Hi all. Trying to make a cable decision... Richard Vandersteen recommends "true biwire" (i.e. "double biwire") cables, and suggested trying audioquest. Audioadvisor will build audioquest cables to order, and can build two pairs of Rocket 88 cables
for double biwiring (without DBS battery system) for around $1000. The other option is two pairs of Purist Genesis Luminist cables, higher retail cost, but could get used. So apples for apples costwise. Running with a McCormack DNA 0.5 Rev A amplifier. Any suggests?
I have true bi-wire Audioquest Type 4s between my Vandersteen 3A Sigs and my Ayre V-5XE. I think that wiring set up costs around $250 and it works great. It’s your money, spend it as you wish....but I’d hesitate to budget $1000 on speaker wires in this circumstance.
Audioquest will make a double run of their cables for you, with DBS, if the cable you want uses it. Check with your dealer or if you don’t have one, talk to John Rutan at the Audio Connection in Verona, NJ. John is one of the most knowledgeable Vandersteen dealers out there. He is also an Audioquest dealer. Good Luck!
i have a shotgun bi-wire ( external as Richard recommends) set of AQ type 6 that i used for many years with Vandersteen 3a sig and then 5a they are not DBS but could let you demo if you pay shipping inside USA
AQ makes a nice high quality Vandersteen size spade RV and Low share the DBS patent there is a lot of cross collaboration happening
point of clarification not trying to sell my wires, i need them back just trying to help a fellow Vandersteen owner hear the benefits of external bi-wire
+1 for Johnny R. I got a set of Go-4's from him. (My puppy decided the DBS packs were a new chewy toy, so I had to send them back for repair. AQ repaired them for a reasonable price). My point is that Vandy and AQ are a great match and two companies you can depend upon. Bob
@peter_s RV is Richard Vandersteen and Low is Bill Low the proprietor and cable wizard of Audioquest. You've been getting a lot of good advice here. Vandys and AQ cables play very well together.
@peter_s I forgot to mention your wisdom of using a Rev. A .5 McCormack amp with the 2Ce Signatures. I use Rev A+ DNA 1 with my Treo CTs. McCormack and Vandersteen's are another one of those synergistic combos!
Side question. I see the terms true and external bi-wire and not sure what they really mean. If the amplifier has only one pair of output port per channel the wires pair(s), inside the sheath or outside, need to be twisted and single terminated on that end. Is there any other way?
an internal biwire normally has 4 wires per channel in a common sheath - very little physical space between HF and LF conductors principal theory being the large current demands of LF and the field that generates modulates the HF signal = degredation
a shotgun typically has common termination at amp ends but splits the HF and LF runs into different cables that importantly can then be spaced 3-4” apart
you can kind of get same effect w two sets of cables, i personally dislike stacking spades and trying to get a gas tight connection and not get shorts at the amp end, hence my preference for shotgun
Thanks for the explanation. I missed the tidbit about the (negative) interaction between the LF and HF pairs if they live within the same sheath. I expected good quality cables have adequate insulation to avoid that sort of "cross-talk". That said, one could extend that concern to having negative and positive cables inside a common sheath as being a poor practice. I have my 2Ci model bi-wired as well but my amplifier has two sets of output posts and using two separate sets of cables so I suppose mine is considered ""true" bi-wire.
@kalali You are wiring up your 2Cis the way Richard V. intended. I haven't run across a designer who is more adamant about this way of wiring up speakers nor have I ever read a review of Vandersteen speakers where the reviewer didn't agree that the speakers sounded more coherent with true biwiring. Whatever RV is doing with his crossovers, it is consistent in benefitting from biwiring.
It does make an audible difference for sure. Without the bi-wiring, to my ears the same content, particularly the mids, sounded more forward and noticeably disjointed from the rest of the music. As soon as I removed the jumpers and plugged the second set of cables everything sort of smoothed out. I have a similar (bi-wire) set up with different amps on my Martin Logans and the difference was not anywhere as noticeable. Of course everything between the two systems are different including the listening room so it may not be apples to apples comparison. Just one more data point.
+2 for Johnny R. @ Audioconnection. I got true bi-wire double run AQ GO4 w/DBS for my Treo CTs from Johnny and they sound awesome. Other Vandy owners seem to have found satisfaction using Anticables or Clear Day cables. Good luck!
yes to Anticables brother uses that on 3a sig with excellent results they also offer up a variety of sized soft copper spades that will make an excellent connection
@nycjlee You can't go wrong with a recommendation from John R.! I replaced my AQ cables when I traded up from 3A Sigs. to Treo CTs. My Earth Series cables had such heavy gauge of copper that the mid bass was too heavy and was obscuring the clarity of the midrange and the outstanding carbon tweeter. The double shotgun Clear Day Cables are a perfect match for my Treo CTs. Glad to hear the GO4 are working out so well for you!
No question that the shotgun run of true biwire is the best way to go for Vandersteen's. Those AQ's are the only ones I personally will use with the speakers as they have a synergy.
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