BI-WIRING, BI-AMPING & ACTIVE BI-AMPING

#audio #audiophile #hifi
Hello Tribe ! Here is an explanation on the distinction between these types of hookup for your speakers.

[@EnemyofCredulity]

Thank you. I think you are the first person to explain how to set those styles up, instead of just explaining what the effects are.

[@BoredSilly666]

Another Cool video Mikey, I knew this but still a great explanation for the folk that dont know. I currently have a Bi amp set up using two amps and have tried them in Horizontal and Vertical configurations. I have never tried active Bi-amping. More Power Captain lol

[@FOH3663]

- The last thing an amp needs is a reactive filter in front of the driver. - Unless it's purely resistive, a driver has it's own reactance ... introducing another reactive element (x-over), compounds the issue. Active reigns supreme ... as long as gain structure is optimized. Forced to go passive, ... then it's vital it's executed well, ie., fast, no smear... absent magnetic interactions, just a well crafted whole. If multi-amping via dsp, the caveat is the minefield of digital conversion. It's either adequately transparent, or not. Not just the D-to-A, but the input side must not step on the signal. DSP at the highest level can offer everything. Also, it's worth noting ... bi-wiring is loudspeaker dependent. Nice milieu

[@damayor62]

Thank you!!! You have explained bi-wiring more logically than I was ever able to. Personally I heard increased sound stage depth, width & height immediately with bi-wiring. I'm going to share this video with all my friends who have dual binding posts on their speakers. You have a new subscriber.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Glad it helped! Thanks !

[@shelly6482]

BI-WIRING makes a difference first heard it playing with a pair of Kef Q300 speakers. But some people say its just another pair of cables to pick up more EMI. But you can tune the highs and lows with different cables which is cool. So yeah still doing BI-WIRING and its not a scam to make you BUY more wire hehe.

[@TriAmpHiFi]

Aaahh, sweet validation. 🔈🔉🔊

[@3dfx243]

right on. your 4 amp, active crossover (4 way) setup parallels the B&W nautilus setup.. yes the speakers that look like they came from the movie aliens. 😀

[@MisterChibs]

Thanks for this video! My Cornwall 4’s have 4 binding posts per speaker and when I contacted Klipsch, they told me to plug my speaker cables into the bottom set of each speaker. 😮 Subscribing 🍻

[@jimbreakall9331]

Hi Mikey Brother. You should have stopped in Monterey/Carmel on your way south, my old stomping grounds !!!! I have been biamping and triamping since the 1970s and you are correct about this being the best way to go. As you well know, the ear/brain system is very sensitive to intermodulation distortion (IMD) (mixing of different frequencies creating new frequencies not in the original music). Separating the frequency ranges before the amps with an active crossover reduces IMD tremendously. I like you use monoblocks on each speaker (6 total for triamping). Biamping is way better especially with an active crossover than just doing bi-wiring. Hey, enjoy the travels and the food. Buen Provecho !!!!

[@bradrose6323]

Wow finally an explanation that the average person can understand instead of someone trying to prove how knowledgeable they are by confusing everyone

[@dragocelander6671]

Great explanation in another great video, Mikey!

[@lionblack6023]

Nice one Mikey. Always informative.

[@zackw4941]

My uncle used to mess around with DIY omnidirectional speakers and active crossovers. His system is still the most impressive thing I've ever heard. And I own pretty ok stuff.

[@06sxt]

I have been running fully active x overs for years in car systems! Always wondered why it isnt more of a thing with home systems. I use sub, low , mid and high in my vehicle. Have crossover, level and phase for every driver and 30 bands of eq each side. Far superior to passive BS!

[@jasonw512]

Great video, Mike. 👍

[@glenncurry3041]

One point of correction. Mids and tweeters produce a counter EMF as well. Connect one to a mic input and talk to it! Coils moving in a magnetic field. But yes it is best to provide a separate path because the woofer's CEMF is much stronger.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Mid and tweet back EMF are so negligible, we don't even address it in HiFi...

[@glenncurry3041]

@@OCDHIFiGuy There is a big difference between "so negligible", yes significantly lower in voltage, and not being interlegible. You will find the better amp companies will rate the Damping Factor across the bandwidth for that reason. The standard is only @ 100Hz. And it easily explains some of the very audible difference between wire types at higher frequencies.

[@GavinHodgson]

Good tips Mikey

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Thanks 👍

[@billfarrell4387]

Hi Mikey I can see you have a California vibe going you seem so calm lol Great video, while I do have my biwiring correct, I did learn a little more on the reasoning, you can never have to much knowledge Take Care

[@akhtarizod5802]

It's very hard and tricky to control natural response curve of a drivers with active crossover , passive crossover use notch filters to compensate frequency humps to achieve flat response.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Yes, its true !

