Looking for Opinions on BiWiring/amping

[bramin8r]

I was fortunate enough to find a Pioneer Elite 56txi for $662. delivered with full pioneer warranty.
I am using Morduant SHorts 500thx speakers with bi wire capabilites.
Can anyone tell me if they have used the 56txi in this fashion?
Comments?
Even if you don't have the 56txi, please let me know the ups and downs of bi wiring.

[KeithM]

You'll get a lot more noticeable performance biamping. It's a debated topic, some people think biwiring has no effects(like me) and some really use it a lot.

[David Meek]

I bi-wire off a Yamaha RX-V1 into a pair of Aerial Acoustics 7Bs and I think it does improve the sonics in small ways - enough that I continue to do it, at least. Ups include small improvements in detail and separation. Downs include more cost for a bi-wire cable over its non-bi-wire sibling, and the possibility that after paying more for it you don't hear any improvement.

[Chris D]

keith, your new avatar is really making me hungry.

[Alaric]

Paradigm Studio 60v.3

Bi-wiring added a little punch to the bass and opened up the soundstage for me. I have a fairly low powered amp (25 wpc Class A) and I don't know if that's an issue or not. If I crank up the volume my amp goes to 95 wpc Class A/B. It seems to me that whichever frequency range needs more juice at the moment has access to it without filtering through the whole crossover mess in the speaker. It also seems to follow that the quality of the crossovers would be a big factor in that assumption. It is also possible that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about My personal experience made bi-wiring worthwhile. My last set of good speakers didn't offer that option , but in 1984 ADS had a pretty good reputation and my memory tells me they sounded pretty good (ADS L1530 Studio Reference). I didn't believe it until I tried it with the Paradigms. Best way is probably to try it and judge for yourself. I'm betting Doug has some speaker cables up to the task. My cables are single feed from the amp and split into 4 banana plugs at the terminator so I can do an A/B test pretty easily. The Cattails aren't quite in my budget yet , but as soon as they are I'm buyin' them :T Then I'll see if silver single wire or bi-wire makes a difference.
As a side note , I found the Silvercats brought out detail I needed volume to find with brand x interconnects. Maybe the Cattails will provide the "punch" and detail without bi-wiring. Keep us informed as to your findings!

[bramin8r]

Cattails? I will run a test in a week or so to see if I hear the difference.

[Shane Martin]

I tried biwiring and biamping.

Biwiring produced a small difference but not worth the extra $$$ to me. Others might feel different.

Biamping OTOH produced a large difference.

I'd spend the money biamping before I'd think about bi wiring again.

[bramin8r]

I am using a Pioneer Elite 56txi with bi amp capabilities. So I should of stated bi amp. So this will be noticable?

[Karma]

HI Shane,
I agree the advantages of biwiring are subtle. Since I make my own cables it is not a major expense for me so I do it. It is a hastle, however. But my time is cheap. If I had to buy the same quality cables I would probably pass. Too expensive for the bang.

I do think that it adds icing on the audio cake and is worth doing if all the other issues are resolved. I believe that the better the system, the more the advantages of biwiring are noticed. I do not biwire my surround speakers.

[kurtholz]

I agree with Karma, but i do true bi-amping now, and it is a very definitive improvement

using a Krell 5 channel home theater standard, was using a Rotel 1095, BIG difference in the sound, so my point is, the improvement is most certainly amp dependant

good luck

Kurt

[Karma]

HI kurtholz,
As you know, there are two varieties of bi-amping:

1. Using the speakers internal crossovers with each driver having it's own full frequency range amp channel and;

2. Active outboard crossovers in front of the power amps with the speakers internal crossovers bypassd and each driver having its own amp channel.

The second method is considered true or classical biamping. I don't know what the first method is called; maybe passive biamping. The two techniques are often confused and the terms used without distinction.

Which method are you using? I ask this to lessen the terminology confusion and to also find out what definite improvements you have found.

Could you go into some detail. please?

Thanks, Sparky

[Alaric]

Cattails? I will run a test in a week or so to see if I hear the difference.

Speaker cables from our forum sponsor , CAT Cables.

[Booster]

I biwired Avalon Acoustics monitors and found subtle but significant improvement. The cable cost was not much more so was well worth it.