If Bi-Wiring is an option, should I choose Bi-wiring over single banana with free jumpers

Bi-wiring is a hotly contested discussion.  My opinion is that the free jumpers are junk, so at the very least I'd opt for some better DIY jumpers made from better OFC copper wire and decent connectors, whether spade or banana.  If you're not opposed to trying an extra set of cables, you can try the full bi-wiring and see if you note any differences...at the very least, it should double the wire gauge.  

 Definitely 2 or 3

jumpers same as main cable, or double run of identical cables...not included jumpers and not internal bi-wire

Fast answer #2 or #3.

Honestly you have to try it both ways and decide for yourself which sound better, there is not one answer that is correct for every one and/or system.

 No discernable benefit with bi-wiring. 

Best bi wire

2nd best good jumpers, preferably same as main cables.  Main cables should connect to mid / high and jumper to low end.

Factory jumpers typically crap.

Almost everyone here said this already.  (Almost everybody) :)

My experience when I had one amp with two pairs of output terminals for each channel is as follows. I did not notice much difference between a large gauge jumper wire and the connector that came with the speaker. I did not test it much back and forth very many times, so if there was a difference, it was not noticeable to me. I also tried bi-wiring and felt that it sounded a bit better, but not a large jump or a massive improvement. It was subtle and only on certain songs. I certainly don’t think it hurts to bi-wire other than the cost. I suggest you try different options and listen for yourself. Cables are easy to move around and return. Every system, room, and ear is different.   A change that may make an improvement on one system may not make much of an improvement in another.  And, there are a lot of different types of factory and aftermarket jumpers.   

The same tired old myths keep re-surfacing don't they.  Bi-wiring made sense back before we had good speaker wire and everyone was using zip chord.  Those days ended around 1978.  There is no benefit to bi-wiring today.  None, nade, zilch  this has been proven in a 1000 double blind tests.  As has already been suggested, use the same wire for jumpers as you use for your speaker wire.  It makes no difference which posts you hook up to from your amps, however, since they are interconnected electrically by the jumpers anyway.  

My experience has been to use a higher quality single run of speaker cables with the same make for jumpers. Factor in the cost of the jumpers when choosing a line of speaker cables and you'll be fine. 

All the best,
Nonoise

Having rebuilt many speakers many 4 binding posts are BS internally jumped then cheap gold over cheap brass , unless the speakers terminals are directly dived highs and Bass from the Xover then it’s just a marketing ploy

that being said , you want = equal quality jumpers to the Loudspeaker cables with gold over Copper , if you can internally bywire your speaker cables that is the best way to do this .

One run of good quality cable with jumpers made of the same cable is better than 2 runs of an inferior cable if cost is an issue.

@alan60 

+1 

Get the best quality cable you can. Then later when you have exhausted other improvements in power cords, interconnects and direct lines... bet some good quality jumpers. I always try to approach one thing at a time in ascending order of effect, which also allows me to spread out the cost over a very long time... and experience each change to make sure it is cost effective. 

I suspect some speakers benefit more from biwiring than others; some manufacturers will recommend it.  Some cable manufacturers now make special biwired sets, so you have four connectors for each cable, so you only run the two cables--less visually objectionable.

I suspect that the more demanding and high-quality the system, the more benefit from biwiring.

@steve_a001: Here is a 15 minute video in which Danny Richie of GR Research tells you all you need to know on the subject of bi-wiring (and bi-amping):

https://youtu.be/908BWw1Bx4U?si=qJ_sOf1LhzPNigzM

I upgraded and went Biwire at the same time. I noticed an improvement right away, which I attribute to the Biwire. Then an improvement after a couple of hundred hours, which I attribute to the cable upgrade. Looking back, I should have made one move at a time. Quality jumpers may have led to the same result. 

@steve_a001 see here

Mike

Any way you can get rid of the metal jumper plates will be an improvement.  You can make some jumpers using Mogami bulk 12 gauge wire and just wrap the naked ends around the speaker terminals.  Anything more is entirely up to you.

All the best.

You won't notice any objective difference with bi-wiring or replacing the jumpers. Why would a long time, reputable company supply "junk" with their products? That seriously fails the common sense test.

As has been said several times above - one set of cables and same cable jumpers. One quality cable is better than two inferior ones.

