I'd start with what this "improvement in clarity" is, why the bi-wiring makes a difference, and whether it's just a matter of overall conductor area. In theory, the only difference would be the wire impedance (or would it?).

I've always said that, once the wire impedance is removed from the equation, bi-wiring is still a parallel circuit. A real comparison to, say, a single #10 wire would be a #14 (lows) and a #16 (highs).

I can't imagine any amp/speaker combination that would require anything bigger than, say, a #10, upsizing for long runs aside; I'd imagine that that much power would be divided among several amp/speaker arrays.

To answer the question literally, two #18's are equal to a #13, two #16's are equal to a #11, two #14's are equal to a #9, two #12's are equal to a #7, etc. Note that odd numbers are not standard gauges.

Personally, I bi-wire (tri-wire if you count the sub interconnects) with #14, mainly because my amps have separate terminals (a la Bob), partly because I had a 'spare' reel, and a little just because I could.

Personally I went with the "because I could"

Paradigm Monitor 11's, was getting some special order AudioQuest Type-6, could go either Full range or bi-wire....same price.. It was an easy call.

umm.. if your amps have separate terminals, you're bi-amping, not bi-wiring.

Bi-wiring is when you take one output, split the wire with a y, and run it to two speaker inputs.

bi-amping is when you have 2 outputs (with signal split by a crossover, either internal, or external) going into 2 separate speaker inputs.

Here is why bi-wiring is snake oil.

In order for the sound to be clearer, the SIGNAL must be split via a crossover among the frequencies. This either happens at the pre-amp stage, or inside the speaker.

When the crossover is at the preamp stage, aka active, you get the full range of sound, frequency and volume. When it's at the speakers, aka passive, you lose a lot of sound quality, and a minimum of 6dB.


Now... with bi-wiring.. there is NOTHING in the wires that will separate the sound signal by frequency at the speakers, so you will get the full range of sound to both sets of poles! Having midrange coming into the tweeters muddies up the sound, and the midrange speakers aren't good at reproducing the highs (which is why we all hate Blose)


All the huge PA's you see at the arenas use 12 gauge wire in runs of 70-100 feet, many are quad amped (subs, low mids, upper mids, highs), some are five way (add in mid mids).

Interesting. I have my speakers bi-wired. 2 wires out of the amp into four at the speaker.

I have A+B speakers select on my Yamaha amp. If I turn the wire around from speakers to amp, replace the links at speaker and switch on A+B I will get "different" maybe not "better" sound because crossover will be at the pre amp stage, aka active. I will get a full range signal?

Will the cross over in the speakers still be used?

I wont blow nothing will I?

Is it worth the experiment, has anyone tried this before?

No, because Sunfire amps have "constant voltage" and "constant current" terminals, the latter with a 1-ohm resistor in series to simulate a lower damping factor (higher output impedance).


...or combine wire ends in the same terminal.


Correct, in which case, the speaker crossovers should be bypassed. This allows the amps to control driver motion even outside the drivers' normal operating ranges.


Okay...


This also protects the smaller drivers from lower frequencies, as well as reducing cancellation caused by multiple drivers reproducing the same frequencies.


True, although this is taken into account by the speaker maker, and 'compensat-able' with more power ("Arrgh-arrgh-arrgh!" ~ Tim Allen).


This is all also true with single-wiring. (I even agree with the Blose issues.)


And again, only possible with active crossovers. Most people who need to ask about this stuff aren't savvy enough to set up active crossovers properly.

Not true, and not recommended. A + B merely connects the same amp channels to two terminal pairs. Your method would simply result in paralleling the wires at both ends; using a larger wire size does the exact same thing. Accidentally mis-wiring the two wire runs in polarity on one of them would short the amp. Poof!


Yes.


See above.


Not in my opinion, and probably.

Thanks Larry. It was Ahl's post that made me think and suggest it.

LOL - It wasnt me your honor honest :-)

Hows about the idea that the signal leads going to the tweeter only have to pass thru the xover components applicable to it and similar situation for woofer leads?

TJ, if you're talking about if one bi-wires:

The voltage component of the signal's full frequency range is present at both terminal pairs whether one 'mono-wires', bi-wires, or passively bi-amps. Only active bi-amping (with an active crossover) separates both voltage and current. Only the current component is what is separated by bi-wiring.

For there to be a difference between mono-wiring and bi-wiring, the impedance of the speaker wire must be significant enough to cause a voltage drop. Separating the high and low voltage drops must be the effect of bi-wiring, so eliminating the impedance eliminates the difference.

So, the question is: does relegating the high-frequency and low-frequency bands' currents to separate conductor pairs really create an audible difference as compared to the currents sharing a single conductor pair (With an impedance equal to the combined two pairs, to be fair)?

For 4 bucks a foot you can improve your system. But if you wires wire home depot has great stuff to .HA HA

Did anyone understand the above post????

I think bi-wiring improves the clarity of the speaker.

The bass portion of the signal has much more current than the high frequency portion. I know this is separated differently from speaker to speaker, and just where depends on the crossover. But the fact remains.

Because the speaker wire has resistance, the voltage at the speaker terminals is less than at the amp terminals. But this voltage drop is mostly caused by the bass.

This voltage drop is an ever-changing voltage drop as the bass voltages are ever-changing.

This voltage drop, in effect, modulates the lower-current high frequency signals. Of course, it modulates ALL the signals; it is just that with the option of bi-wiring, we can pull the high frequency signals off of the wire that the bass is running on, so we can keep the highs from being modulated by the lows.

Signals being modulated by other signals is called intermodulation distortion, and it is one of the more objectionable types of distortion.

THAT is why I still say, bi-wiring is worth doing.

But it is an extremely marginal improvement.

See TAS, April/May 2004 p. 56. The point of starting this thread: does it make a difference?

You did not include a URL, and I am feeling lazy. In 25 words or less, what do they say?

In a comparison a various high-end speaker wires was Home Depot 14G outdoor extension cord. It compared well and got the top place on "value."