Historical perspective: Why do 4 terminals on some speakers exist?

AJM1981

Well-known member
It is a question which can be easily Googled and the answer given is 'bi-wiring'.

But there is difficulty getting a historical perspective to the 'why' question from certain speaker builders point of view. Which in my opinion is far more interesting. Because why is it that some builders choose for two terminals and others choose four. The ones which apply two say there is no need for four, and those are not the worst ones.

An explanation that I picked up is that Bi Wiring didn't seem to be a solution for anything in the early days, but 'Bi Amping' was. The reason was that despite the fact that good amps existed, they came with a big price tag. The average affordable amplifiers were not that well and so the 4 terminals on more powerful speakers were a solution so the woofer and treble of the speakers could be driven by two average amps or average amps that specifically did one of the two ranges best, acting together as one good amp of the likes we find nowadays.

Given that what qualifies as a cheap amp nowadays is a leap of a universe better than a cheap amp in let's say 1965- 1970.

Following up. The solutions of those days became a relic of the past and the 4 terminals remained as a signature at companies like B&W and Wharfedale as it also creates a premium look to it compared to speakers with two terminals. Function became marketing.

It seems plausible, but there seems no reference to it online. Also in general there is a gap in a historical perspective. Apart from a general history of loudspeakers and history for the purposes of branding, there is not really a background on historical choices per brand outside marketing. It is for example difficult to find insights from engineers in why they made particular choices. Where the computer world is totally open (every choice and mistake Apple made is in Herzfeld's blog) but the speaker world seems rather closed.
 
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AJM1981

Well-known member
Quite often the concept of bi-amping is confused. In theory you don't need four terminals on speakers to bi-amp as, in the past, I used to employ two monoblock amplifiers and a preamplifier, each driving one speaker.
this is what I consider to be true bi-amping

true, there are different forms of bi-amping in which the 'old application' might have slightly fell out of favor in modern days.

The idea that historically this would serve bi-wiring would be weird as it would have been an odd thing if a manufacturer would have added something conciously that would either be explainable as 'believe in it or don't.'

Bi-Amping for the more regular consumers those days who spend all their budget on expensive speakers and had to turn to average amps they owned or needed to purchase within their budget, kind of roots better in either the choice for the solution to something and to be able to sell more speakers in larger pools of consumers.
 
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Until late 1970s everybody used twin flex mains cable for their speakers, or ‘bell wire’ if they were cheap ! There were only ever two terminals, often fiddly screws, or simple sockets.

QED were among the first to offer special speaker wire with 79 Strand. Then there was Monitor Audio who imported Polk Cobra, a litz design in bright green and copper. Still two terminals.

I‘m guessing bi-wire terminals became popular in the 1980s, and both Linn and Naim offered multi box amplifiers with external crossovers. Around the same time the terminals became more useable with scope for banana plugs, bare wire or spades. Bi-wire terminals looked flashier and implied great quality was achievable. Wags said it meant Buy Wire, and was led by the cable industry. I think that’s worth bearing in mind!

Nowadays it’s still common, though less so, and several traditional speaker makers will tell you privately they don’t really believe in it but offer the facility because some markets, notably Asia, demand it.

QED have a couple of papers on their website that explain how you might benefit from bi-wiring.

I’ve never tried bi-amping at home, but am nowadays in the camp that I’d rather have one decent amp rather than two lesser models. Power is cheap these days too, whereas in 1975 25 watts per channel was massive. Nowadays that’s budget entry level.

All imo and from memory. Happy to be corrected!
 
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iMark

Well-known member
I remember the days that here in NL nobody used anything else but DIN plugs for speaker connections. If you needed a longer cable you just got en extension cable with two plugs. Nobody gave the quality of the actual cable a second thought.
 
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Tinman1952

Well-known member
Yes bi-amping and bi-wiring are a confused and often controversial topic. Many speaker manufacturers say bi-wiring is unnecessary and it’s better to buy one good quality speaker cable. I have tried both when I bought my Monitor Audio Silver speakers many years ago.
Bi wiring didn’t really change anything to me. Bi-amping (treble and bass separately) initially sounded clearer and I thought wow! Then I realised the sound was more ‘ just bass and treble ‘ and I had lost some of the midrange. A bit like a ‘loudness button‘ at max.
Went back to single wired and the sound was much more cohesive for me.
The only bi-amping I would consider now is with left and right monoblocks…if only I could afford it!
 
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Yes bi-amping and bi-wiring are a confused and often controversial topic. Many speaker manufacturers say bi-wiring is unnecessary and it’s better to buy one good quality speaker cable. I have tried both when I bought my Monitor Audio Silver speakers many years ago.
Bi wiring didn’t really change anything to me. Bi-amping (treble and bass separately) initially sounded clearer and I thought wow! Then I realised the sound was more ‘ just bass and treble ‘ and I had lost some of the midrange. A bit like a ‘loudness button‘ at max.
Went back to single wired and the sound was much more cohesive for me.
The only bi-amping I would consider now is with left and right monoblocks…if only I could afford it!
It's cheaper than using an integrated and a separate stereo power amp which some do and I have never understand why.....
 
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AJM1981

Well-known member
Yes bi-amping and bi-wiring are a confused and often controversial topic. Many speaker manufacturers say bi-wiring is unnecessary and it’s better to buy one good quality speaker cable. I have tried both when I bought my Monitor Audio Silver speakers many years ago.
Bi wiring didn’t really change anything to me. Bi-amping (treble and bass separately) initially sounded clearer and I thought wow! Then I realised the sound was more ‘ just bass and treble ‘ and I had lost some of the midrange. A bit like a ‘loudness button‘ at max.
Went back to single wired and the sound was much more cohesive for me.
The only bi-amping I would consider now is with left and right monoblocks…if only I could afford it!

That whole 'just bass and treble' thing is the sugar coating to the most popular average consumer gear.

Little thing to it is that it also makes a system in a noisy shop more clear than a system that is balanced. So the one with the boost will win the average presentation to consumer's preference test in a noisy shop.
 
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Tinman1952

Well-known member
That whole 'just bass and treble' thing is the sugar coating to the most popular average consumer gear.

Little thing to it is that it also makes a system in a noisy shop more clear than a system that is balanced. So the one with the boost will win the average presentation to consumer's preference test in a noisy shop.
Agreed. A bit like those TV settings that burn out your retina after a few minutes…..😂
 
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gasolin

Well-known member
Like bi amped studiomonitors = to add power but also to get the perfect sound if you do have the patience to look for amps for the highs and amps for the lows, instead of just using the same amps for the highs and low when you want to add power and control
 

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