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Speakercable you use on Palladiums


Mike

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It really depends on if you think real expensive speaker cable make the SQ better.  If you want something that looks nice and works, these are reasonable: http://www.ramelectronics.net/product.aspx?zpid=3106

 

                                    http://www.ramelectronics.net/product.aspx?zpid=617

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Hi guys,

I do not think that real expensive speaker cable makes the SQ better but I do know that different cables do sound different.Because of inductance, resistance, etc. For that reason I am interested in what other people use or have used before with sonic harmony on the Palladiums?

Edited by Mike
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There are those that swear cables make a big difference and those that think it is a big waste of money.  In the end, you will have to decide for yourself.  We even have people that use light cord cable.  The proper guage to deliver the frequency spectrum will do a great job. 

 

You have some nice speakers, so dress them up with some nice looking cables.  The speaker, proper setup, +/- room treatmeants and amp will make the most difference in getting good SQ, IMHO.

Edited by derrickdj1
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There are those that swear cables make a big difference and those that think it is a big waste of money. In the end, you will have to decide for yourself. We even have people that use light cord cable. The proper guage to deliver the frequency spectrum will do a great job.

You have some nice speakers, so dress them up with some nice looking cables. The speaker, proper setup, +/- room treatmeants and amp will make the most difference in getting good SQ, IMHO.

I Agree, I have to decide myself.

However, the purpose of this thread is to know what other people use on their Pal's? And single wired vs biwired? And maybe we can share some ideas between Palladium owners so we can get the best out of them.

Thanks!

Edited by Mike
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However, the purpose of this thread is to know what other people use on their Pal's? And single wired or biwired?

I have K-horns, not Palladiums,  but am happy with my pricey Basis speaker cables.

 

At one time, The Cable Company gave good advice and would allow customers to borrow cables to try out.  That would be a good way to hear a variety and choose the most suitable, if they still do that.  They'll probably have to have a promise you'll buy something if you're not a regular, and you'll probably have to pay shipping for the experiments.

 

I'd ask them about Audioquest's less outrageous wire, if it's within your budget.  A lot of TCC's wire is now extraplanetary in pricing.

Edited by LarryC
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I'm not a Palladium owner but I hope to be someday. As such I'm following this thread with great interest. I have owned many very nice speakers including La Scalas and upper end Magnepans. With all of them I experimented with cables which provided some interesting results.

 

All of that said here's my take (opinion) on speaker cables in general.

 

As a general rule big buck speaker cables WILL NOT make low end speakers sound better. Cheap speaker wire (I/E zip cord) WILL make pretty much any speakers sound worse than they can.

 

To me it's a matter of balance. I would never use $3000 speaker wires on $500 speakers. Nor would I use $5 speaker wires on $5000 speakers.

 

If I owned a pair of top of the line Palladiums I'd begin by shopping decent (but not Lowes zip cord) cables the likes of bluejeanscables.com or perhaps the offerings from Emotiva. At that price point you can easilly flip them for most of what was spent when you buy the next level up. If the differences in cables are be to believed you'll notice an improvement when you buy the next level up.

 

Keep stepping up price point by price point until you no longer hear an improvement. THAT is the point where you have found the proper cables for your speakers.

 

Don't discount the "DIY" world. I've built and listened to a number of DIY speaker cable designs. Many if not most of them are stunningly good considering the cost involved.

 

To my ears there are differences in speaker cables BUT only when you're dealing with fairly high end equipment. Even then the differences are very VERY subtle.

 

These days my ears are listening to a pair of 84 Heresys driven by some vintage Onkyo Integra kit. Considering my age (57) and the obvious degredation of my hearing I can probably no longer discern the differences that cables make.

 

Hopefully there will come a time when I can afford to assemble a system of the caliber that justifies spending large sums of $$ on cables. I also hope that there's enough of my hearing left that I can hear and justifiy the differences between cables.

 

Until that day arrives my Heresys will continue to rock my world and make me smile. At the end of the day isn't that was music listening is all about?

