Does the"quality" of jumpers affect the sound?

Let's assume it does make a difference. It still seems to me that a pair of brass bars (or the better copper ones) would have an excellent chance of outperforming two jumper cables of even super-premium pedigree because those cables are (1) longer -- usually 6 inches or more compared to maybe 2 inches for the bars; (2) have solder joints to spade or banana connectors on both ends, versus no joints whatsoever; and (3) are prone to higher inductance because the + and - are typically separated by a greater distance than with the simple bars.

I wish manufacturers would do away with biwiring as an option unless they are absolutely convinced it matters for their speakers (e.g., Vandersteen) or unless it is a speaker that is likely to be biamped. I also wish they would standardize on a single binding post diameter.

Drubin, I'm pretty sure every manufacturer that offers their speaker in a biwire version believes it absolutely makes a difference. Otherwise, why would they spend the extra money?

In my opinion, switching out the stock jumpers does make a difference.

If your connect your speaker cables to the tweeter/midrange binding posts and jump from there to your woofer binding posts, then the jumpers will have less affect on the sound than if you connect your speaker cables to the woofer binding posts and jump up to the tweeter/midrange binding posts.

IMO.

This is also what Von Schweikert recommends in their VR4 manual.

I'm pretty sure every manufacturer that offers their speaker in a biwire version believes it absolutely makes a difference. Otherwise, why would they spend the extra money?

I wouldn't be so sure. I think many do it because it's "expected".

Two quick comments:

1) If the quality of the jumpers do not matter, there sure are many high-end speaker manufacturers who seem to supply high-quality ones, enough to imply that it does make a difference.

2) Best results so far for me: I use bare wire on the speaker end, and strip the wire jacket 2 inches and use the SAME wire to connect both ends.

Cheers!