Am I just wasting $$$ on biwire speaker cable?

Cables
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Go here for some bi-wire comments from Vandersteen who bi-wire ALL of their speakers.
Vandersteen Audio High End Speakers | Vandersteen Audio.

  • bi wire reduces the number of voltages at different frequencies that are “added” through superposition at any instant in time that is sent to your speaker terminal(s). When several frequencies are added, there can be BEAT frequencies, or new frequencies made by adding specific original frequencies. This is called Inter-Modulation, or IM, distortion.
    If we separate the bass section from the treble, we combine fewer frequencies and lower IM distortion.

  • bi-wire also separates the current heavy bass section from the far less current current intense mid and upper frequencies. This reduces the modulation of the signals from what is called the HALL effect. The Hall Effect says that current flowing in one direction perpendicular to a magnetic field can produce a voltage at right angles to the current path. This is a “new” signal that wasn’t there before.

  • similarly, the woofer has LOT of back EMF shoved down to the amp through the cable. Using Bi-wire better separates this “junk” from the mid treble signals.

To bi-wire you need TWO separate leads going from your amp, but parallel attached at the amp terminals. Keep the leads apart to reduce the Hall Effect. The magnetic field collapses with the square of the distance so space is good. Two to three inches should do it. I use plastic spark plug wire spacers on my set!

Can you hear these three things; IM distortion reduction, Hall Effect mitigation and back EMF separation? They can be measure for sure but like all things we need to compare that to what our ears measure, too.

For single wire some will suggest to use the TWEETER terminals when the supplied JUMPERS are used as the negative effect of the possibly poor quality jumpers is less apparent in the bass than the treble. Send the bass signal through the jumper. Even with good jumpers, mid/tweeter first seems to be the starting point. Technically they are the same “post” electrically.

Best,
Galen Gareis

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