Jumpers or Bi-wiring for Aspen Speakers

Loudspeakers
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I’m currently breaking in a pair of Aspen FR10 speakers, and I’m still figuring out how best to configure the connections to the four input terminals on the back of each speaker. I thought that a description of my experience thus far might help other new owners of FR10s (or FR5s, FR20s, or FR30s) decide how best to connect these great speakers to their amps. And hopefully, other experienced Aspen users will offer suggestions based on their personal experiences as well.

Full Cable Bi-Wire: I haven’t done this myself, but many users (and most cable companies) seem to recommend using two regular speaker cables, connecting one cable to the two Woofer Input terminals and the other to the two Mid/High Input terminals on each speaker. The biggest drawback to this approach is the high cost of buying two pairs of speaker cables. The use of extra cables is also typical for users who want to bi-amp each speaker, sending different output to the Woofer Inputs and Mid/High Inputs of each speaker. However, there is not a clear consensus regarding whether bi-amping is a good idea even if the additional cost were not an issue.

Internal Cable Bi-Wire: Some speaker cables can be bi-wired internally by splitting the conductors into four wires that can then be connected (usually via spades or bananas) to the four input terminals on the back of each speaker. This approach can work well with some cable geometries, but a potential drawback is that the size of the conductors in the original cable cannot be maintained when the conductors are split.

Jumper Cables: The least expensive approach is to use jumper cables (or metal plates) to link the two red (+) input terminals together and the two black (-) input terminals together. PS Audio supplies red and black jumpers for this purpose, and these connections are clearly shown in the FR10 manual. The manual also recommends connecting the speaker cables from the amplifier to the Woofer Input terminals on each speaker.

I began breaking in my FR10s while using the supplied jumpers and connecting a single run of Cardas Clear Reflection speaker cable to the Woofer Inputs on each FR10 speaker. I then began to wonder whether I could improve the evolving sound of the FR10s by using a jumper cable that was a closer match to the construction of my main Cardas speaker cables. After purchasing a pair of Cardas Clear Jumpers to try, I discovered several immediate improvements in the sound of the speakers by using the upgraded jumpers. Particularly noticeable was improved smoothness, coherence, and tightness of bass. The sound also seemed more relaxed and more realistic. I expect the sound to continue to evolve, so I don’t know for sure how things will eventually stabilize. I also don’t know if other FR10 owners would have the same experience as I’ve had. There are lots of interactions to contend with in any system, including those involving cables, connectors, amps, and rooms.

I’d be very interested in hearing from other Aspen owners about their experience with bi-wiring, jumpers, connectors, and related topics.

Happy listening!

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I started with Iconoclast Series 1 OFE cables and stock jumpers on my FR20s. Then I added the Iconoclast Series 2 SPTPC for the mid/highs in a bi-wire configuration. The ribbon planars really come alive with their Series 2 with silver plating.

I haven’t tried using just the Series 2 with jumpers but I suspect, in my room, they would sound better than the the Series 1s did by themselves but not as good as when bi-wired with the different geometry cables.

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I have Cardas Clear Cygnus internally bi-wired to my FR20’s. I had them custom made with a 12" long wiring at the speaker end so the wires would have enough play to connect to the speaker terminals of the FR20. The connection at the amp end has just 2 banana connectors.

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I started with two pairs of Fidelium speaker cables at the bottom (bi-wired without jumpers) for FR30, and used stock jumpers at the top. I have since tried three different jumpers at the top (treble and mid), and I ended up with AQ Dragon jumpers. To me Dragon jumpers sounded the best.

I have also tried to move one pair of Fidelium SC to the top so I did not need to use any jumpers. Surprisingly I did not like this arrangement much. The treble and mid became forward and too pronounced to my liking.

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Interesting question. 1. A high quality and expensive cable. 2. A cable for biwiring. 3. Two equivalent, matching individual cables. The question certainly depends on the length of speaker cable required and the cost. The best solution seems to be separate cables, as the conductors have the least influence on each other. A current flow causes electric and magnetic fields, which influence the conductors and the signal. The separate conductors for the different frequencies result in less influence on the individual signals. The common signal is only present at the terminals of the amplifier and interference can be attenuated there. However, amplifiers can also offer balanced outputs, where both outputs provide a hot signal; this offers advantages in control and noise rejection from what I’ve heard. As always in audio, theory and practice can vary and produce different results than expected. Ultimately, it is our own ears that let us hear what we like best. Greetings Andreas

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It’s interesting that each of the comments thus far from an Aspen owner reports using a different approach to wiring their speakers. I’m using an upgraded jumper along with a single speaker cable for each of my FR10s. @hardlyknow1 is using two full-range speaker cables for each FR20 speaker in a full bi-wire configuration, but the cable choice is slightly different for the woofer cable vs the mid/high cable. @adifferentpaul is using an internal bi-wire configuration with FR20s. @dchang05 is using a full bi-wire configuration of two identical speaker cables for the woofer and mid/high inputs located at the bottom of each of his FR30 speakers. For the jumper between the upper and lower cabinets in the FR30, Donald is using AQ Dragon jumpers instead of the stock jumpers.