[@petekutheis3822]

Mikey, thanks for this; it seems a response to the message I sent to you at your consulting contact address. This video, as well as the ones that went over your customized XM44, and the Sublime unit you sell, along with several emails I exchanged with Phil Marchand have convinced me it will be ok to take the plunge without having to necessarily dismantle the speakers' built-in crossover. So, I do have a 3-way XM44 on the way.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Great !

[@johnnorris7289]

Your comments about bi-amping are right on - if a bit extreme. But the thing that all bi-wirers miss is that whether the woofers and tweeters are tied together at the back of the speaker or at the amp, they are still tied together and both scenarios are the same electrically. Also, the whole back EMF thing feeding back to the tweeter is nonsense because of the series capacitors in the crossover. Bi-wiring is just a way to entice naive audiophiles to spend twice as much on expensive speaker wires.

[@linandy1]

Its really called BUY wire 😉

[@PlatypusPerspective]

"both scenarios are the same electrically" - this is often said both by commenters and content creators, however in reality it's not so. It's one of those things that gets taken as a "fact" simply because it keeps being stated as a given, and the majority of people (even well qualified ones) don't think carefully about it. A proper circuit analysis is not hard to do, and reveals that the two configurations have significant differences in the way they function passing signals at different frequencies. The current paths are quite different - they are largely separated so potential for less intermodulation. The crossover networks are better separated (less interaction) by the amplifier's low output impedance appearing at the center of two long wires connecting the crossovers together, rather than the crossovers being directly connected to one another at the speaker. Again, the current paths and the position of the amplifier damping impedance in relation to the reactive components are different between the two scenarios. Merely looking at a wiring diagram or even DC measuring with a meter doesn't make these differences apparent.

[@johnnorris7289]

@@PlatypusPerspective That is the same kind of pseudo-scientific nonsensical word salad that I would expect from a hawker selling multi-kilobuck speaker wire. Whether the connection is made at the speaker or at the amp, it is still electrically the same point. Back EMF from the woofer will still be felt by the tweeter, and intermodulation will still exist between drivers, to exactly the same extent either way. You'd have to be inordinately gullible to think there is a difference.

[@PlatypusPerspective]

@@johnnorris7289 Amusingly, it's often the ones opposing bi-wiring who propose the high cost alternatives - bi-amping, or magic money wire with the four expensive interconnecting loops to take the place of the janky links under the binding posts. Anyone who would like to try out bi-wiring for themselves has only to find some reasonable cable, even if it's lamp flex, run the extra connections and do lots of low-cost listening and comparison to see if they can detect any audible difference. Bi-amping is the only one of the three that can completely isolate the LF and HF driver/crossover circuits. However the science of it is that the behavior of a circuit is determined by the laws of physics, whether or not we like how it turns out. And it turns out that a bi-wire configuration does provide a bit more attenuation between the sections on the signal input side. And when bi-wiring, on the negative return side neither section is aware of the other's existence (star earthing), whereas with a single wire return, since both return currents travel in the same wire (common earth path), both sections see a small component of the other section's signal. Since this is one of the possible paths of electrical interaction between the LF and HF sections and the effect exists in single-wiring but not in bi-wiring, we have no option but to recognize that there is a difference. In fact it's one of the fundamentals of circuit design not to fall into thinking that whether you connect to one end or the other of a circuit path it's still electrically the same point. The engineer who trained me in electronics witnessed a hugely expensive mistake in the development of an early electronic targeting system from this cause, when someone non-technical in authority, without consulting engineering and without understanding that changing points of attachment altered current paths and changed the way circuits worked, sent a module design to be converted and manufactured as Thick Film Units instead of the very carefully developed and trace mapped conventional circuit boards. The TFUs simply didn't work. Fortunately between single-wiring a speaker and bi-wiring it, only a few small changes occur, which may or may not make an audible difference, but it would still be a mistake to say there is no difference in the circuit when there are differences, or to say nothing changes when something does.

[@andreas7278]

Would you mind doing a video about your private 4 way active crossover biamping setup, i.e. why you chose to do it that specific way and which biamping setups you generally consider to be good and why? That would surely be one hell of a video.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

4 way active crossover = Quad Amp not Biamp which would be a 2 way active crossover. I did it to seek the best possible sonic, regardless. I found it. But it's not easily repeatable, and it only teases people coming to buy.

