The BHK 250 has two output terminals for each channel. My Von Schweickert speakers benefit from biwiring. Is there any sonic difference between using a biwire set or simply purchasing two pair of cables, connecting the bass modules to one set of outputs and the mid/treble modules to the other set? I don’t think there would be, but I really don’t know – so I am asking.
My M1200’s have 2 sets of speaker outputs, and I do bi-wire, but not in the way you are describing. I have one pair of speaker cables for the left amp and one set for the right amp. The speaker cables have 2 connectors at the amp end (one red, one black) and 2 sets at the speaker end (red low, black low, red high, black high)
I quad wire my B&W 800 Matrix speakers. They have one set of terminals for each woofer and one for the midrange drivers as well as one for the tweeters. I use Kimber Kable 4TC and 8TC. I connect the two woofer cables to one of the terminals of the BHK250 and the midrange and tweeter cables to the other. The advantage is that back electromotive force generated by the drivers must travel the cable to the low impedance of the amplifier rather than affecting the other drivers. The amplifier shorts out that voltage. It does make a difference in the the openness and clarity of the sound.
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What you are describing is what I meant by “a biwire set” — that is, cables specifically manufactured for biwire use. I have such a set at the moment. I haven’t upgraded my speaker cables in a long time and I’m looking at options. I have a lot more choices available if I buy two regular sets of cables than if I am limited to what manufacturers offer specifically for biwiring. I’m hoping that the BHK 250 would let me do that without sonic penalty, utilizing the two separate outputs for each channel.
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I confess that I’ve never heard of anything like this arrangement. But if it works with your speakers, that’s great! Thanks for sharing.
In Lewis Lipnik’s original Review in Sterophile Magazine he stated that Quad wiring of the speaker was definitely beneficial. That is what encouraged me to go that route and he was correct in his findings.
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I use two pairs of Feldium speaker cables, I have their jumpers too. I briefly tried one pair using their jumpers for FR-30, and I could not listen for more than one minute. The sound is that much inferior. But that is just in my particular case. A properly designed bi-wired pair may result differently.
Iconoclast has original Series 1 speaker cables and developed Series 2 which can be very effectively used for bi-wiring, with Series one for bass and Series 2 for mids/highs.
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Thank you! I’ve read some about Iconoclast cables in threads on this forum, but I didn’t realize they could be used for biwiring this way. I will definitely check this out.
" Biwiring Series-1 and Series-2: The Ultimate Biwired Solution
The Series 2 speaker cable, in addition to being a full-spectrum speaker cable, can also be used in conjunction with the Series 1 cable, in a biwired configuration, with the Series 1 cable handling the lows and the Series 2 handling the highs. While Series-2 by itself has a flatter VP curve than Series-1, this combination flattens the curve a bit more overall, for a biwired cable with both the low and high legs truly separately optimized for the job.
For most users the best way to biwire this setup will be to simply order separate runs for the lows and the highs. This will work well on most binding posts, with either “sandwiched”" spade lugs on each binding post or one run going in by spade and the other going in through the banana opening on the post, and it also has the advantage of making your cables easier to repurpose in case of future tweaks and equipment changes. However, we do and can build these in biwired configurations, where there is only a single set of spades or bananas at the amplifier end; contact us if you want to pursue this. "
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2 separate runs per speaker would be the best choice, but then there’s the question of whether or not a single higher quality cable would be better, which it very well might be.
All else equal, I’d do 2 runs per speaker if possible.
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