My local dealer recommends buying the best single run and then having a jumper made of very high quality wire (ideally, the same wire as the cables being used).  He has made such recommendations to customers that can afford anything, including the customers buying $30,000 a pair wire that could afford another $30,000 for a bi-wire run.  He buys the wire in bulk and terminates it himself, so it is easy to make the jumpers.

I haven’t experimented much with speaker cables. I had previously biwired with two different types of older Synergetic Research cables. Mark IIS to the upper frequencies and a less expensive SR to the bass frequency. The thought being that biwired was good and put the better wires on the upper frequencies.  There was a considerable distance between the upper and lower terminals on my Von Schweikert VR-4s, so a typical jumper didn't work. They are not expensive wires, but they were for me 30 years ago. Not sure now that the logic was sound, but it does make me wonder about mixing wires that excel in different areas?

I’m not biwired now. Single run of Silversmith Fidelium and the Fidelium jumpers.

My issue with the jumpers shown in your picture is that it would be very easy to create a short circuit and damage your amp or speakers. To bi-wire or not to bi-wire is a bigger discussion. Simplest would be some high-quality jumpers, As stated many times above.  I’ve had success with WBC, “world‘s best cables”, reasonable cost, quality bits, solid build.

My plinius sa 100 has four binding post each side , my diapason adamantes has also 4 binding post. When I used 4 single run cable each side . I get huge soundstage and good layering, effortless sound.Lak is right 2 and 3 fast answers on cabling you have to experiment, to get the sound preference you like.

@steve_a001 Kimber-Kable 12TC speaker cable, 8ft long, has 0.006 Ohm resistance and less than 1uH loop inductance, which makes interconnect between amp to speakers terminals “invisible”. If cable is too long (high R and L), then there will be some improvements of bi-wiring.

Jumper/SPKR-terminals/SPKR-internal-wiring-crossover quality can be very bad quality, many folks will be surprised to see 0.5Ohm LPF (bass) SPKR inductor resistance, and very tiny wires inside SPKR cabinet.

The simple answer is yes, bi-wire. My experience is that bi-wiring always improves all areas of sound quality.   The reasons are listed.  

1. First, if you do not bi-wire, and your speakers came with unshielded metal jumpers (like my ‘97 vintage Apogees) or poor quality shielded wire jumpers, then replace them with wire equal to, or better than, your speaker cable.  Electromagnetic interference, including radio frequency interference, will enter a circuit at the weakest shielded point.  So it is important to have a quality jumper.  Also, you want a quality conductor to not limit current flow by increasing resistance.  My Apogee speakers sounded harsh, grainy, and with polite bass using the OEM jumper.  
2. Second, low frequency drivers demand more current than mid/high frequency drivers.  As current flows through a wire, electromagnetic force develops.  EMF creates high frequency distortion.  By separating the current demand, less EMF is developed in the wire for the mid/high frequency drivers.  Therefore, theoretically better SQ.  
3. Third, bi-wiring obviously increases the amount of conducting material reducing gage.  Doubling the wire is not directly proportional to gage number, so the total will not half.  But it will go down a couple of units.  Decreasing gage reduces resistance and permits easier electron flow, thereby improving sound quality.  
4. Bi-amping is the ultimate form of bi-wiring.  I never had a budget to bi-amp.  The technology discussed above applies.  In addition, you benefit from two power amplifiers, each with the own power supplies, one handling current demands of the low frequency drivers, the other handling the current demands of the mid/high drivers. 
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In conclusion, bi-wiring technologically makes sense.  My experience has been it improves all areas of SQ with my speakers in my system.  My recommendation is to get a demonstration pair of bi-wire cables of your choice and determine if you get improved SQ and if the benefit/cost ratio is worth it   

"unshielded metal jumpers” - curious, how do you shield jumpers? 

If you go with jumpers replace those with good wired ones, e.g. Cardas or the like. If you decide to biwire, which I would do if cost not a big consideration, get separate runs coming off your one amp with one set spades and the other bananas for the amp connection at least.  They could be either on the speaker end. If you're biamping just terminate with whatever you want. As far as the thoughts about bewiring (biamping being a totally different issue, and expensive) there are plenty of folks like Paul McGowen who say it definitely helps.  Others use electrical theory arguments as to why it's nonsense.  I did it, because I already had half of the cables, so didn't have to think about it any more. I doesn't hurt, anyway, and you can then stop thinking about it. This stuff can make you crazy. But at least replace those jumpers should you go that way. 

