I usually hold to the idea that dual-wire or double-wire is better than bi-wire. My reasoning has to do with the fact that, IMHO, resistance in the cable between amplifier and loudspeaker, while not the only factor, is the largest practical factor in the amplifier being able to accurately drive a loudspeaker.

For example, if I have a 30-foot cable run to a loudspeaker, the signal will be traveling through a total of 60 feet of wire – 30 feet to the speaker, 30 feet back. Using an American Wire Gauge Table from ProAV , or Wikipedia I find differing resistance for various gauges:

60 foot total through 14-gauge wire yields about .16 ohms

60 foot total through 12-gauge wire yields about .10 ohms

60 foot total through 10-gauge wire yields about .06 ohms

If I bi-wire with 14-gauge cable in this instance, how much resistance between the amplifier and the woofer’s crossover network, between the amplifier and the hi-pass crossover? (.16 ohms and .16 ohms, individually) If I dual-wire with 14-gauge cable, what are the resistances? (.08 ohms and .08 ohms, shared)

For very short runs through decent cable, where the resistance is very, very low anyway, most of this is mute. For longer runs, like 50 or 75 feet where the signal travels through 100 or 150 feet of wire, heavy gauge wire or doubling up can really help.

Cutting the resistance in half doesn’t get the press or the hype that bi-wiring does, but I’d urge folks who have bi-wired to try comparing dual-wire/double-wire with bi-wire – all the cabling is in place anyway.