bi-wiring problem - explain?

[mantisory]

Hi all,
Well, here goes. I have a system which has bi-wired slate speaker cables. Anyway, i noticed that my amplifier's left channel was getting overly warm (to the point of sometimes shutting down). I also blew up the same channel on my gainclone.
Now, looking at my speaker cables i noticed that one wire (of the pair) of the bass' negative terminal had become disconnected from the connector. I soldered it back up, and, lo and behold everything is now fine.
Is the fact that one wire was disconnected enough to cause this behaviour, and if so, why?
Thanks,
Byron

[richie00boy]

Can't see how, should just have made no sound from that drive unit. You have removed the bi-wire links between drive units haven't you?

[pinkmouse]

It may have been a dodgy contact, enough to let power through, but loose enough to arc or pose a high resistance causing the heating. This arcing could also be the reason for your your amp problems.

:edit: as could Richie's suggestion about the link.

[mantisory]

actually, the slate cable has a shielded pair per pole, so for each speaker there are 8 wires...
so it would have been that 1 wire was connected whilst its partner was not...but i never thought of the arc'ing problem...although when i discovered it i think the voltage would have had to have been really high to force the air breakdown over an inch...
m