Page 1 of Bi Wiring on £600 system - worth it? Does it really work that well?

Hi,

I`ve got a Yamaha DSP 620AX amp & Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 / 8.1 set up.

Would bi wiring the front 8.3s and the centre really make a difference?

Also - any preference / thoughts on whether optical or co-ax is the best connector between amp & DVD?

Thanks in advance.

Slarti

I have the yamaha rxv620rds and I have bi wired my diamond 8.2`s.
I did notice a slight difference in bass/treble perfomance and timing which did justify the extra cost of cable. If you have main a+b speaker outlets on your amp use them both to bi-wire your speakers. Personally I wouldn`t bother bi- wiring the centre.

I have linked my dvd player to my amp via a coaxial cable and it sounds good. I haven`t tried an optical cable so I wouldn`t know wheather is any better but I don`t think there is a massive difference between the two.

Yes Bi Wiring is worth it. I have a Denon 2800 amp Castle Severn main/ Castle Keep centre speakers. Yes you can tell a difference by Bi Wiring them, the bass is tighter and the treble crisper. I would Bi Wire the centre as well as a large proportion of the sound comes from the centre speaker. I have tried both coax and optical and can tell no difference.

This item was edited on Monday, 18th March 2002, 21:50

To bi-wire the centre speaker, do you just run two sets of cables from each terminal of the centre channel output?. Does this give the same results as using the main a+b output when bi-wiring the fronts?

With bi-wiring with the a+b speaker option am I right in thinking you use the a terminal for the high end and the b terminals for the low end on each speaker?

Therefore each speaker is connected to both the a and b speaker terminals on the amp, top going to a terminal and bass to b terminal?

You then ensure that both a and b buttons are depressed?

Also ensuring to remove the speaker crossovers...............

This all sound right?

Thanks,

Slarti

Yes, although to be a pedant, what you refer to as crossovers are just connectors - the crossover is the circuitry (usually) inside the speaker that splits the signal and directs it to the individual drive units, or (when biwired) filters the full range signal supplied to each drive unit to suit.

***************(Message From Westy)*****************

Richard sir, i`ll be putting those discs in the post this week for you. My leg has finally healed, so its Westy a go go again! I`ll ring you and let you know what you`ll need to do. Nice one :-) ....

This item was edited on Tuesday, 19th March 2002, 09:30

And here`s Westy!

To be honest there isn`t much difference whether you use proper Bi Wire cable or running an extra set from the Speakers B output on the amp. Personally i`ve found that using proper Bi Wire cable sounds better than the speakers a+b route.

Any way, i BI Amp my floorstanders, man they need lots of current, and not even my (soon to be replaced), Denon 3802 can get them swinging enough, so a Denon power amp drives the extra low frequency driver - the dynamics are absolutely awesome, plus two perfectly integrated Yammy 320 subs, ooh, its good! (and yes i think i must have gone Home Cinema mad).

Westy

Bit new to this so bear with me, I`m thinking of using QED Silver Anniversay Bi Wire for the fronts & centre.

Do you advise using a 4 - 2 bi wire set up just using the A speakers

OR

A 4 -4 bi wire using both A & B speaker option?

For the centre I was going to use a 4 - 2 bi wire.

This bi wire good enough?

Cheers in advance!

IMHO, you might as well use the A & B option, as that will give you the luxury of banana plugs for all 4 cables, rather than a bodge together job at the amp end.

Whether you have 4 banana plugs ot two, it doesn`t make any difference. Plus if you buy the Qed cable, the dealer can do all the termination work for you, plus you get the advantage of no interference, When i tried the a+b route, i always had some sort of buzzing noise from the speaker b output, which meant the mid range and the tweeters sounded crap! Honest, you`ll be paying for more cable that you don`t need.
Qed Bi wire is made so it has just the normal twin run at amp end, then branches out to two the seperate connections at the other. No compromise, no fuss, just pure top quality sound.

I`ll be posting an article at area450 soon which will tell you how to give your system a boost through the many upgrade or bi wire options!

Westy