Overall, it appears that the bi-wire inputs on the Aspen speakers allow lots of experimentation and customization in terms of cable choice and deciding how or if to bi-wire the speakers. It’s also important to point out that it can be challenging to achieve solid connector contact when trying to have the stock jumpers (which use spades) share an input terminal with a speaker cable that also uses spade connectors. For this reason, I chose to use banana plugs on my Cardas jumpers so that they would not interfere with the spades on my speaker cables.

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Andreas,

I think you’re correct that most users would say that the best bi-wire solution is likely to be separate cables, but many people think that the difference in sound quality is not large enough to justify the cost of using double-cable bi-wiring compared to other options.

I wasn’t sure if your comment about “separate conductors for the different frequencies” was implying that the two different Iconoclast cables used by @hardlyknow1 were carrying different frequencies. In fact, with the FR20, both cables would be carrying a full-range signal until they reach the crossovers inside the speaker.

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True bi-wiring, on FR 30’s, is my choice. I have done both single and shotgun approaches with Iconoclast and Stealth. A single set, with jumpers, falls short. I do not share Donald’s experience but I have not tried Fidelium cables.
Every cable manufacturer I have asked, including the ones used, share bi-wiring as the desired approach.
The downside, or quandary with this is the additional expense. But, within those that I have tried, a no compromise less costly cable was available for the bass cabinet. Win, win.

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A pair of cables to each speaker ends confusion about what’s best.

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The crossover in the speaker only allows certain frequencies to pass through, so that the current flow in the cable with biwiring only takes place at certain frequencies. This means there is less influence on the individual signals.
The currents of the individual frequencies do not overlap and do not influence each other if they have separate cables. I think that this is the advantage.
A woofer has a large voice coil compared to a tweeter. The current flow is greater with the woofer. The membrane can oscillate and thereby generates an interference voltage that flows back. With biwiring, this then flows back to the amplifier, which can compensate for this interference voltage with its damping factor. If the path of the interference voltage to the tweeter or midrange driver is shorter, they are more easily exposed to the interference voltage. Coils and capacitors in the crossover divide the individual frequencies. But due to this induced interference voltage, they are exposed to an additional load and have to do more work. I think this may be a reason in favor of biwiring or triwiring, as these interferences are passed directly to the amplifier.

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Have you tried connecting the speaker cable to the high/mid terminals, and use the jumper to low terminals? I’m interested to know if you could hear a difference, and if you do which way you like better? The designer of my old speakers recommended this way. But with the same SC and jumper, I wonder if there’s a difference.

I’m fighting a jet lag, and I’m reading and posting to this forum again. It’s not a healthy sign for me😆

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Donald, it’s this damn forum. :rofl: I decided on a singlewire terminal for my speakers. I thought, fewer binding posts, fewer cables. Now a train of thought arises again as to whether it wouldn’t be better to use biwiring. Or maybe you’d rather just biamp. Why not fully active with separate amplifiers directly for each membrane with active crossover and room correction

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I prefer, and use, a double run of identical cables on my FR20…some prefer a single run and jumpers because you can then afford better cables…I would not use internal bi-wire cables…

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The consensus seems to be consistent with what Al states: “A pair of cables to each speaker ends confusion about what’s best.” However, the choices become more complicated when the cost of cables becomes an important part of the decision. In my case, the cost of an extra pair of Cardas Clear Reflection cables is roughly 10 times the cost of a pair of Cardas Clear Jumpers. At this point, a double run of cables to each speaker will remain an aspirational goal for me.

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For those wanting an even deeper dive into the bi-wiring rabbit hole, I found a discussion of the reasons for true bi-wiring from the FAQ section of the Vandersteen Audio website. This discussion gets into some of the issues raised by Andreas as well as some bi-wiring vs bi-amping questions. Happy reading!

"Bi-wiring uses two separate sets of speaker cables to connect a single pair of loudspeakers to an amplifier. Coupled with a crossover designed specifically for bi-wiring, it offers many of the advantages of bi-amplifying the speakers with two separate amplifiers without the cost and complexity of two amplifiers.

We began experimenting with bi-wiring back in the early '80s, an era when horizontal bi-amplification was considered the ultimate way to drive quality loudspeakers. (Horizontal bi-amplification used one amplifier to drive the low-frequency section of a speaker and a second amplifier to drive the high-frequency section.) We noted that speakers sounded better when bi-amplified by two amplifiers than when driven by a single amplifier. Surprisingly, this superior performance was evident even when the speakers were bi-amplified by two identical amplifiers at a low volume level and the amplifiers were each driven full-range without an electronic crossover. We initially believed that the double power supplies and other components of two amplifiers were responsible for the improvement, however building amplifiers with twice the power supply and doubling-up on other critical components failed to provide the bi-amplification benefit.

