Possibly dumb question: can I use two cable runs for each channel, not bi-wired?

Good comments by the others. I would add that the only situation in which I would definitely avoid doing that is if the cable happens to be one of the few cable types that have ultra-high capacitance, such as Goertz, or the old Polk Cobra cable. Paralleling two identical runs, as you are proposing, will double the cable capacitance seen by the amplifier, and if the capacitance of the cable is very high to begin with that could result in adverse effects up to and including oscillations and amplifier damage.

With the great majority of speaker cables, however, the doubled capacitance will not be of any significance, and the halving of resistance and inductance that will result will (at least slightly) work in the direction of improving the accuracy of transmission of the signal, as well as resulting in a slight increase in woofer damping. Of course, those differences may not always be subjectively preferable, so as suggested above it may be a good idea to try it both ways.

Regards,
-- Al

Hi Stuart,

There’s no problem either bi-wiring or paralleling the same gauges or different gauges. All of those approaches will function well, aside from the caveat I mentioned about cables having ultra-high capacitance (which appears to be inapplicable in this case). Opinions and experiences will differ regarding which approach is likely to be most optimal from a sonic standpoint, and figure to be dependent on the particular equipment, room, and listener. In many cases it might not make much if any difference at all.

So if you feel so inclined, try it both ways. Or if not just enjoy!

Regards,
-- Al

You’re welcome! One more point: Be very careful not to mix up + and -. Specifically, when two speaker cables are connected in parallel if + and - are interchanged at one end (and only one end) of one of the two cables (but not both cables), the result will be a direct short across the the amplifier’s + and - output terminals. Which of course would definitely not be healthy for the amp.

Regards,
-- Al

Simply doubling wires to the same terminals does not double the impedance. It halves it. However, since he mentioned he was using shorter wires, for example say to half the original length, the impedance would be the same as before.

Dan, I’m not sure I follow the last quoted sentence. Cutting the length in half would cut the resistance, inductance, and capacitance in half. If the wires are then doubled to the same terminals (i.e., paralleled) that would cut the resistance and inductance in half again, to 1/4 of the value of the original single run that was twice as long, while doubling the capacitance to the original value.

Regards,
-- Al