Bi-wire v's single with jumper leads.


Hi,
I am looking for your views on which you think are better.
A good set of bi-wire cables or a better single cable run with a good set or jumper leads?
Thank you.
jams70
At the end of the day, it all comes together at the amp. Vandersteen as noted above, and DIY'er Jon Risch over at AudioAsylum recommend bi-wiring when the HF/LF crossover boards are totally separated, and they each give reasons why bi-wiring is a better approach in that case. My monos have dual binding posts as do my speakers, and I have taken advantage of that to try two totally separate (single)runs of a high quality cable. However, that set-up was bested by a more conventional bi-wire cable, but one in which there are two separate and equal awg runs connected only at a single amp binding post. I can see that there would be a camp that advocates (for a given purchase price) purchasing the highest quality single run cables you can afford then using jumpers, instead of a lesser quality bi-wire cable. BTW, jumpers can be inexpensively constructed using high quality wire obtained through places like Partsconnexion. IMO, instead of using jumpers, the best way would be to solder the speaker lead wires inside your speaker to a single binding post. Few absolutes in this hobby when matching different equipment and wires, so I doubt there will ever be consensus on this question.
Philjolet makes good sense. Wherever possible, try both options in your own system. Though my experience also points to more coherent sound with single wire/jumpers, it's irrelevant to you. Strictly speaking, you must be the judge on this issue, neither I nor anyone else, including the "experts".
Bi-wire by a mile here.....your results may vary. Maybe my supplied jumpers were inferior,I don't know. My "theory" is the LF and HF present two different loads in terms of impedance and frequency and having two sets of cables to carry these separately is better. Also besides my system I have never heard a system that didn't improve from bi-wire and I set up many when I was a dealer both on the display floor and in customer systems. For these comparisons
the same type of cable was always used for LF and HF within a setup although the experience overall represented several types/brands of cables and speakers.

ET
In my comparisons of the same exact cable in a Bi-wire vs shotgun with jumpers, the Bi-wire wins out for a more pleasing musical experience. I find the soundstage to be larger, bass is better defined with a better sense of pace. Treble is sweeter and cleaner. Of course, the cable has to be one of quality and more importantly, it must be synergistic with your amp/speakers as well.
I've once tested my biwire Analysis Plus cables in a configuration where I've connected both HF and LF spades together to a single binding post on the speaker side, and use jumper wires from HF to LF. I couldn't tell any difference between that and the proper biwire setup. I did hear differences when I went from Analysis Plus to Cardas to Kimber. But not when I used the biwire cables in such configuration.