Single wiring of bi-wired speakers?

[adamopolis]

I have recently bought a pair of Monitor Audio BX2s and have not been blown away by the sound quality. However I recently realised that these speakers are intended to be bi-wired (4 ports on the back) and I have only connected two of these ports (to the woofers). Does this mean that if I now connect the other two ports (presumably to the tweeters) a whole new work of audio listening glory will open up before me?

I am new to this hi-fi business and had never heard of biwiring until a few days ago. I would just test this but am not at home for another week and am very curious to find out just how stupid I have been

 

[ellisdj]

If there is nothing linking the 2 sets of binding post together then yes you have them wired wrong.

Speakers normally come with a filthy bit of metal between the 2 sets of posts creating the link. I find its better to have the exact same wire in between the 2 as you are using as speaker wire.

If the speakers do not have anything there and you have bought them used you can use some mains cable, you must have an old extension socket cable or something lying around and cut that down and use it for now - you can get some proper speaker wire in thete after if you feel the need.

If you bought them new then they should have a bit of metal in there - you can try changing that out for some proper speaker wire

I would also advise actually trying them wired the other way - wire into the tweeter and then link down to the woofer - i find my MA speakers sound much better that way

All these ways will make a big difference over nothing being there

 

[gasolin]

Whathifi's opinion on bi-wiring them

Bi-wiring is another matter: we found that although the soundstage was a touch more open, it also became disorganized and the speakers lost confidence and precision. We preferred the single-wired listening experience.

http://www.whathifi.com/review/monitor-audio-bronze-bx2

 

[adamopolis]

But with my current setup (only one set of binding posts connected) am I only sending a signal to one of the drivers in each speaker?? (i think it is the woofers)

If that is the case, then surely bi-wiring will give an immediate improvement as the tweeters will kick in and the sound will be played as it was recorded using both the tweeter and the woofer?

Or does bi-wiring imply having 4 binding posts on the amp for each speaker? so that each speaker driver has its own physical cable connection to the amp, rather than just extending the speaker wire connection from one driver binding post to the other?

Many thanks!

 

[The_Lhc]

But with my current setup (only one set of binding posts connected) am I only sending a signal to one of the drivers in each speaker?? (i think it is the woofers)

If there is nothing connecting the two pairs of binding posts on the speakers then yes, that's what you're doing.

If that is the case, then surely bi-wiring will give an immediate improvement as the tweeters will kick in and the sound will be played as it was recorded using both the tweeter and the woofer... rather than just extending the speaker wire connection from one driver binding post to the other?

Logically that's the same thing.

Or does bi-wiring imply having 4 binding posts on the amp for each speaker? so that each speaker driver has its own physical cable connection to the amp

That would be bi-wiring if the binding posts on the amp go to the same amplifier stage, if they go to different amplifier stages then it would be bi-amping. Typically bi-wiring involves two cables coming from each amp binding post which go separately to the speaker binding posts (ie 2 to 4).

In electrical terms though you achieve the same thing by just joining the speaker posts together. It's also the quickest way for you to confirm that that's actually what your problem is.

 

[Joshuamessenger]

You should use the flat gold bits of metal you get when you buy them this connects the tweeters to the woofer. Screw down the binding posts on flat gold metal bit so it creates aconnection. I plug the red wire to the tweeters and plug the black wire to the woofer giveing the speaker power and a even flow of current. Would post a pic but on the iPad sorry

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Google ma bx2 images. Rear view clearly shows the metal links between woofee and tweeter. If u dont have these links then use cable to link red to red and black to black.

 

[Singslinger]

The benefits of biwiring are debatable, such that some speaker makers now attach only single-wired terminals. When Spendor released its SA-1 for example, the designer said he rather buyers spend their money on one run of very good cable than two runs of average cable.

If however, your speakers have biwirable terminals, then I'd say it's worth experimenting to see if you can hear a difference and if yes, whether you like what you hear.

 

[Al ears]

As previously stated check you have the connecting plates / rods between the two sets of terminals. If you don't then get some or simply use a single bit of speaker cable to create a connection.

I have not heard any significant difference when bi-wiring any of the speakers I have owned so my present ones are single wired.

Bi-amping, however, is a whole new ballgame!

 

[Anonymous]

I don't want to be rude but you should really be able to tell if the tweaters are not connected at all, if not you probably don't need speakers for £250.

Speaking of which, there is a lot of controversy around bi-wiring but I can't find (google) any ABX testing results, have you at whatwifi tried scientifically testing for this?

 

[davedotco]

I don't want to be rude but you should really be able to tell if the tweaters are not connected at all, if not you probably don't need speakers for £250.

Speaking of which, there is a lot of controversy around bi-wiring but I can't find (google) any ABX testing results, have you at whatwifi tried scientifically testing for this?

I think whatwifi have a far greater chance of doing any "scientific testing" than Whathifi........ :rofl:

 

[The_Lhc]

I don't want to be rude but you should really be able to tell if the tweaters are not connected at all, if not you probably don't need speakers for £250.

I don't mean to be rude either (shut it you lot...) but you should really be able to tell when a thread is A YEAR OLD and nobody cares any more...

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Need happy birthday threads please.

 

[jonathanRD]

I don't want to be rude but you should really be able to tell if the tweaters are not connected at all, if not you probably don't need speakers for £250.

I don't mean to be rude either (shut it you lot...) but you should really be able to tell when a thread is A YEAR OLD and nobody cares any more...

It would be nice if OP's posted at the end of their own threads so they are not left open-ended - or am I asking too much?