How does bi-wiring work?

+1, @knotscott  , that is kind of the way I look at it.

@soix  , this is probably a stupid question, but what is "shotgun" biwiring?

And to clarify--does it matter that the jumpers you used in conjunction with the biwire are bananas?  The reason I ask about that is because I still have the (gold plated) jumpers that came with my B&Ws, but they are not bananas, they are contoured strips designed to just fit underneath the speaker terminal nuts, and since they accomplish the same thing, would the bananas actually have a different effect?  (I can see where the bananas would be easier to experiment with and use.)

@megabyte , it just hit me that "WBC" = "Worlds Best Cables." A couple of hours or so ago  I just ordered a set of 6" 8AWG WBC jumpers to experiment with, in addition to the shotgun biwiring I am already doing.

I tried (WBC) jumpers on my AZ Satori Shotguns.  I hear exactly what you describe.  It's not subtle, they're staying!  Thanks for the tip.

I did the same thing (WBC jumpers) with my shotgunned B&W 805s.  I think it sounds better, but I did a couple of other things at about the same time. It certainly didn't hurt.

Gentlemen,

Is the discussion + - to + -

or + to ++ and - to --?

Two normal speaker cables can be connected either way.

Did I mis something?  Was that ever the question?

@jmeyers  , your question interests me as well.  I have an ancient (30 year old) pair of B&W 805 (the Matrix seies) that are set up for bi-wiring, so back in the days when I was making a lot of money, I did bi-wire them.  I have a real tough time with A/Bs, plus I am lazy and would rather listen than test and experiment, so I have never tried comparing how I feel about bi-wire versus single wire with supplied jumpers.

With all that typed, if you were to plug in "bi-wiring" or "biwiring" as a serch engine up in the "search discussions" box at the top of the page, a bunch of hits will come up.  I know, because I did that about 40 minutes ago.  Some answers were that bi-wiring makes no difference and some people gave technical explanations of why bi-wiring is a good thing on speakers that are set up to be bi-wired.  Unfortunately (for me), I do not have a great mind for undertsanding that type of technical theory, so it mostly left me blank.

But maybe try your own A/B comparison and/or do the search of the site I described, and see if any of the explanations make more sense to you than they did for me.

. . . I just took a look on PCX and Furutech as a set of four for $237. . . .

. . . @soix , I guess this is the answer to my (above) question?

Thanks, @soix  , yes, that absolutely clears things up.

I guess I am shotgun biwiring.  I do have two separate runs to each speaker (to make it easier on the amplifier end I had one run made with bananas to use on the amp end, but spades for the speaker end).

HOWEVER:  in multiple places I zip-tied the two runs together (they are long runs and doing that makes things more sanitary); so would you think that doing that with the zip-ties defeated the benefits of the shotgun method?

I was shocked (I know I should not have been) by the prices of some of the jumpers when I just a bit ago did a search on MD.  For example:  $1200 for a set of Shunyatas!!  I was leaning more in the direction of the Kimber 4TCs for $124, except they are out of stock right now, so I punt in a "notify me when . . ." request.

Out of curiosity and if it's not too personal, how extreme did you go with your jumpers?

@soix  , thanks for the input--very much appreciated, and I'll try those affordable jumpers from Crutchfield (the link you provided).

I never understood bi-wiring myself, but since my B&W 805s were set up for it and I believe B&W was recommending it and I could afford it . . . I was like, "why not."  I actually felt I heard a difference, but then again, I am realistic and I have always known I do not have "a golden ear" and so I also knew that I may have been hearing confirmation bias.

However, after all of this discussion and reading (from a few sources at this point) that the stock strips that the manufacturer uses to connect the terminals (if not biwired) are junk . . . one thing that biwiring DEFINITELY did was to eliminate those strips.

I live in the camp that believes that speaker wire makes a difference, so if that is true, it only stands to reason that the connection between the biwireable terminals would make a difference (if not biwiring).

@soix  , just a quick update:  looking at those Audioquest jumpers on Crutchfield they did not appear to me to be terminated with bananas, or actually terminated with anything at all.  So I went to AA's site to look at them, and they had some Q&A about them, and what I got from the Q&A was that they are to be wrapped around the terminal posts of the speakers.  Which is not what I want to do--I definitely want the jumpers to terminate with bananas.  So I started looking on AA to see what else they had in the way of jumpers, and they actually showed quite a few ranging from cheap all the way up to (imo) way  expensive.  They do sell the Kimber 4TCs at a more reasonable price than at MD and  I would have bought the Kimbers from AA but they are out of stock.  Along with about every other set of jumpers I looked at there at AA, including the Audioquest jumpers.

At that point I took a look at the jumpers @yogiboy previously mentioned, and that led me to look at what else was availabe at 'Zon, and I decided on "Worlds Best Cable" (yes . . . I know, I know . . . but I honestly did not pick them because of the brand name) 6" pairs of 8AWG for $50.  I'll update after I receive them and get a little time listening with them installed in addition to the shotgun biwiring with Kimber that I am currently using.

your speakers need be properly configured with a separate set of mid / high binding posts AND you must use what is called an external biwire speaker cable AND if at all possible physically separate he bass cable from the mid / high cable

@tomic601 , oops! I missed the "AND" part. (My eyes are bad and getting worse every day.) I am shotgun biwired with two separate runs of cable, but they are actually NOT separated AT ALL. (They are running completely right next to each other.)  As a matter of fact, as I was talking to @soix about, since they are long runs of cable and I was trying to keep things sanitary, I have them zip-tied together in places. I don’t if this mitigates the zip-ties at all, but I also have the cables individually wrapped in automotive spiral wrap. But removing the zip-ties and separating the cables 4" wfouldn’t be all that difficult. But I would also say that at the binding posts where they terminate, I don’t think that those posts are even 4" apart.

soggy sonic sponge wire i see

@tomic601  , can you expound upon that?

I'll take Paul McGowan's word for it. Biwiring is a waste.

Who is this man they call Paul McGowan?  Is he a myth, or does he truly exist?