Polk Audio Monitor 30's and 50's...Biwiring???

Pycroft

Hi all...I ordered Polk audio monitor 30's and 50's on Sunday night, and they are here already (2 days...WOW...and free shipping). The back of the 30's and 50's have two +'s and two -'s and there is something in the instructions about bi-wiring. I have no idea what that is, or how I go about hooking this to my receiver...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...maple%20Single

The pictures are above. Also, can I use banana plugs to attach the wires to the outside of the speaker. There is nothing in the manual about that, it just shows the wire being twisted in.

Thanks in advance. If you have an answer, pretend I'm a 5 year old, and explain it to me like that

Can't wait to hear them!

Pycroft

Loves2Watch

Does your receiver support bi-wiring? If you don't know the answer, post your make and model...

I don't see that your speaker terminals support banana plug connections.

Pycroft

Onkyo SR606.

Loves2Watch

Bi-amping Front Speakers

The FRONT L/R and SURR BACK L/R terminal posts can be used with front speakers and surround back speakers respectively, or bi-amped to provide separate tweeter and woofer feeds for front speakers, providing improved bass and treble performance.
• When bi-amping is used, the AV receiver is able to drive up to 5.1 speakers in the main room.
•For bi-amping, the FRONT L/R terminal posts connect to the front speakers’ tweeter terminals. And the SURR BACK L/R terminal posts connect to the front speakers’ woofer terminals.
• Once you’ve completed the bi-amping connections and turned on the AV receiver, you must set the Speaker Type setting to Bi-Amp to enable biamping (see page 42).
Important:
• When making the bi-amping connections, be sure to remove the jumper bars that link the speakers’ tweeter (high) and woofer (low) terminals.
• Bi-amping can only be used with speakers that support bi-amping. Refer to your speaker manual.

Bi-amping Speaker Hookup Bi-amping Front Speakers

1 Connect the AV receiver’s FRONT R positive (+) terminal to the right speaker’s positive (+) tweeter
(high) terminal. And connect the AV receiver’s FRONT R negative (–) terminal to the right
speaker’s negative (–) tweeter (high) terminal.

2 Connect the AV receiver’s SURR BACK R positive (+) terminal to the right speaker’s positive (+)
woofer (low) terminal. And connect the AV receiver’s SURR BACK R negative (–) terminal to
the right speaker’s negative (–) woofer (low) terminal.

3 Connect the AV receiver’s FRONT L positive (+) terminal to the left speaker’s positive (+) tweeter
(high) terminal. And connect the AV receiver’s FRONT L negative (–) terminal to the left
speaker’s negative (–) tweeter (high) terminal.

4 Connect the AV receiver’s SURR BACK L positive (+) terminal to the left speaker’s positive (+)
woofer (low) terminal. And connect the AV receiver’s SURR BACK L negative (–) terminal to
the left speaker’s negative (–) woofer (low) terminal.

See page 17 of your owners manual.

Pycroft

Thanks for that...but what does it do? Is it worth it? Can I just hook it up normal, and if I do, do I use the top plugs? As you know by now, I'm new to this, and unless I need to do this or it will make a great difference, I'd prefer to keep it easy. What exactly does Biwiring do? Does everyone who is able to do it, do it?

Would love to hear everyone's opinion, including yorus L2W.

Loves2Watch

It's certainly easier to not do it. With that being said, many choose to do it and claim they hear sonic benefits. With a much higher end receiver (not saying yours is not quality) I would recommend trying it but in your case I believe a standard connection would be optimal.

You can connect the wires to either the top or bottom connectors as it doesn't matter since there is a connector plate "joining' the top and bottom connections together.

kamspy

For whatever reason, Polk seem to get more out of bi-amping than most others. It's heavily recommended by Polk that you bi-amp.

Loves2Watch

If you do decide to bi-amp your front speakers realize that reduces your receiver to 5.1 rather then 7.1 without the bi-amping.

eess

The terminals DO support banana plugs. The disc that is in the center of each terminal is a knock-out. Remove it to use banana plugs.

Jim Bob Jones

Neither bi-wiring nor bi-amping would be of much benefit in your set up and would probably not make an audible difference. In high end systems however, the sonic difference can be astounding. Don't waste your time.

Loves2Watch

Super!

dave33ca

Here is an article complete with pics to help ya.. hope that helps some. http://www.davidmannaudio.com/FAQ/faq3.html

Hotnicks

Pycroft and others... I would like your opinion on this setup? I am really interested in a similar setup for my home theather (Onkyo 606, Polk Monitor 50s front and Monitor 30s rear). I am curious as to how this would compare to the HTiB from Onkyo (HT-S6100) which gets great reviews everywhere. I have heard the Monitor 30 bookshelves at my brother's house and they sound pretty good.

Thanks for your opinions... and sorry for hijacking the thread

Pycroft

This thread was over long ago, so don't worry about hijacking.

I am very pleased with the setup! I currently have the 30's in front and the 50's in back (Changing it soon to have the tower's in front). I think it's a great sound, and for 370 shipped, I couldn't be happier. Check www.newegg.com to see if the sale is still going on.

Pycroft

Hotnicks

Thanks Pycroft,
I have since found another thread ("Which is Better" - cant post URLs yet) - started by you again that was very helpful as well. I am curious as to why you have the 30's in front? Also, how do the 30's sound compared to the 50's? As I mentioned, my brother has the 30's and I am just wondering how they compare.

Thanks again!