Here's an interesting phenomenon: WHich input do you have the cables going to? If the cable goes to the woofer posts, and the jumpers go to the tweeters, your highs will suffer. IF you go directly to the tweeters, you will get smoother highs, at the expense of bass response. I have heard that more damage is caused by going directly to the woofer, but I cant remember the science behind it, or exactly which thread (it was on audiogon) that I heard this in. I heard a difference in my system, however. I was using Audioquest SA-40 (silver, 15AWG) on my 805s. Wanting to get around the stock jumpers, I got some Audioquest CV-4 (copper, same geometry and gauge as the SA-40, however) and tried it both ways. I LOVE the Silver on top... the highs are great, with acceptible bass response. I felt that in my system, the silver cable was an all around better performer (identical cables, except for the metal) than copper. Mixing cables was definately cheaper, but if I could, I'd get another identical set of silver cables. Interestingly, I went back to the stock jumpers, and could definately immediately appreciate the (now missing) benefits of biwiring. I found the differences to be very noticeable.
Do I really need to Bi-Wire?
Hi folks. I have been upgrading my system recently (and have been badgering you all asking for advice on other components - thanks!). Anyway, I am now considering biwiring my speaker cable. The reason I haven't done it yet is that the stereo pair I have are quite good and I have been given to believe that biwiring would only produce subtle improvements. My system is Bryston 3bst amp, Bryston bp20 preamp, Arcam Alpha 7 CD player, B&W Nautilus 805 speakers. The speaker cable is Interlink House Stealth PC Premier - 260 individual strands of copper per cable - two cables feed each speaker (4 runs of cable just for stereo pair), silver lugs on the end ($250 for demo pair - normally supposed to be much more expensive - maybe $500 per pair). The build quality is great, and I'm very happy with the sound. Will biwiring be just a very subtle improvement or is it really worth it? Also, should if it's worth doing, should I get a second pair of the same cables or use a different pair for the bass or treble. I'm looking to spend under $300 on the new pair. Thanks for your advice!