Bi-wiring Speakers

[caveman]

Is there any benefit to be had in bi-wiring a pair of £150 bookshelf speakers.
What if anything would I notice, bearing in mind they are powered from amp, which in turn is only sourced from soundcard. BTW I intend upgrading soundcard to better one when I find out what is best 2 channel audio card.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by caveman

Is there any benefit to be had in bi-wiring a pair of £150 bookshelf speakers.
What if anything would I notice, bearing in mind they are powered from amp, which in turn is only sourced from soundcard. BTW I intend upgrading soundcard to better one when I find out what is best 2 channel audio card.

Is that £150 quid a piece or for the pair? If it's for the pair, I doubt they can be bi-wired. Also, are you using a decent cable now? If you're not, it really pays off to buy decent cable.

[Tricky]

Originally Posted by caveman

Is there any benefit to be had in bi-wiring a pair of £150 bookshelf speakers.
What if anything would I notice, bearing in mind they are powered from amp, which in turn is only sourced from soundcard. BTW I intend upgrading soundcard to better one when I find out what is best 2 channel audio card.

Why are you wanting to bi-wire - does your amp offer multiple outputs?
Generally you don't notice anything unless you're on really high end kit, AFAIK the basic reason is the amp can drive the 2 channels easier so offers a clearer sound.

Again as danielf suggests go for a decent cable.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Tricky

Why are you wanting to bi-wire - does your amp offer multiple outputs?
Generally you don't notice anything unless you're on really high end kit, AFAIK the basic reason is the amp can drive the 2 channels easier so offers a clearer sound.

Again as danielf suggests go for a decent cable.

I've never done it (bi-wired that is,) but AFAIK the reason for doing it to avoid interference of the two channel in the cable, and you don't necessarily need separate outputs (might be wrong though). You do need separate inputs on the speakers. However, when I bought my 250 quid a piece B&Ws, I sent B&W an email to ask about it. The reply was that opinions about it were rather mixed, so I figured you need to be rather picky to notice the difference, so I didn't bother.

[caveman]

a) £150 the pair
b) they have two pairs of inputs for bi-wiring
c) you pigy back the speaker wires at the amp end
d) the reason (supposedly) to bi-wire is so both drive units have their own power inputs.

That's what I know. What I don't is whether it works or is just a reason to spend more money.
Any ideas on a good 2 channel audio sound card, preferably with RCA outputs. Simply for audio (no games)

[willo]

Only bi-wire if you've got 2 sets of speaker outputs at the amp, decent speakers and top notch cable, otherwise it's a complete waste of time.

[abailey152]

Originally Posted by caveman

Is there any benefit to be had in bi-wiring a pair of £150 bookshelf speakers.
What if anything would I notice, bearing in mind they are powered from amp, which in turn is only sourced from soundcard. BTW I intend upgrading soundcard to better one when I find out what is best 2 channel audio card.

Just noticed this thread, so this post is a bit late!

First, to bi-wire a pair of speakers, the speakers need two sets of input connections. Bi-wiring means you can have two differnt types of cable, one for the high-current delivery required for the bass unit, and the other cable more suited to the high frequences sent to the tweeter.

As for what you are using them for, I'd doubt if you hear much difference, and I'd be surprised if a set of bookshelf speakers had dual inputs.