So we looked at the speaker wires. With two amplifiers, bi-amplification used two sets of speaker cables so we experimented with doubling-up the speaker wires and with larger wire. Neither duplicated the bi-amplification improvements. Then we considered that in a bi-amplified system, one set of wires carries the low-frequencies and the other set of wires carries the high-frequencies. We modified a speaker’s crossovers to accept two sets of cables and present different load characteristics to each set so that the low-frequencies would be carried by one set of wires and the high-frequencies by the other set of wires. Finally we heard the sonic improvements of bi-amplification with a single amplifier.

Additional experiments with a Hall Effect probe revealed that high-current bass frequencies created a measurable field around the wires that expanded and collapsed with the signal. We believe that this dynamic field modulates the smaller signals, especially the very low level treble frequencies. With the high-current signal (Bass) separated from the low-current signal (Treble) this small signal modulation was eliminated as long as the cables were separated by at least an inch or two. (To keep the treble cable out of the field surrounding the bass cable.)

The crossovers in Vandersteen bi-wirable speakers are engineered with completely separate high-pass and low-pass sections. The bass inputs pass low-frequencies to the woofers, but become more and more resistive at higher frequencies. The treble inputs pass high-frequencies to the midrange and tweeter, but become more and more resistive at low-frequencies. The output from the amplifier always takes the path of least resistance so deep bass frequencies go to the bass input (Low impedance at low-frequencies) rather than to the treble inputs (High impedance at low frequencies). For the same reason, treble frequencies go to the treble input (Low impedance at high-frequencies) rather than to the bass inputs (High impedance at high-frequencies). At the actual crossover frequency, the output from the amplifier would be divided equally between the two inputs as they would both have the same impedance at that frequency. Because of the different reflected impedances of the cables, the crossover between the woofer and midrange actually occurs at the wire ends where they connect to the amplifier.

The benefits of bi-wiring are most obvious in the midrange and treble. The low-current signal to the midrange and tweeter drivers does not have to travel on the same wire as the high-current woofer signal. The field fluctuations and signal regeneration of the high-current low-frequencies are prevented from distorting or masking the low-current high-frequencies. The back EMF (Electro-Mechanical Force) from the large woofer cannot affect the small-signal upper frequencies since they do not share the same wires.

The effects of bi-wiring are not subtle. The improvements are large enough that a bi-wire set of moderately priced cable will usually sound better than a single run of more expensive cable.

All the cables in a bi-wire set must be the same. There is often great temptation to use a wire known for good bass response on the woofer inputs and a different wire known for good treble response on the midrange/tweeter inputs. This will cause the different sonic characteristics of the two wires in the middle frequencies to interfere with the proper blending of the woofer and midrange driver through the crossover point. The consistency of the sound will be severely affected as the different sounding woofer and midrange drivers conflict with each other in the frequency range where our ears are most sensitive to sonic anomalies. The disappointing result is a vague image, a lack of transparency through the midrange and lower treble and a loss of detail and clarity.

Some of the benefits of bi-wiring are from the physical separation of the high-current bass and low-current midrange/tweeter wires. So-called bi-wire cables that combine the wires in one sheath do not offer the full advantages of true bi-wiring although they may be an excellent choice for mono-wiring the speakers."

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Donald, I have not yet tried connecting the speaker cable to the high/mid terminals and then using the jumpers to connect to the woofer terminals. I will probably try that arrangement after more extensive break-in on the FR10s, my Atma-Sphere Class D monoblock amps, and the cables/jumpers connecting them.

Hope you get past the jet lag soon. Are you back playing golf yet?

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That’s exactly what I didn’t want to read. :rofl: Now I correctly assume that the signal for the low frequency range is causing interference. Sooner or later I should install bi-wiring. :roll_eyes:

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After reading the Vandersteen article a few months back I bi wired my Sonus faber speakers and I heard an instantaneous reduction in, what sounded like, IM distortion in the mids and highs. It wasn’t subtle.

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I went to driving range to test my new set of beautiful Japanese clubs. This driving range has tracking monitor, so I know exactly how I do. Among the 100 balls I hit I gained 2 yards on average. :laughing: But they are easier to hit, and go straighter. They are going into the bag.

When you are ready to try the new way of connecting, the spade/banana may need a day to get cozy with the terminals again. I suspect the SQ change to be small, if any. So, it may take a couple of days to detect any change. Have fun!

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Synergistic Research might be the only company that doesn’t think bi-wiring is the best option.

I’m not sure I agree 100% with this approach, but when I went with a single run of their speaker cables and used their jumpers, it was a vast improvement over the previous bi-wire configuration I was using, but that could be just because they were better cables than the previous ones.

https://synergisticresearch.com/ift/