bingk6 Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Hi all, I have just purchased a set of speakers which are capable of being bi-wired. They are the steinman HS102. Details can be found here http://www.bigshop.com.au/cgi-bin/category...m=AUS-STE-HS102 The question I have is what speaker impedance I should set at the amplifier end for connecting the amp to these 2 front speakers. The amp that I have allows the user to nominate the front speaker impedance, presumably so that it can control the current flowing to the speakers. The info that I have been extracted from the internet is ambigious at best. If I bi-wire these speakers, I will run two lengths of speaker wire from the amp to each speaker. The HF and LF connectors at the speaker end will each receive a speaker wire each and on the amp side, I will bundle the two speaker wires together and attach to the speaker attachment on the amp. As far as the wiring side of things are concerned, I don't think that I have too many problems. However, what I like to know is that as I am in effect "paralleling" the two crossovers in the speakers, will the speaker impedance now be 4ohm, or still the original 8 ohm if I did not biwire the speaker. In other words, does bi-wiring the speaker change the overall speaker impedance as seen by the amp ? Is this why in the product details link above, the specs specify 4ohm/8ohm, meaning that if the speaker is biwired, it is 4ohm and if not biwired, it is 8 ohm ?? I like to obtain this info so that I can correctly set the speaker impedance setting on the amp so that I do not fry my amp. Any help would be appreciated.
aztec Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 I don't believe it will change the impedance. However, you are probably wasting your time anyway as the benefits of biwiring from one amp are insignificant at best. You may get some beneift out of bi-amping. You would be better off saving money on the dual runs of cable and just use links on the back of the speakers. Speaker placement and room conditioning will give you far more sonic benefits.
quijibo Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Knowing the pedigree of speakers that these are often sold with, I would actually check if they are really bi-wired and don't just have dual binding posts for show. Even so, why are you bothering to bi-wire low end speakers? You won't get any advantage unless that subwoofer in the bottom is seperately wired and you might have better bass control which from the review I just read you probably need.
bingk6 Posted March 28, 2007 Author Posted March 28, 2007 Knowing the pedigree of speakers that these are often sold with, I would actually check if they are really bi-wired and don't just have dual binding posts for show. Wow! that would be really bad news if that were the case! Come on down Ribena Even so, why are you bothering to bi-wire low end speakers? You won't get any advantage unless that subwoofer in the bottom is seperately wired and you might have better bass control which from the review I just read you probably need. There appears to be a lot of opinion that the benefits of bi-wiring is questionable at best. If I were to ignore the biwiring then just leave the amp setting for the speakers to 8ohm ??
Gutty Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 I really don't see the point in bi-wiring when not bi-amping. Aside from the fact that you get to spend twice as much on speaker wire.... I'd simply do as Aztec has reccomended
aztec Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 There appears to be a lot of opinion that the benefits of bi-wiring is questionable at best. If I were to ignore the biwiring then just leave the amp setting for the speakers to 8ohm ?? Probably won't make any difference. You'll see from the specs that the impedance varies from 4 to 8 anyway. I'd leave it set to 8.
???? Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Bi-wiring supporters are ignorant. I'm not saying that you are - just that you should not bother... I don't care what your **** costs. Hope it sounds nice btw
kodaz Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Hi, the impeadance will vary throughout the frequency range of the speaker so it could very well be between 4-8 ohms. If your amp is like most amps it will produce more power with the 8 ohm setting and will be power limited on the 4 ohm setting to reduce thermal shutdown. As to bi-wiring I am strongly in the "it does nothing" camp but suggest you try it out to see if YOU think it makes a difference. If you can hear an improvement, real or imagined, that improvement is all that matters.
Recommended Posts