do my music listening. Outlaw also mentions that in their promo materials.

I've biwired my speakers (with some audible improvement), and I know how to go about the biamping, but I didn't know whether different cables might have more appropriate sonic characteristics for my speakers. Since I run a subwoofer, I can imagine one kind of cable being better for the midrange signals my JM/Focal speakers will get, and another cable better for the higher frequencies. I know there's a bunch of snake oil dealers, and I appreciate both the caution and the advice Newmanoc, but I still haven't gotten any responses about my basic question of whether to go with two different kinds of speaker cables.

Hoping to hear more; the audiogon community always comes up with great answers.

Again: thanks in advance,

russ

I'd definately see if you can try cables before purchasing. You may even want to do some reading on DIY cables, that way it's cheap and can be rewarding. Silver can tend to be bright and copper warm. Always remember if your room sucks so will the sound no matter what cables you use. Sure this cable sounds better than that cable, but it will be an uphill battle until your room compliments your system and visa versa. I've had some issues with brightness. A couple weeks ago I covered my coffee table with pillows, and I gotta say it was like changing out a component. The only problem is I now have nowhere to set my drink. Nobody can really tell you what is best, they can only steer you by suggesting options which worked best for them. Have fun with it and enjoy the sence of satisfaction you get everytime you hear an improvement, no matter how small!!!

Cables are cables, and two runs of 16awg will be fine assuming you stay under 50 feet in length. As long as the capacitance of the cable is low enough to pass the entire signal you will not be able to tell an audible difference regardless of the material used or design of the cable. This topic been posted numerous times, but if you'd like to hear about how the latest 12awg spendo-riffic wonder wire added details, improved imageing, and tightend bass, head over to the cables forum. There are plenty of people that will tell you what you want to hear.

I'm thrilled to hear that SignalCable is good. I've emailed with Frank a few times, and he comes across as a great guy--very knowledgable and helpful.

More thanks to y'all for the input. We'll see what else this thread generates.

rr

Biamping is a major undertaking. You need to get the crossover frequency and balance between the drivers exactly right. Hard to do without some measuring equipment and a good grasp of the theory. Impossible to do in the average noisy, reflective listening room. The result will however be dramatic and worth the trouble for most reasonably capable speaker systems. Hardly worth agonising over some barely noticable cable twiddling.