Speaker cable question for Krell 700cx to Revel Perfomabe 328be -Kimber 12TC / Carbon 16

[solderdude]

I would love to save 50% by not be wiring but if Revel and Krell both have four speaker terminals I tend to believe it make s sonic difference call me stupid and is saves $500 or half of the 2nd pair of 12TC so wtheck

In that case I say bi-wire with the cables you can afford and believe in.
I am not calling you stupid but rather 'misguided' by incorrect information about bi-wiring and your belief.
This cable thing will 'enhance' the sound quality for you in a guaranteed way.

Not for technical reasons but because you believe and it appears you just came here to get validation of your choice.
Now you have that validation... (feel free to disregard all the correct info you have been given sofar).

I'm sure you won't mind if I don't bi-wire nor use expensive cables... simply because I too believe in whatever I believe.

 

[Redacted]

I love the sound of wallets being opened, simply from a bit of marketing hype from fairy dust sellers.
I'm going to tri-wire my speakers for a huge improvement.

It may be the case that some speakers have 4 terminals because the internal crossovers are wired so that you can drive treble & bass speakers from separate amps but that's bi-amping and has been covered a million times. Other speakers I have checked simply connect 'bi-wires' from the terminals together at the crossover. Bear in mind that the materials and production costs of 4 terminals (instead of 2) is vanishingly small compared with the costs of the speaker as a whole, especially with more expensive speaker.

 

[Ruediger]

I have watched Audioholics YouTube on snake oil when it comes to speaker cables. I am contemplating ordering Kimber 12TC or Carbon 16 bi wire two separate cables vs their Bi wire with one cable and somehow ending up with two low and two high ends. Not sure if it is necessary to use two separate cables to bi wire or use the cheaper bi wire set up they offer. If I go with my gut even though the Krell 700cx is a monster and the very well thought of 328be speakers full standing full range speakers do I even need Carbon 16 or stick with Kimber12TC even Kimber 8TC should suffice if you do not fall for the smoke and mirrors from Audioquest and others. I want to get these ordered so looking for knowledgeable advice. Thanks, Terry

My advice is to spend a fraction of that cable budget on a roll of good speaker cable. 2.5mm or 4mm from a resonable brand (recommendations in this thread). Then get good bananas, which cost <$10 for 4 pieces incl. isolation material. And some little cable end hulls for the chosen cable diameter. Making your own speaker cables is rather easy. No soldering required. And they can be good looking too, to some extent.

The only thing these cable products have going for them is the looks in my opinion. And here especially the outer hull/bundling and some extra fasteners. All this could be done DIY too, but is not needed technically. A matter of taste.

I think the technical side has been explained enough already. It is almost non-existent, unless diameter vs. length is bad, connectors are improperly mounted or there is a bad match with terminals.

So when looking at these fancy cables, the real question is: is the extra work they put in worth the price? Some cable products are not far off, but many are just wildly overpriced.

Last but not least there are shops that do cables per order. Like 2 x 2.5mm quality cable with good bananas ready to use is like $50 here. Many configurations available.

Whenever cables reach the cost of a speaker, an amp or such, I can only say: stop, something is off.

My 2 cents

 

[Mnyb]

I love the sound of wallets being opened, simply from a bit of marketing hype from fairy dust sellers.
I'm going to tri-wire my speakers for a huge improvement.

It may be the case that some speakers have 4 terminals because the internal crossovers are wired so that you can drive treble & bass speakers from separate amps but that's bi-amping and has been covered a million times. Other speakers I have checked simply connect 'bi-wires' from the terminals together at the crossover. Bear in mind that the materials and production costs of 4 terminals (instead of 2) is vanishingly small compared with the costs of the speaker as a whole, especially with more expensive speaker.

I tend to think its mostly marketing kudos to speaker mfg that removes the biwire terminals ! it also make series filters imposible . Bi amping with the passive filters still there is really piontless .
If the crossover was outside the box and the dual ( or more ) terminals where there for active biamping with an active crossover , that would be a feature .

But audiophilia is so entrenched in nonsense that as a speaker mfg your marketting dep can demand biwire terminals to increase sales

Moving you head a millimeter or two changes the sound more than a speaker wire .

 

[Ruediger]

In my opinion many speaker makers offer bi-wiring / bi-amping terminals on so many models simply because they must. They know it's usually not needed and the cases where the user can profit from them are very rare.

But marketing has achieved that these terminals are expected / a standard. Even bookshelves of a certain level come with bi-terminals nowadays.

OTOH the terminal bracket is a mass product. The extra cost of doing it this or that way is tiny. Marketing could do more damage in other areas.

 

[voodooless]

Then get good bananas, which cost <$10 for 4 pieces incl. isolation material.

Note that the amp only takes spades, nothing else.

 

[Ruediger]

Note that the amp only takes spades, nothing else.
View attachment 538084

Spades might be a little more expensive, but are also simple parts to buy with a lot of design choices.

First nice thing I am seeing is double-screw ViaBlue's for 15 a pair. Even better Dynavox Rhodium, really good looking for 18 a pair.

But this is subjective. Bananas or spades, wouldn't change my approach.

 

[Redacted]

Bi amping with the passive filters still there is really piontless .

Not necessarily. If the terminals are arranged so that one pair only connects to the filter for the treble driver and the other pair to bass filter, then bi-amping can be used. Some speakers allow this.

I make no comment on whether this is worth it from an audio quality perspective, but it is an opportunity to spend more money than necessary, which is the main thing for audiophiles!

As for moving your head a bit or moving your seat, or moving the speakers, you are right - the sound changes (for well-discussed reasons about room reverb, phasing etc). Cables? Nope.