Bi-wire...another one

[franvn]

I have read most of the threads on bi-wiring and have this question:
I have a set of oldish 4-way towers [1" High, 2 x 6.5" & 8" woofer]
If I replace the existing 3-way (2 x 6.5" connected together on mid on existing) crossover with a 3-way and seperate low pass and put in a set of bi-wiring terminals, what will the result be compared to existing? I.e. will the 3-way with High, Mid & Bass + Low pass bi-wired give the same result as the 4-way crossover, or must I discard one 6.5" and make High and Mid + Low pass.
I want to run them off my NAD C272 A+B terminals.

[markw]

A speaker system, when initially concieved and designed, takes three major things into consideration and they must all be "in balance" with each other for it to work properly.

They are the drivers (efficiency, range, etc...) , the enclosure (size, dimensions, port, etc...) and the crossover (points, slopes, etc...) and the design of all three are a balancing act with each dependent on the other items. No one item can be changes without affecting the other two, and rarely in a good way.

When these work in concert with each other, you get the best bang for the buck you can get.

Now, you want to go ahead and kerfutz with the crossover big time and perhaps even jettison one of the speakers. You'll most probably get drastic changes to the sound, but whether it's an improvement is greatly debatable.

As far as bi wiring goes, even with speakers that were designed to be bi-wired (or at least have the requisite jumpers bttween two sets of binding posts), the effects of bi-wiring are hotly debated. The results vary anywhere from degrading to sound, no change and a world of difference. It all depends on the speaker andthe person doing the evaluation.

Personally, I don't think the results will be worth the time, effort and money you're investing into this project and feel you'll be disappointed with the results, but others may have different ideas.

[Jimmy C]

I have read most of the threads on bi-wiring and have this question:
I have a set of oldish 4-way towers [1" High, 2 x 6.5" & 8" woofer]
If I replace the existing 3-way (2 x 6.5" connected together on mid on existing) crossover with a 3-way and seperate low pass and put in a set of bi-wiring terminals, what will the result be compared to existing? I.e. will the 3-way with High, Mid & Bass + Low pass bi-wired give the same result as the 4-way crossover, or must I discard one 6.5" and make High and Mid + Low pass.
I want to run them off my NAD C272 A+B terminals.

...the "A" and "B" terminals are not to be used simutaniously. They're for driving two pairs of speakers, in different rooms, one pair at a time. And, you don't need two sets of terminals on the amp end to realize bi-wiring benefits, if any at all.

I would DEFINITELY leave the speakers alone.

[franvn]

JimmyC,

On the A+B speaker issue, the NAD C272 is a power amp which does not have an A or B speaker selection. This is quoted from their web site:

“Equipped with two sets of loudspeaker binding posts, adding a second pair of speakers becomes easy. The second set of binding posts will also facilitate “bi-wiring” speakers”

“PowerDrive is a practical approach to enable an amplifier to easily deal with musical dynamics and difficult speaker loads. More meaningful in the real world are the C 272’s dynamic capabilities; up to 450 watts into 2 ohms and up to 70 amps current capability into 1 ohm!”

Cheers.

[piece-it pete]

franvn,

Nice NAD! :)

It's fun, if it floats your boat why not, you can always put it back the way it was, which is good 'cause in my experience these guys are right. But it IS fun, and who knows? You might get lucky. And if you are a tinkerer you're going to tinker anyway.

You could also closely examine the existing crossover, there is a good chance you can split the existing setup for biwiring fairly easily for a low and mid/high bi setup. I've done it a couple of times for biamping. Then no worries over changing the factory sound.

But again, hey, what's the harm? The worst (and probably unlikely imo) scenario is you blow something up. Try your changes out on a crappy amp 1st. And you wanted new speakers anyway (right? :D ).

Good luck!

Pete

[Jimmy C]

JimmyC,

On the A+B speaker issue, the NAD C272 is a power amp which does not have an A or B speaker selection. This is quoted from their web site:

“Equipped with two sets of loudspeaker binding posts, adding a second pair of speakers becomes easy. The second set of binding posts will also facilitate “bi-wiring” speakers”

“PowerDrive is a practical approach to enable an amplifier to easily deal with musical dynamics and difficult speaker loads. More meaningful in the real world are the C 272’s dynamic capabilities; up to 450 watts into 2 ohms and up to 70 amps current capability into 1 ohm!”

Cheers.

As a matter of fact, I WAS going to make sure that that wasn't a possibility... the fact that were labeled "A" and "B" led me to believe that it was the usual scenario - either, or. A friend of mine just bought the 380 WPC Rotel which includes the same facilities you are talking about.

I would still leave the speakers alone ;*)

Sorry, my "bad"!