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Bi-Wire: shotgun style

— By Paul McGowan —
No, we're not going to a hillbilly wedding, shotguns and all. But, let's chat about more bi-wiring options. I had mentioned yesterday that bi-wiring is the practice of splitting the power amplifier's output into two separate feeds, on two separate speaker cables: one to the tweeter, the other to the woofer. We do this to take full advantage of wire's capabilities. Some speaker cables have better high frequency performance, while others optimize bass. Most bi-wire setups I have seen were hand-chosen favorites by inventive people. Some cable companies, however, produce their own varieties of bi-wire cables; often called shotgun style because of the double barrel. Here's a picture of some Acoustic Zen Shotguns as an example. 720920-acoustic_zen_double_barrel_shotgun_cables_25m_with_spades Note the double barrel construction, and, note the one end has a single amp termination, while the other end has the split terminations. This is certainly one way to do it. However, there is a better way. Most power amplifiers have dual sets of binding posts, and for this very reason. Take a look at the rear panel of the PS Audio BHK power amp as an example. Back-straight Note the dual sets of binding posts. This permits you to make your own bi-wire configuration.

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