Glenn Richards wrote:
Serge Auckland wrote:

Are you seriously trying to tell us that tri or bi-wiring makes (or
even can make) a difference? Have you done the sums to see what
effect bi or tri wiring makes?

I've done several comparisons, using one then two runs of identical
cable (originally tested it with Gale XL-105). When I switched to
bi-wiring the sound was clearer, switching back to single wiring made it
sound muddy.

Interestingly a few years back I went with a friend to dem some new
speakers at Richer Sounds, the guy who'd wired the system up had
bi-wired them but hadn't taken the bridging straps off (so the speakers
were in fact single-wired) [1]. After commenting that I thought the
sound was "a bit muddy" I had a quick look behind the speakers and
noticed this. I didn't tell my friend the way it was set up, just said
to him "pause the CD for a moment", removed the straps (making sure he
couldn't see what I was doing!) and said "ok, carry on".

His reaction was something along the lines of "bloody hell, that sounds
way better, what did you do?" I showed him the bridging straps that I'd
removed...

More recently I did some tests using my own setup, single-wiring using
two of the four cores of Chord Rumour 4, then bi-wiring, then bi-amping.
Could hear a significant difference in clarity between single and
bi-wired, but couldn't hear any difference between bi-wired and bi-amped
[2]. So the cables were identical on both tests, just with bi-wiring two
runs of the same type of cable (or in this case a 4-core bi-wire cable)
were in use.

"Doing the maths" only tells half the story. A few years back at the
Bristol Sound & Vision show I heard a classic example of this, how a
particular manufacturer (TAG McLaren if memory serves correctly) had
done all these calculations to make sure this CD player, amplifier and
speaker combo was "the best in the world". The guy then put on a CD.

It sounded horrible.

Thinking it was just a badly mastered CD, I got him to play one of the
test CDs I'd brought with me.

It still sounded horrible.

So much for the maths...

[1] I didn't realise the speakers were single-wired when I commented
that it sounded a bit muddy. Just to avoid any confusion,
misinterpretation etc that usually happens on here.

[2] Bi-amping implies bi-wiring, just to state the bleeding obvious - as
someone previously asked how I managed to bi-amp without bi-wiring... duh!

You've obviously convinced yourself that it makes a difference. I've
never managed to hear any myself, and when I do the sums, I'm not a bit
surprised. By the way, if you are indeed sure it does make a difference,
have you tried to analyse why and how? What mechanism can be acting to
make the sound better (or even different)?

S.