Help with bi-wiring

@ Tls49, great post on 8-7-13 about cables, I am total agreement with the proof you provided, thankyou, that should help clear some things up, Happy listening.

Well, I suppose there is no real need to use different cables even if it doesn't screw up the sound. People generally recommend the shortest runs possible, especially with speaker cables and since I have 2 mono amps, I would be able to position the amps fairly close to the speaker terminals.

As far as attempting the splice myself, I have an image of completely destroying the cables the first time I try it... but of course the next 499 pairs I did would be perfect (lol)

Thanks for all your feedback... more ideas than I expected. I really like the idea of contacting Kimber. I didn't know they did that kind of work. I imagine if they can't help, they would be in a position to recommend someone good to work on their own cables....

The suggestion by Zd542 of combining the amp ends sounds like a great idea. The terminal strip on my amp doesn't seem beefy enough to accomodate all those piggybacked spade lugs on the 8 ohm tap.

Meanwhile, I'll read that article by Vandersteen, and then contact Kimble Kable about sending them out. I'll post the outcome...

Well, I have used different cables from top vs bottom and to my ears ,I have not screwed up the sound. I suppose the possibility is there to do so and you can't go wrong by using the same . I just do not agree that if you use different cables , it WILL screw up the sound.
So i will concur that using the same cables top to bottom is a safe bet. No argument on that

Tls49,

No offense intended. My comment about "not rocket science" was specific to Kimber Kable. Lots of other brands are far more difficult to cut and terminate for various reasons and should only be done by the cable maker or someone who is fully competent to do so.

I have a lot of experience biwiring Vandersteens. Use 2 completely separate runs of the same exact cable. If you use 2 different cables, you will hear the difference. One option you may want to consider is having the 2 runs of cable terminated together at the amp end. AQ does it for me, I'm pretty sure kimber will do it as well.

Greyhound, to begin with I believe the OP is using a basic stereo preamp with no Audyssey, nevertheless let’s look at a few facts, and some more articles for reading, if you care to do so.

As noted in the article I provided in my first post, the manufacturer of his speakers states to use identical cables, as different ones will “interfere with the proper blending of the woofer and midrange driver through the crossover point.” Further explanation of this can be found in this article from Audioquest,

http://www2.audioquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/UndrstndgBiWr.pdf

The paragraph at “Biwiring and Cable Geometry” explains how the different electrical characteristics of different cables affect the crossover to compromise coherency.

And finally, this post by a well respected amplifier designer states that using different cables “just messes-up the system coherence.” This is also a good read about bi-amping.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1234896660&openfrom&6&4#6

So, my question is, does it make good sense to purposely do things that really screw up the sound, in hopes that Audyssey can completely correct them. Seems to me it would be best to follow proper basic guidelines in setting up a system.

Jjrenman, I agree with you as I have terminated many various types of cables in years past. Many people have the ability and/or experience to do so, however I have seen attempts by some that looked like a 4 year old did it. The purpose of my comment was that if the OP did not have 100% full confidence in his ability, implied by this comment,

but I feel my cutting this cable in half would open a can of worms that I wouldn't be prepared to deal with.

then just let someone else do it.
.

Ok . I should have read the Article before i responded. I tend to agrre with the article , but using different wires does not always give the poor results that they speak of .
i suppose if you used cables specific for bass response only on the bottom and vice versa , that could present a problem .
I am just talking about mixing cables , not specifically using bass cables for Bass and High frequency cables for the mids and highs .
What i am trying to say is that Bi-amping in most cases is definitely better, but IMO I Do NOT believe they HAVE to be EXACTLY the same wires for upper and lower . I hope this clears up my response .
The GOOD Thing is that they agree . Bi-Amping is better.
I am glad their tests have proven that !
Just trying to help

Absolutely do not get caught up in the scenario of using different cables for the highs and lows as this causes problems at the crossover point. See this article from Vandersteen,

This is not a problem especially if you have a pre-amp or receiver that incorporates Audyssey or something similar as it accounts for Phase and timing problems. I have found that Bi- amping ( using two sets of speaker cables and two amp channels ) using provides a more robust and open sound . Better separation of instruments or sounds .
All i can say , is to try it for yourself . Some people will swear that there is no difference, but i disagree.
Depending on the power of your amp, the difference may be small.
If your amp is say 100-150 watts per channel, you would be more apt to hear a difference, versus a larger or more powerful amp.

With all do respect to Tls49 it is not rocket science. I sold Kimber Kable for decades and we cut and terminated all the cables on the sales floor.

You just need to be extra carefull when stripping the wire as you do not want to nick the copper strands.

You should look at the connectors on the Kimber site to see what will work best for you. If you want to stay with spades you have a choice between WBT and Postmaster. The Postmasters need to be soldered.

You will need 4 connectors.

Obviously you must be using mono amps, as a 4ft cable would not offer much flexibility with a stereo amp. Have you considered sending them to Kimber? That way, should you ever want to use something different, they would be easier to sell used, and the integrity of the connections would be identical on both ends.

Absolutely do not get caught up in the scenario of using different cables for the highs and lows as this causes problems at the crossover point. See this article from Vandersteen,

http://www.vandersteen.com/pages/Answr7.htm

Also, if you do not have 100% confidence in doing it yourself, I would not attempt it.

Thanks, Just thinking about it, I think I would like to shorten the runs to 4' with 2 pairs to each speaker, 1 to bass and 1 to mid/high on each speaker.

I'd appreciate advice on who could do this for me or if you think I could do it myself...thanks

Assuming your amp will accept another set of spades than a second run to each speaker gives you the most flexibility.

Some folks will use a different wire for the highs than the lows.

Or, in your case you could split out two blue's and two blacks at the speaker end, put spades on them and hook them up to the highs.