[ckullmann1]

I have Salk SS8s and a Fet Valve 400r amplifier. I’ve been looking at new speaker cables and a pair just came up for sale, but it’s a biwired pair. Does anyone biwire their Salks? If so, what is your experience? Would you expect a biwired pair of speakers cables to sound the same as the corresponding non-biwired pair used with jumpers?

I’d love to hear any insights/thoughts the group has.

[Big Red Machine]

Never had any positive impact with bi-wiring. Bi-amp will be huge but requires more gear. I've taken bi and tri-wired cable sets and run them as singles btw by just bunching them up on the posts. Gives you options later on FWIW.

[ckullmann1]

Did biwiring sound worse in your experience compared to bunching them up and keeping the jumpers? My thought was that I’d at least save some money by not having to buy matching jumpers.

[Zuman]

I don't own Salk equipment.
I also don't have enough engineering experience to evaluate the claims on both sides of the debate. However...
On my Von Schweikert Endeavor SEs/Model Ones - which require jumpers if not biwired or biamped - I started out with single-run pure copper Voxativ Due Edition cables and WBC jumpers. Then I removed the jumpers, connected the Voxativ cables to the high/mid terminals on the speakers, and I ran a pair of Audio Art SC-5 cables I wasn't using to the woofers. There was an immediate and startling improvement in dynamics, bass articulation, and "air."
I did not want there to be a difference. I wanted to have just one run of cables, and I wanted to sell the other cables. I also wanted to confidently say that biwiring doesn't make any sense and I proved it. But that didn't happen.
My neighbor has a pair of B&W 801 D4s driven by Classe monoblocks. He had been running purpose-built biwire cables from the time he installed his present system, but he'd been loaned a pair of Nordost Odin and Tyr 2 speaker cables by a dealer who was trying to sell them to him. We removed his old cables (maybe ten years old?) and installed the Odins and the B&W-supplied jumpers. His system immediately sounded "closed in," with the highs sounding "tizzy" and detached. We removed the jumpers, kept the Odins on the upper frequencies, and added the Tyr 2s on the lows, and the sound was great again (he didn't end up buying the Nordosts, because the sound with his original biwire cables sounded just as good).
I don't understand it, but we're both biwiring and both very happy with the results. I don't know if crossover topology plays a role?

[WGH]

Bi-wiring results is dependent on a speakers sensitivity and how low they go. Generally it is not the best idea to mix brands when bi-wiring. I bi-wired fat Monster Cable speaker cable and the Kimber Kable 4VS on my Von Schweikert VR-4 speakers, it worked but those speakers were not very revealing. Once I got my Salk HT2-TL speakers I heard what a mess the cable mix made, adding a vague non-coherent uneasiness to the sound.

My Salk HT2-TL speaker's sensitivity is 88dB with strong bass down to 34Hz. The Seas Excel W18 magnesium cone drives need current to maximize their performance. I discovered a single run of Kimber 4VS attenuated the bass. The 4VS has an aggregate wire size of 13 AWG, a double run has an aggregate wire size of 10 AWG, which is the sweet spot for the HT2-TLs. My test recording was "Temple Caves" from Mickey Hart's Planet Drum. A single run of Kimber has pretty good bass, a double run made the single pane glazed windows in my old house rattle.

If your speakers don't have strong output below 40 Hz or you use a sub with a high level connection (amp) then the wire gauge may not make any difference and 13 AWG to 15 AWG may work just fine.


My Kimber Kable 4VS have kept up with all my equipment changes. I demoed some Zenwave 14 gauge Neotech EC-UPOCC speaker cables ($$$$). They sounded great, the Zenwave are slightly clearer than the Kimber but 14 gauge cables still attenuate the bass so I kept the Kimber. The difference between the two cable was too subtle to spend the big bucks but the listening experience was educational.


Our audio club auditioned the new Hapa Torsion 14 gauge UPOCC hand polished Copper and Torsion 15 gauge UPOCC Nano-polished Silver in two different systems. Once again both Eric and I found a single run of either cable attenuated the bass. Each of us came to this same conclusion separately and while listening to the Hapa speaker cable in our own systems. Eric uses the 8 gauge speaker cable from GR Research.


The Hapa speaker cables are a lot better sounding than the Kimber but I would need a double run and have no idea what that would cost. The difference in sound between the Copper and Silver cables was not subtle either.

Read my review about Hapa Torsion speaker cable and bi-wiring using both the Torsion Copper and Silver cable in a hybrid lash up.
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=183932.msg1944092#msg1944092

Hapa Torsion Copper and Silver bi-wired, I always leave the Cardas jumpers in place



GR Research speaker cables are similar to Kimber Kable and are cheaper
https://gr-research.com/cables/


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