Bi-wiring with QED Silver Anniversary XT

[Davo2008]

Hi,

This may sound like a really stupid question, but for the first time I'm bi-wiring my new speakers using the above cable. It's very thick and I doubt very much that 2 pieces of it will fit through one hole in my speaker terminal. Am I supposed to separate the wire from the tube that runs through the middle of the cable and twist both sets together before putting it through the hole? Or do I jam 2 complete bits through?! Forgive my ignorance but, as I said, I've never bi-wired before and do not really have a clue! As an aside, it hasn't even occurred to me to use bana plugs or anything and was just going to put the bare wires through the hole as I always have done. Presumably that's ok?? Thanks!

 

[The_Lhc]

When you say speaker terminal, do you mean on the amp or the speaker?

Banana plugs would be a good idea in this case, makes things a lot easier to work with.

 

[Davo2008]

Actually, I can imagine having the same problem on the amp AND the speaker! When you unscrew the terminal, revealing the hole that you're supposed to stick the wire through, it certainly doesn't look big enough to accomodate 2 strands of this cable. If I got banana plugs, are they specialist bi-wiring plugs? To be honest though, I'd prefer not to go down that route unless I had to, as the cost is seriously adding up and banana plugs would probably add another £100 to it....

 

[The_Lhc]

Davo2008:
Actually, I can imagine having the same problem on the amp AND the speaker!

Well you shouldn't do, not on the speakers at any rate, they DO have two sets of terminals on each speaker don't they (ie 4 individual terminal, 2+ve, 2-ve)?

When you unscrew the terminal, revealing the hole that you're supposed to stick the wire through, it certainly doesn't look big enough to accomodate 2 strands of this cable. If I got banana plugs, are they specialist bi-wiring plugs? To be honest though, I'd prefer not to go down that route unless I had to, as the cost is seriously adding up and banana plugs would probably add another £100 to it....

Well banana plugs don't need to cost that much, and you could get away with one set at the amp end, ie stick one cable bare wired through the hole and tighten the terminal and then stick a banana on the other cable and plug it into the hole in the middle of the terminal. Then just bare wire the cables to speaker's terminals.

 

[Davo2008]

Oh yes, you're right! The speaker does have 2 sets!! So your suggestion for the amp sounds perfect! So I'll need only 3 banana plugs if I want to bi-wire my front 3 speakers? And with banana plugs, are there any that are recommended above anything else? Is one banana plug much like another? Thanks for all your help!

 

[The_Lhc]

Davo2008:Oh yes, you're right! The speaker does have 2 sets!! So your suggestion for the amp sounds perfect! So I'll need only 3 banana plugs if I want to bi-wire my front 3 speakers?

6, two per speaker, positive and negative.

And with banana plugs, are there any that are recommended above anything else? Is one banana plug much like another? Thanks for all your help!

No idea personally, I think I've got profigold, but I didn't test any others, the dealer just handed me a bagful of them! A number of people have asked that question on here recently and nobody has come back with any reply stating they thought it made a great deal of difference. Most people appear to think they don't matter that much in the overall scheme of things. Which is... interesting.

 

[Anonymous]

May I ask why you are bi-wiring?

I'd use a better cable to single wire than bi-wire with SA XT. Two sets of wires will double your cost - at £10/m you can get much better single wire setup. (just make jumpers from the same cable rather than using links that came with the speakers). Chord Rumor2 is a contender.

 

[Davo2008]

Oh dear. I've just bought some Monitor Audio RS6 and RSLCR. It says in the manual that they recommend bi-wiring for improved sound, and I didn't even question it. If that's what the manufacturer says, that's what I'll do. Now that I've already bought the wire, cut to my specifications, I can't really take it back. Also, I was under the impression that this cable is pretty good. It got 5 stars in WHF....

 

[Anonymous]

It's a decent cable, but at twice the money there are certainly better alternatives. Since you've bought & cut the cables - try them out. I also have the RS6s and chose to single-wire (used to biwire with BR2s with QED SA XT).

And it sounds like you found the solution of fitting the cables in. Let us know you think of the combo.

 

[jase fox]

Davo2008:Oh dear. I've just bought some Monitor Audio RS6 and RSLCR. It says in the manual that they recommend bi-wiring for improved sound, and I didn't even question it. If that's what the manufacturer says, that's what I'll do. Now that I've already bought the wire, cut to my specifications, I can't really take it back. Also, I was under the impression that this cable is pretty good. It got 5 stars in WHF....Hi Dave, hows you doing?

Id recommend you BI-WIRE , to me the sound improved loads, it also depends on your amp as some tend not to sound as good as maybe certain amps dont like the added strain but the majority work.

& as for the speaker cable your using its great, im using that for my three surround speakers, i also used to use it for my main until i got the QED SILVER PROFILE 12 BI WIRE !!