[@andreas7278]

@@OCDHIFiGuy My bad for using biamping in this case, it is quad amping of course. These NAT monoblocks just gave me the idea of maybe getting them with an active crossover for bass in conjunction with my parallel set monos which only run in biwiring right now. I have seen and heard those at shows but was not aware that they drive 2 ohms easily.

[@meticulous_al]

Nice job!

[@andrewrees8749]

I've biamped my Arcam system, with a Rotel power amp, never quite happy with it though, I'm sure there is room for improvement ,

[@AllboroLCD]

I wanna safely assume when its a dinky bookshelf unit with dual posts, theyre encouraging bi-wiring, and when your talkin large towers, theyre suggesting that bi-amping will draw the max performance.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

makes sense to me....

[@chebrubin]

The monster McIntosh amps have tri-wire binding posts to complete their speaker arrays. Would you use them?

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

If I had those amps which I dont really like I would absolutely tri wire if the speakers could ..

[@privateuser7726]

What about B & W 800D3 speakers? , the 4 binding posts are all in one row with little jumpers, which are the highs & the lows? I just got them , going to Bi Amp them after I figure out a permanent solution to keep my toy poodles from chewing the speaker cables off when I'm out.

[@FOH3663]

Use a battery to pulse the driver ... you'll immediately know which is which.

[@peterjameswalmsley9185]

You mentioned at the end of your video "if you have four outputs on the amp use them for bi-wiring" but I have concerns. - My amplifier says "A or B 4-16 ohms A & B 8-16 ohms" I'm worried about damaging my speakers which say "4-8 ohms" Is this safe??

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Great distinction... This can be confusing. These are 2 SEPERATE dual outputs. NOT COMBINED dual outputs to facilitate bi amping. you only want to use the 4-16 OHM taps on the speakers..

[@brikaf6001]

keep checking in brother

[@derekviveiros]

So I tried this on my vintage Yamaha ca-1010 with my wharfdale 80th anniversary's. I used to have usher be718 and primaluna tube amp and did this then and it really helped. Totally forgot about it on this smaller set up. GREAT TIP on the highs being on top dual post when not biamping. Question 1: I was kind of surprised when shifting from speaker A and B on the amp. I thought the highs and lows would be more separated. What does that speak to? The crossover? (after watching the last part of the video, I think this is what you're addressing in having an active crossover) Question 2: How does it work when we combine the wire on the amp side? It's amazing how putting them together (A+B) makes these two odd sounds all come together.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Im sorry, Ive got no idea what speaker A and B is. Do you mean dual zone like on a receiver ? if so, No Se Amigo... You should most likely NOT combine those.. you twist the wire together for ONE PAIR of binding posts ONLY. Im talking about high end amplifiers that have 4 right and 4 Left outputs on the power amp...all on the same circuit however (Not speaker A and B)

[@derekviveiros]

@@OCDHIFiGuy Ok, update: I did not combine any wires on the 4 channel Yamaha. So speaker A from the yamaha went to highs on the speaker, Speaker B went to lows. Is this the correct application of bi amping? This is the A+B setting under "Speakers" on the Yamaha. Please confirm, I dont' wanna eff up my system lol

[@andrewboettcher9853]

You sound a bit under the weather. Get well bro!

[@202One]

High-Low.. 🤔🏝

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Whaaaaaa?

[@202One]

@@OCDHIFiGuy Bi amping & enjoy the Sunshine..

[@davethestalker]

And then, there are multichannel systems with 6 height speakers.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

That's Home Theater.... ;-)

[@bubblehead5394]

IDK Man. I'm picking up what you're putting down. But to me, it sounds like subjective B.S. Nevertheless, I'll still give it try because I don't know everything.......yet. 😉

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Trying things to decide for yourself is always the best method. !

[@mikegoddard7354]

what's a quality active crossover for the poor audiophile? :D

[@dajikbatarang1]

Sublime acoustic makes one that’s supposed to be good.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Sublime Acoustic.

[@mikegoddard7354]

@@OCDHIFiGuy is there any benefit if the speaker already has an internal crossover? I believe you did mention that, just double checking

[@bobinobobinet5533]

il en a fumer du bon lui

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Allumez-le en feu

[@freeradical6390]

Cool vid audiophiles always wanted to see..... Electron Microscope slow motion video of vinyl LP by Applied Science on utube includes other formats too

[@j.m.harris4202]

I will leave Passive Crossovers to Danny! Learning now about Active Crossovers! Watched some of your older Presentations! They are very Edifying, Especially about your Active Setup! Mikey, you are way Ahead of the Curve Bro! Be Careful Rocking with your ¿☆€~ out in the Hotel California! 🏨