@westcoastaudiophile I do not know if your inquiry was directed to me.  IMHO you cannot shield an unshielded chunk of copper supplied as a jumper by the extinct Apogee Acoustics as I described and by Martin Logan as @steve_a001 describes.  These are best suited for the metal recycle bin.   That is why I recommended buying an audiophile cable equal to or better than your speaker cable.  

One technical issue I forgot to mention.  Bi-wiring effectively reduces wire gage a few units.   The reason is that an effectively larger diameter has less inductance since  it has a larger cross-sectional area, allowing current to flow more easily and creating a weaker magnetic field around it.  When bi-wiring with a cable designed with very low inductance, reducing inductance further by bi-wiring may contribute to amplifier stability issue, potentially leading to oscillation and ringing.  I actually made this mistake.   Goetz Alphacore was well regarded in the Absolute Sound in the late 90s.  I bi-wired my Apogees with their M1 cable, a low inductance design.  It caused my Krell KSA300s to oscillate, triggering the protection circuit on turn on.   Goetz graciously let me return their product with no restocking fee that time.   Just assure you do not use a very low inductance cable, or ask your amp mfg. for input if you bi-wire   

Bi wire looks cool

I have not seen the Martin Logan jumpers, but I do have jumpers on my KEF Reference 1 speakers and on a pair of Mordaunt Short floor-standers.  These are flat metal, possibly plated copper, but far bigger in cross section than any speaker cable!  In effect they are two big spade connectors in tandem - no other connection, plating, wire, crimping or solder.  To my mind, it does not matter how many 9s there are in a replacement 'jumper cable', it cannot possibly have lower resistance than the original jumpers.

Can't comment on bi-wiring ....

Bi-wiring makes no difference, The back EMF isolation theory is complete nonsense because the crossover already keeps those currents away from the MF and HF drivers. The larger gauge wire claim makes no sense either, because the second pair of wires isn't connected to the woofer except maybe by a common ground if in the unlikely case the crossover was wired that way.

Bi-Amping is a different story. Properly done with a low-level crossover before the amps and bypassing the woofer passive crossover elements, eliminating the series resistance (and consequent loss of woofer damping) and hysteresis (delay between input and output) inherent in a series inductor will make a very noticeable improvement, as well as increasing the systems dynamic range by as much as 6dB.

This is basic electro-physics 101.

I have always bi-wired my ProAc Response 2's.  They just sound better that way--deeper sound stage, more texture.

My experience — I found an improvement in shotgun biwire but it is relatively subtle and came at a fairly high price because my cables are expensive.  If you’re happy with all your other components and are looking for a potential improvement it could be worthwhile, otherwise I’d single wire and put in jumpers and put the $$$ to improve a component.  Jumpers need not be expensive or the same brand BTW, and something like this for like 16 bucks would be fine and certainly better than the metal plates…

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=jumper+cables&_sop=12&_kwlnd=1

Hope this helps. 

Having enough speaker pairs snaking about, I've opted to bi-amp as much as practical.  Having enough amps to do so was a matter of choice.

'More bang for the buck', save the power for the woofs and subs, be nice to the tweets and mids.....and having the active Xovers to do so.

Don't need or likely can hear the rosin coming off the bow...just want to hear what my odd collection can really create on a beer budget.

Daily surprise is the goal....without the requirement of high $ cables and ic's to do so...

(...current goal is to replace my YT vid of my omnis' with something more up to date...in 2 chan.....better 'spread', louder, at that y'all find of intrigue....)

Who could resist a low budget MBL?

Unless locked in amber is a suitable response.... ;)

Hi @mapman ....you've got the first row ticket. ;)

@soix 

A very reasonable answer.

+1 on the Silversmith Fidelium speaker cables and jumpers.  I was a bit of a skeptic on the impact of speaker cables, but I had invested in pairs of AQ Rocket 88s and Mogamis—used separately not together.  The switch to the Fideliums was a marked and dramatic improvement over both of them.

Another option is to purchase high grade silver wire (solid core) and attach from one pair of lower speaker terminals to the other pair by use of bare wire (no bananas or spades to be attached).

Many thanks for all of the responses and advice! Learned a lot!

As your speakers are around the same price as entry level speaker cables I would find the speaker cable that works sonically and compare the supplied bi wires from ML to a pair that is made by your speaker wire company.

For any speaker at say 20K and up with associated complimentary amp I would always bi wire as sonically it is easy to notice the improvement.