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Suggestions for speaker wire


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The 5% assumption is correct, but the wire chart needs to be compensated for amplifier output impedance and connector resistance, it's worthless as is.

Do you have the wire chart, or graphs, that are correct? Your statement is worthless as is.

Inertion Loss = 20* log [ (Rload / (Rload + Rcable) ]

Damping Factor = ZL / Zs

Speaker Impedance 8 Ohm Load 4 Ohm Load

Wire Gauge Distance (ft) Distance (ft)

18 AWG 10 5

16 AWG 20 10

14 AWG 35 18

12 AWG 60 30

10 AWG 100 50

Edited by neo33
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To each his own I say.

There are differences in the sound of speaker cables. They do NOT all sound alike. I did not, nor will I spend thousands of dollars on cables. But I didn't get them from Home Depot either. Let your ears be the deciding factor. If you can't hear it, don't spend it.

Shakey

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I doubt there's any noticeable difference in sound of speaker wire..........meaning plain old stranded copper wire.

However, I agree there are manufacturers that produce cables that are other than what i described and they do affect the sound of the system. This is stuff I stay far away from. Might as well burn your money in the fireplace.

Edited by mark1101
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lol.

The attached is copy written material, and it wasn't free. I'll share it here, but I would appreciate not seeing it pop up on any other forums. Thanks.

I tried reading through this stuff, but it was way over my head. Would you mind summarizing the conclusions? I would try myself and ask you if I have it right, but i feel clueless.

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Read Speaker_cables(3) and then work through the rest of them. Bateman is the real deal, it's hard science, and it can't be dismissed. If you don't do your homework I'll post his papers on capacitors, and I might even continue your torment by exposing you to Bob Pease.

Wire has resistance, capacitance and inductance - all measurable. The wire sits between the amp and the network. Well, it's not really "sitting", it's connected, so it's part of a complex system. Different wire types have different effects on the system. Some people can hear these effects. Bateman measured them and determined that coax makes the best speaker wire.

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Read Speaker_cables(3) and then work through the rest of them. Bateman is the real deal, it's hard science, and it can't be dismissed. If you don't do your homework I'll post his papers on capacitors, and I might even continue your torment by exposing you to Bob Pease.

Wire has resistance, capacitance and inductance - all measurable. The wire sits between the amp and the network. Well, it's not really "sitting", it's connected, so it's part of a complex system. Different wire types have different effects on the system. Some people can hear these effects. Bateman measured them and determined that coax makes the best speaker wire.

I ran coaxial cable once on my garage stereo because i have spools of it left over from a long run on a job.

Worst thing i ever used.

Sounded like crap.

Went right over to Radio Shack and picked up a stretch of 14 gauge wire.

Still have tons of coax in the garage if anybody wants to try some out, just pay for shipping.

This was ran with my old Pioneer SX780 & a set of 70's 4 ways.

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Read Speaker_cables(3) and then work through the rest of them. Bateman is the real deal, it's hard science, and it can't be dismissed. If you don't do your homework I'll post his papers on capacitors, and I might even continue your torment by exposing you to Bob Pease.

Wire has resistance, capacitance and inductance - all measurable. The wire sits between the amp and the network. Well, it's not really "sitting", it's connected, so it's part of a complex system. Different wire types have different effects on the system. Some people can hear these effects. Bateman measured them and determined that coax makes the best speaker wire.

Thanks. I actually did read the documents, or what I could of them. Jason, I think the termination used on coax has a lot to do with how well it performs. It was buried in one of the documents. I could be wrong, this stuff reads like Algebra written in Mandarin. It seemed to me that termination was not only extremely important, it was critical. Like fiber optics for instance. Who knows..... Somebody help me I am drowning.

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There is coaxial cable designed just for speaker wire (not the antenna type) I haven't tried it myself but it is supposed to be very good.

MOGW3082BLA.jpg

http://store.haveinc.com/p-57189-mogami-w3082-2-conductor-14-awg-superflexible-studio-speaker-cable-black-per-foot.aspx?source=googlefeed&gclid=CIv1jva6-7oCFZFxQgodyFIAKg&

Personally my favorite speaker wire I have used has been Mogami quad core, which I really like and have used for the cables I made.

speakerwire.jpg

speaker_end.jpg

Edited by Rich_Guy
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Now I feel guilty for having not read every single word. I have the same problem -- limitations in my understanding. With highly technical stuff, I glean what I can from it. Sometimes you find yourself knee-deep is BS, and then all you can do is eat the meat and spit out the bones.

I wasn't even aware that a specific termination method was mentioned, only the coaxial wire type.

There is/was a popular method that Jon Risch advocated, I believe that is what the link below is selling.

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Power/Belden-89259-Speaker-Cables/

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Now I feel guilty for having not read every single word. I have the same problem -- limitations in my understanding. With highly technical stuff, I glean what I can from it. Sometimes you find yourself knee-deep is BS, and then all you can do is eat the meat and spit out the bones.

I wasn't even aware that a specific termination method was mentioned, only the coaxial wire type.

There is/was a popular method that Jon Risch advocated, I believe that is what the link below is selling.

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Power/Belden-89259-Speaker-Cables/

WOW! Now that is truly a special way to terminate cables.

Fig12.jpg

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And you still missed the point.

All I am saying is depends on the speaker impedance, certain AWG is required for each maximum length.

Other than that, a metal coat hanger wire is as good as any expensive cable no matter what you think. I challenge any of you to a double blind test to tell a noticeable different between a metal coat hanger and your expensive cable.

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And you still missed the point.

All I am saying is depends on the speaker impedance, certain AWG is required for each maximum length.

Other than that, a metal coat hanger wire is as good as any expensive cable no matter what you think. I challenge any of you to a double blind test to tell a noticeable different between a metal coat hanger and your expensive cable.

I can't say how well coat hanger would work or what kind of sound quality it may have, while it may be a nice large AWG it would have very poor flexibility, very poor insulation, probably act as an antenna to pick up unwanted noise and it would be very prone to short circuit as well, so I won't be trying this with my system.

While I definitely could tell a nice difference with my current cables I made with Mogami W2921 wire. Very nice sound quality, ultra flexible, well protected and very durable, plus very nice looks when completed.

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Mogami has a pretty good reputation, and their XLR cables are often used in recording studios.

I've had good results with Knukonceptz cables (or Kables, as they call them). The quality is good and so are the prices.

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMaster.cfm?category=Speaker%20Wire

The SS Kable refers to the colour, Smoke and Silver.

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Mogami has a pretty good reputation, and their XLR cables are often used in recording studios.

Yes I use Mogami wire with Neutrik XLR connectors for my amp interconnects, Mogami wire has impressed me very much for both its quality and excellent sound quality.

Here you can see both my amp XLR interconnects as well as my speaker cables at the amp. Also the trigger cables I made are in this photo, the trigger cables are a very nice blue TechFlex but the flash of the photo washes out the color in this photo.

system_wires.jpg

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"a metal coat hanger wire is as good as any expensive cable no matter what you think. I challenge any of you to a double blind test to tell a noticeable different between a metal coat hanger and your expensive cable."

Make it worth my time and I will take your money.

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