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Mike, welcome to the forum. :)

 

The cable debate, as you can tell, has been going on for a long time. There is a huge reason for this. It comes down to two things. First, is everything that's measurable perceivable and  is everything that's perceivable measurable? The answer is: we'll never know. Perhaps at the moment we just can't measure everything we're able to hear. That brings us to problem 2. If that's the case, then how is it that the high end cable companies somehow are able to reliable produce cables which give a "clear sonic improvement"? If they can, then they know the mechanism, and then by definition it should be measurable. You never see these measurements.

 

Now, there is a load of concrete evidence showing that different cable making techniques can cause different effects to lessen or amplify. I myself have made "audiophile" cables and measured them to be lower in inductance, DCR and capacitance than standard zip cord. The differences we're talking about, however, are laboratory differences. Things which are literally beyond human perception abilities. It's these sorts of differences companies like to throw on their websites and make it seem like they have made some monstrous leap in science.

 

Here's what I recommend you do: choose a pure copper, high strand count speaker wire, terminated in non-corrosive contacts. i prefer gold plated bananas, some prefer spades, it's all preference. Make sure that the wire gauge you choose is large enough for the run you have. I would say that 14AWG is perfect in almost every typical situation. Anything larger than 12 is overkill. The DCR will be low enough that you don't have to worry about it. Parts Express has great supplies to do this yourself, or you can buy some ready made.

 

Final and most important note: any audio component after the source can only make what you hear less bad. It cannot improve the sound quality. Any claim to the contrary is false. Many people tend to get caught up in what "improves" the sound of their system. The reality is that the speaker is at its maximum ability already. What you put before it can only make it sound worse, not better. So, instead of spending lots of money on wiring, spend that money on a nice amplifier which will have good control of your speakers, have good headroom and not impart its own distortion.

 

Best of luck. :)

Edited by DaveWJr
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I think as long as the speaker cable has the recommended gauge based on Klipsch and the length of runs and is properly made, you should be fine.  If you get down to the crazy details some will go down in that rabbit hole, then might be a question to ask what type of wire are being used to deliver your electricity in the first place..  I think a much more valid question is how does your room sound? 

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Here's what I recommend you do: choose a pure copper, high strand count speaker wire, terminated in non-corrosive contacts. i prefer gold plated bananas, some prefer spades, it's all preference. Make sure that the wire gauge you choose is large enough for the run you have. I would say that 14AWG is perfect in almost every typical situation. Anything larger than 12 is overkill. The DCR will be low enough that you don't have to worry about it. Parts Express has great supplies to do this yourself, or you can buy some ready made.

Agree, more or less.  IIRC, 12 ga. gets pretty tough to handle in connectors and spade lugs, and probably completely unnecessary.  Forget anything larger!

 

Since many of these posts give little uniform or practical advice on specific cables, I still recommend contacting The Cable Co, get their advice. and try out a couple of what they suggest unless it's too much for your budget.  A little direct in-system tryout may resolve many of your questions and assumptions.  You also won't have to solder in connectors to try them.  

Edited by LarryC
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I'm not running Palladiums, just regular reference series.  I decided to go the affordable route and bought a spool of 12ga Monoprice http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Enhanced-Oxygen-Free-Copper-Speaker/dp/B003L14ZAQ  cut it to the lengths I needed and terminated the ends with Sewell Deadbolt banana plugs  http://www.amazon.com/Deadbolt-Banana-12-pair-Sewell-Direct/dp/B006U3O566/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1437586558&sr=1-1&keywords=sewell+deadbolt&pebp=1437586563329&perid=17EQDW6Q2BRV1QGJBDTV

 

Seems to get the job done and will likely handle anything I throw through them.

Edited by Dankimus
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DaveWJr is a wire aficionado. All the loose wire in the lab is now braided! We tease him as being a closet wire freak!  haha  :D

 

If I take money out of my pocket for wire it is the cheapest 16-14ga stuff I can find at Lowes or Menards. But do put it on those little Barbie tables to keep it off the floor.  ;)

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Ok guys, I've got the picture about different speaker wires, but what about biwiring Palladiums? Anyone got expirience with that?

Biwiring the Palladiums will be like biwiring any other speaker...pointless. Bi-amping on the other hand, that's a bit of a different story.

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