Monowiring, bi-wiring or bi-amping in Hi-Fi. What are they?

What are bi-wiring and bi-amping? Bi-wiring is one means of connecting a speaker to an audio amplifier. Usually, a single cable runs from the output of the amplifier to the terminals of the speaker housing (this connection is called monowiring, however worthy of adjustments). In bi-wiring, however, each speaker has two pairs of connectors, and two cables are carried from the amplifier output to the speaker cabinet. One corresponds to the high frequencies, one to the low frequencies (through two separate crossovers).

Bi-wiring is a connection with a double cable Speaker between the amplifier and the acoustic speakers. With a single bi-polar cable, all audio frequencies pass through the same, and the speaker's crossover provides the cut and send to the speakers. Many speakers are built with a crossover that allows them to accept low frequencies (Low) and high frequencies (High) separately. In this cable the speaker will have four terminals instead of two (LOW+/LOW- and HIGH+/HIGH-).

In the case of a speaker with dual connections that is connected with single cable, there will be a jumper made with a metal reed that joins the LOW+ with the HIGH+ and the LOW- with the HIGH-. So to use bi-wiring you have to remove that jumper, so that two independent inputs are created. One goes to the woofer (LF: Low Frequency) and the other to the midrange + tweeter (HF: High Frequency). If, on the other hand, you use the classic single-cable connection, the jumper, should be left so that the signal goes to both terminals.

One of the advantages of using a double cable is that it should reduce magnetic interference. Another lies in obtaining a larger overall cross-sectional area than would be obtained with a single cable, and also in the fact that, in this way, the current draw caused by the woofer does not affect the smaller signal going to the highways. However, a technical analysis suggests that although adopting a bi-wired solution may offer differences, these are so subtle that they do not represent something tangible.

However, some audiophiles have found a significant difference in reduced treble harshness and improved bass control. However, detractors of bi-wiring claim that, electronically, nothing changes. With a play on words, they refer to this practice as "buy-wiring," arguing that it is all just a marketing invention to sell more speaker cables.

What is the difference between bi-wiring and bi-amping? The main difference, as you can guess, is that bi-amping is done with two amplifiers, a factor that gives a whole different meaning to this type of connection. Just as a hint, bi-amping can be either vertical or horizontal. The former involves employing two identical amplifiers and using one to amplify each speaker individually; the latter involves employing one amplifier for low frequencies and another (the same or different) for high frequencies.

It is the best but also the most expensive solution to be adopted for very high-level systems. In bi-amping, we start from the concept that each amplifier acts on a specific frequency range to directly drive the loudspeaker in charge of reproducing that specific range. In this way, intermodulation and other undesirable effects are avoided as much as possible; for example, the amplifier that treats the higher frequencies does not have to work with the lower ones as well, with benefits for the power supply and performance.

There are Speaker cables on the market specifically designed for bi-wiring, that is, with two connectors on the amplifier side and four connectors on the speaker side. According to the philosophy Ricable, after some technical tests, this type of cable has no effect compared to using a standard cable with the addition of good jumpers (don't leave the manufacturers' metal flat plugs). On a technical level, there is no reason to prefer them to an arrangement involving a monowiring cable connected to the other pair of terminals via jumpers of the same conductor. Except for the negligible fact that, with jumpers, you lengthen the length of the cable by about ten centimeters.

In either case, the cable itself is not an active crossover and does not have the tools to split the high frequencies from the low frequencies, so the only effect brought by bi-wiring cables is an end in itself complication in the connection going from the amplifier to the speakers, often with a deterioration in signal transmission quality.

In conclusion, we always recommend simplifying and, in case you have only one amplifier with speakers set up for bi-wiring, to buy a standard cable with the corresponding jumpers. You will spend less and have an identical, if not better result.