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need opinions of grades and gauges of spkr wire


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Hi guys, a few weekends ago I stumbled on a moving sale and this woman seemed pretty desperate to sell off her remaining stuff. I get there early and ask do you have any vintage audio gear something that you wouldn't even know what it is and she said her husband passed and did have some gear.First she showed me a pair of Ohm c I think w/ stands but they had rotted surrounds which wouldn't be all that terrible because I have replaced surrounds already and at $10 I was going to grab them. She then said in our family room I have these big old speakers and my heart went a twitter. These were the vaunted Polk SDA-2b w/ IC cable. The only minor cosmetic problem was the obligatory plant water stain on the White Oak tops.I offered $50 she looked perplexed for mili second then said take them.I 'm also a member of Club Polk and congrats were coming in by the page full .Now the question at hand. I'm running an ADCOM gfa-555 and pushes them w/ no problem.When I told them I was using 14gu clear for a 4' and a 9 ' run I heard w/ both barrles from these guys that 1. I must upgrade to a much better cable and 2. for continuity of signal both lenghts should be the same no matter how close 1 speaker is to my amp which again literally about a foot away but I do have more for access and cleaning.I already called various cable co. and I'm getting so many mixed answers my head is spinning.Some said if it sounds good to you don't bother,no golden ear don't bother.Others say you MUST upgrade and you will hear a difference so now since I am a minor member here I'm also asking for opinions on what to use or not to do anything.Oh,this was an audio pickers dream house she also had a giant Onkyo receiver, multiple tt, nice racks and lps that were in good shape but all the album art got wet and was destoyed to the point they were sticking together.This was the exact scenario I always needed, desperate wife ,no idea of what anything is worth and needed to flip quickly...

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It's not pride she also could have no said VERY easily I have my own financial difficulties and I have to fight my battles the way I can. Seems like on C/L people look up what their stuff is worth and bargins are harder and harder to find.You try living on dissability then we'll maybe on equal terms.

How bout answering the freakin question.

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Fourteen gauge wire is absolutely fine for such a short run, and the 5 foot difference in length is totally meaningless.

Maynard

I think McIntosh did research that would be supportive of what tube fanatic posted.

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Good reason for us to make a list for our wives of what our equipment is worth. My wife says no if's and's or but's, she's keeping the AK-47!

Now she's talking about shooting Rats in the chicken coop. I do not want to be around when that happens!

She [6] .....................Taz

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Why would you take such great pride in taking advantage of someone "desperate" -- go back to the Polk Forum.

I usually think that Dean leans on the side of curmudgeon with his posts, but in this instance I agree with him. There's a difference between smoking deal and taking advantage of a widow. The Polk forum should answer your questions just fine from now on.

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One other point on wire gu and quality. According to the famed Rodger Russel former head engineer at McIntosh for years and an inventer in his own right actually says 16 lamp cord is fine of course if the run is long he would defer to a lower gu of wire but does not subscribe to very expensive boutique speaker cables and elavators.

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"I usually think that Dean leans on the side of curmudgeon with his posts..."

Curmudgeon: A bad-tempered or surly person

I've been struggling with a week trying to decide how to respond to this, I mean, I'm a really laid back nice person, and this hurt me pretty deeply -- so I think I'd just like to say "screw you". :-)

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I think it may be time for us to put and end to this thread. It has definitely gone off topic. I think lessons have been learned by all. Many of us are old married folk, and would hate for anybody to take advantage of our wives if (when) we pass away. We all know the odds are that our wives will outlive us. For the guy who talked up getting the deal from the widow, I figure you would have worded that differently if you had it to do all over again. That certainly doesn't take away from the fact that is "sounded" like you took advantage of a poor little widow lady. I think we all know that is about up there with the coach showering with the team. As a man, I feel I have the responsibility of protecting those who cannot protect themselves. There are very few men I know personally who feel any differently. Dean is definitely one of those men; a protector. He is quick to protect members and visitors from bad information, which may make him sound grouchy or whatever. He is doing a service to us all when he does this. It is so great that we have such a diversity of good people here. There are those of us who cheer one another up, come to the aid when someone is hurting, sell or give away things to people who need parts, give knowledgeable advise, and overall make this the best internet community I know of, It is very family like, and always accepting of new family members. We can ALL expect the occasional slap on the hand. That is what families do FOR one another!

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"I usually think that Dean leans on the side of curmudgeon with his posts..."

Curmudgeon: A bad-tempered or surly person

I've been struggling with a week trying to decide how to respond to this, I mean, I'm a really laid back nice person, and this hurt me pretty deeply -- so I think I'd just like to say "screw you". :-)

I do apologize. Maybe it's a lack of really knowing you combined with the written word. From cornscalas to crossovers to the current state of audio, your tone just seems surly. If it helps, I meant that as more of a tongue-in-cheek statement than anything truly hurtful.

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No worries, I'm pretty thick-skinned -- around here, you have to be. I know I come off different on the forum than I do on the phone or in person because I hear about it at least once a week. The forum frustrates me, and I get short on patience pretty quick. I try to temper the frustration, but it seems to bleed through no matter what I do. Oh well.

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This thread did prompt me to think that maybe there should be an easily accessed list of approved members (broken up by region?) that our wives/girlfriends/domestic partners can go to for help in posthumously liquidating gear without worry. Have it stickied somewhere so they can easily come and find it.

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It was a lot easier when I wasn't running a business. It's hard to "help" without it looking like I'm trying to sell something. :) I should just start every post with, "Buy better crossovers from me and then horns from Dave and finish by buying something from Craig -- now what was your question?"

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