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Speakercable you use on Palladiums


Mike

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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.  ;)

:ph34r: No one needs to know that!

 

OP I suggest you try whatever your wallet says is best. The science is not in favor of super expensive cables. If you expect and want to hear a difference, then you will. This is old, OLD science. That is completely separate from there actually being a physical difference. It's this effect that runs the high end cable market, the perceptual bias brought on by expectation. The only case I can give you for spending extra on your Palladium's cables is so that they simply look nice next to them. Whether that's important is 100% up to you. :)

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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.

 

If you are focused on cables (due to your own unknown personal experience), then this is good advice above.  Even for less efficient direct radiating bass bins--such as the Palladium series--than fully horn-loaded loudspeakers, lower efficiency loudspeakers units require more current and therefore are theoretically more susceptible to reactance and resistance effects relative to voice coil resistance and thermal heating issues...but probably not audibly... The same advice for loudspeakers whose impedance dips to very low level (i.e., Z < 4 ohms), then you might be able to hear differences in overall equalization of the loudspeakers in room.

 

Everything else is "look and feel" differences and placebo effect, I fear.  Ethan WIner and others have opined that what is really happening audibly by changing out loudspeaker wires is that you're really listening to the polars of the loudspeakers shifting with different impedance of the cables, i.e., neither good nor bad--just different.  At least one guy on this forum has noted that it's the cheaper wire with cheaper connectors that have measurably lower reactance issues, and therefore sound better (a technical area where he is more technically experienced).  YMMV.

 

Otherwise, if it was me, I'd be spending a lot more time on room acoustics and treatments.  If you post a picture of your setup here then you might be able to receive constructive suggestions that will lead very audible improvement. 

 

Chris

Edited by Chris A
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By the way, if you're using amplifiers with high output impedance relative to your loudspeakers (without using Zobel networks to isolate loudspeaker input impedance), any changes in cable impedance will likely be much more audible. 

 

The solution in this case to this, of course, is to use the lowest output impedance tap off the amplifier's output transformers that you can to reduce these effects.

 

Chris

Edited by Chris A
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I just ordered some mogami 3104. This cable seems to be very popular in studios and don't break my bankaccount. With this wire I can choose between single and biwire. Thus I can experiment. I hope that when I single wire the two other wires aren't acting like antennas? But most probably this isn't the case on speaker wires.

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I use Mogami 3103.

And? What are your taugths on this wire?

 

 

Nice heavy thick wire, it lays on the floor nicely and follows the baseboards very well.  I used the same wire with TAD speakers and with B&W 800s.  It laid on the floor nicely with those speakers too. 

 

Just hook them up and enjoy and never give it another thought.  Mogami makes very high quality wire at an affordable price.  Don't bother with bi-wiring either. 

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Don't bother with bi-wiring either.

This is what's written in the Palladium manual:

Bi-wiring reduces unwanted interactions between the bass drivers and the midrange and treble units. True bi-wiring is connecting separate cables from the bass terminals and the midrange/treble terminals to a common connection at the amplifier. Several cable manufacturers produce specialized cables where one cable jacket contains four cables, thus enabling bi-wiring within one cable cluster. This eliminates the need to run separate cables and simplifies connection. In any case, the method of connection is the same.

Edited by Mike
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The only technical stand I have made on this forum is in total opposition to speaker wire nonsense.  Buy some monoprice, if you want shiny copper.  It's cheap.  Then don't terminate with spades nor bananas . Just bare wire. Once a year, or when you remember, clip off an inch or two and re-terminate. 

 

If you are hearing a difference between different speaker wires then they are not made to spec. That's all there is to it.

 

Use the money you save to buy music.

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Well, go ahead and buy the Monoprice. Then order a pair from either Morrow Audio, Clear Day, Grover Huffman, Anti-Cables or

Triode Wire Labs ( Pete, the owner, has Khorns) to name a few and listen for yourself. All have at least 30 day return privileges.

 

True, some prices for wire are ridiculous and the laws of diminishing returns set in quite quickly IMHO but you do need to listen for yourself to tell if the extra cost is worth it. You really have nothing to lose

 

My two pesos

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I knew when I first saw this thread that the haters would be out in full force. And I have not been disappointed.

 

Even though this runs contrary to what most here believe, (or want to believe):

 

audible difference in cables do exist

 

better power cords can improve the sound of your system

 

not all amplifiers sound the same

 

some tweaks (footers, platforms, etc.) do make a difference

 

 

Are these differences earth shattering? No

 

But they do exist.

 

I contend that if you are a casual listener, you might not ever hear them at all. Or if you are using a midfi receiver and entry level source components, ditto. But if you listen intently and with passion, and you care to hear your system at it's very best, better interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords will get you a little further down that road.

 

How much to spend? That's up to you. For me, I have never spent over 1500.00 for any cables. I did hear a 2K power cord one time on my amplfier that was on the order of upgrading to a better amplifier. Even the most jaded here would have heard the improvement instantly. That said, I still didn't rush out and buy the damn thing. I tried VERY hard to forget how it sounded after it was removed, and eventually I was able to <_<

 

So I fall somehwere inbetween. I think it ridiculous to spend 20K on speaker cables (prolly wouldn't do it even if I were rich), but I don't mind spending what I can afford on better quality cables when I can hear a difference.

 

Shakey

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audible difference in cables do exist

 

not all amplifiers sound the same

You should call Richard Clark and James Randi, get some of that cash.

I did hear a 2K power cord one time on my amplfier that was on the order of upgrading to a better amplifier. Even the most jaded here would have heard the improvement instantly. That said, I still didn't rush out and buy the damn thing. I tried VERY hard to forget how it sounded after it was removed, and eventually I was able to

So it like plugged into the wall and connected your amp? No batteries or power conditioning? Just a wire? Why not just hardwire the romex directly to the back of the amp if a better wire alone could do such things?

Edited by MetropolisLakeOutfitters
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You should call Richard Clark and James Randi, get some of that cash.

 

 

I know you aren't saying all amplifiers sound the same? Was your tongue planted firmly in your cheek?

 

 

So it like plugged into the wall and connected your amp? No batteries or power conditioning? Just a wire? Why not just hardwire the romex directly to the back of the amp if a better wire alone could do such things?

 

 

 

Like I said, it's expected of you to say these things. I would be bewlidered if you said anything different.

 

Most people who share your sentiment have never seriously listened to better stuff. You guys just dismiss it out of hand with no real world experience. That's ok, you don't know any better.......

 

 

Shakey

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Observation:         $600.00 Gold plated output cables coming from your pre and going to your Mac amp, 50 sound panels hung in your listening room, $4000.00 Kimber cables elevated from the floor and running to your mains and then you walk around and see crimped aluminum spades running throughout your X-over......Uh oh!

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