Ek!! don’t just pull the jumpers (unless your biwired) on these speakers for if I understand correctly then you just wiped out your highs or lows. However, - when I scanned reviews on them, I did see quite a bit of mention of ‘insane bass’ and taming the bass using these mains. I have the opposite problem on the VA’s (some base lovers would consider them light duty) in the bass, but how they handle LF suits me at the moment as long as I’m running the sub during HT duty with them.

M last two sets of speakers did not give me this option to contemplate. I can’t recommend that the following excerpts from CSW 500 owners IS the proper (or safe way) to manage your bass with these mains. We have bass guru’s around here, so if your interested in bi-wiring (if yours are not already) to see what affect it might produce in your listening space. Ask some questions regarding and they can help with their experiences. Since part of the theory for biwiring (I’ve read) regards reducing the tendency for strong bass signals to overwhelm the rest…and since user comments suggest that many 500 owners feel their bass is [very] adequate tiptoeing into overwhelming in some smaller listening spaces, - might be an interesting way to comparison tweak your setup options for these.
Regarding some speakers I’ve seen consensus that bi-wiring doesn’t appear to affect them that much, even when an option. But what I saw in a quick read looked as if the percent who have tried it preferred the 500’s biwired.
I didn’t grasp everything behind it all but appeared as if due to line-levels, inclusion of contour control Vs gain etc, and the strong bass response of these speakers, - I think I’d read up on the best methods, variations of wiring these and give it a go to see, if there is a performance advantage. After (if it was me) I figured out what it all meant.

“I found that there is no gain control for the sub for the recommended bi-wire connection, just a contour control that adjusts a filter for the lower end of the bass. The sub level gain only works for the sub-in input, not the low range speaker wire input, which connects just to the sub amp. I connected a sub cable to both sub-in RCA type jacks from the receiver's sub-out using a Y connector. The speakers cross at 100 HZ and so does my receiver. I set the front speakers to FULL on the receiver so the speakers' high range inputs would see the same signal as with a biwire connection. Now I can adjust the sub gain at both the receiver and the sub-level controls on the speakers”

One guy mentioned in a post and I wondered if this is a variation which is proper. He removed his jumpers and appears wired his receiver L/R inputs into the speakers biwired. then using a Y-connector on the single sub out from his receiver into the sub inputs on the speakers. (not a true bi-wire from what I grasp about it, but he seemed to like the results). I would have to talk to some of the guys around here to see if that would loose/double any part of the signal, be a bad idea, etc.

Hope you know what they are talking about (I don’t without some base beefing up on biwire, which I have not done yet) but sounds like fun (if you like tweaking) to play towards getting the best base response setup on your mains for your listening space. Those that had tried it commented on improved mids/highs additionaly.


[This message has been edited by Smart Little Lena (edited May 01, 2003).]