WHAT IS BI-WIRING? AND SHOULD YOU BI-WIRE YOUR SPEAKERS?

Whether or not to bi-wire speakers is a piece of conversation that audiophiles can chew on all day without swallowing. And understandably so! It’s natural to want the best sound possible from your stereo system or home theater setup. Attempting to achieve sonic perfection by playing around with speaker placement, receiver settings, and speaker cables is what makes it fun. Even if there is no 100% guarantee of a crazy-good improvement in sound.

Bi-wiring is not universally accepted as the best way to get the best sound. In fact, if you ask around in forums, you’re likely to run into more nays than yays when it comes to whether bi-wiring is worth it. Yet it can’t be discounted right out of the gate: still plenty of music lovers will swear by the benefits of bi-wiring and how much of a difference they can hear from the soundstage before and after bi-wiring.

So, which is right for you?

WHAT IS BI-WIRING?

Before getting into the advantages and disadvantages, let’s talk about what bi-wiring is exactly. Bi-wiring is a way to connect a single amplifier channel to a speaker that has two sets of binding posts instead of one. One pair of posts carries the high frequencies (tweeters) and the other carries the low frequencies (woofers), which is different from the typical setup where a single cable carries the full range of audio signals from the amp to the speakers.

HOW TO BI-WIRE YOUR SPEAKERS

You’ll need three main components to bi-wire your speakers: a bi-wirable speaker (it’ll have two sets of binding posts), a receiver or amplifier, and bi-wire speaker cables. It’s best to get cables that are the same length, brand, and model.

First, remove the dual binding post jumper strap connecting the speaker terminals if there is one (but hang onto it as jumpers are connected in the case of single-wiring). Second, connect the bi-wire speaker cable to your amp. This end of the cable will only have two terminals, positive and negative, so simply match them to the correct positive and negative terminals on the back of your amp. Third, connect the speaker side. This end will have four terminals separated into two ends; connect one pair to the speaker’s top posts (which will typically be the high frequencies) and one pair to the bottom posts (the low frequencies).

BENEFITS OF BI-WIRING

Bi-wiring does have its benefits. Two cables instead of one reduces wire impedance by half, resulting in a stronger flow of current to the speaker and thus improving the dynamic impact. It also reduces the chance of IMD (intermodulation distortion), which is the tiny amount of distortion that is essentially passed backwards through the crossover and into the drivers. This effect is measurable, but very rarely audible. However, a bi-wire cable does make this effect less likely as the IMD will be hindered by the end-to-end length of the bi-wire head, thus potentially resulting in better separation between the highs, mids, and lows.

And if you ask other people who have personally tried and enjoyed bi-wiring their speakers, you’re likely to hear that it improves the soundstage and overall audio quality. You can get a wider “sweet spot,” and the sounds that are typically swallowed up by other, larger sounds become easier to hear.

DISADVANTAGES OF BI-WIRING

Bi-wiring does have its disadvantages. Bi-wiring has double the speaker cable compared to your standard loudspeaker cable. If you’re short on space, having the extra cable mess is probably not worth the time and hassle. Plus, one high-quality cable is better than a low-quality bi-wired cable. Bi-wiring also limits the crossover design to a parallel type by forcing the higher frequencies down one cable and the lower frequencies down a different cable. To a lot of audiophiles, flexibility in crossover design in order to pursue series alignments or more complex schemes is enough of a reason not to bi-wire.

And if you ask other people who have tried bi-wiring then switched back to standard wiring why they did so, they’ll likely answer that they couldn’t hear a difference. Most people who change their mind about bi-wiring do so because they don’t notice any improvements in sound - or, if there is improvement, it is subtle at best. Some believe too that it’s a marketing ploy and lovingly refer to it as “buy-wiring.”

SUMMARY

There are as many opinions out there about bi-wiring as there are fish in the sea. And rightly so! After all, sound preference changes from person to person. And if we get right down to it, whether bi-wiring is worthwhile is going to depend on several factors, including the exact speaker drivers, cabinet design, crossover topology and parts, the amp’s characteristics, and the exact wiring used.

But then how, if you do get bi-wirable speakers, do you decide if you should bi-wire?

Put it to the test! A blind test, that is. Have a buddy hook it up one way while your back is turned, then play a song. After you listen to it, have your buddy switch it to the other way, then play that same song again. Do you hear a difference? If so, which do you prefer? If you feel like you got better sound with bi-wiring, ignore what people may say and go with that. If you don’t think there was a difference, stick with the single wire setup. And even if you choose not to do a blind test, trust your ears. It’s your setup. As long as it sounds good to you, that’s all that matters.

Thanks for reading! If you’re needing some speakers, bi-wirable or otherwise, we’ve got just what you need! SpenCertified has all your home theater and stereo needs covered. We have bookshelf speakers, tower speakers, center channels, subwoofers, soundbars, and more. You can find all of our speakers on sale here. Have a great day!

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