Cables for Klipschorns

[Dave A]

On 7/25/2020 at 10:26 PM, Jim Gregory said:

In my system as far as sound quality:
In my experience interconnects “yes”. Speaker cables “not so much”. Heavier gauge for runs over 12 ft

I am not normal with speaker wires as I am constantly hooking up different speakers with the same set of wires. I used to love banana plugs until I found on older speakers at times they would be loose. And the male banana plugs compress and you don't realize it until one day you hear something wrong. Its your banana plug rattling around at higher volumes. Anymore I use fork crimp connectors and those same female banana plugs but clamp down on the forks and stay away from the bananas. I find myself discovering loose wires with those male banana plugs all the time unless you solder them in. The fork crimp connector never seems to work loose and I can use those fork connectors in more places than the banana plugs too. Switch from barrier strips to banana plugs no problem and no more loose connections.

 

  I think crimp connectors without soldering have a bad name in some instances because the user did not know how to do it right and with the right tool. What I see in speakers I have bought tells me a sad tale at times.

[Alexander]

 

 

Being a ham radio operator (wa4wab) I am more than aware of extraneous radio signals. I am a big fan of shielding any kind of cabling when practical and/or needed.

 

I use these speaker cables with their locking banana plugs.  https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

 

Interconnects are another issue all together as they are before any amplification so anything, however small, will be exaggerated. Shielding is vary important here and I chose to by-passe most of this using XLR + a coax cabling. It just so happens all of my gear has these connections.

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by Alexander
Hmm, after reading this post a few hours later it sure comes across different than when it was composed. Sorry if it sounds a bit condescending and self righteous. Was, just meant to give my $.02.

[fmalloy]

14 hours ago, MechEngVic said:

...Until you consider that radio waves, and other electromagnetic waves, are everywhere, and your long lengths of speaker wires are acting just like antennae and picking up the stray signals being emitted by the countless sources of EMI including your power cables, cell phones, and yes even your AM and FM. Maybe an electronics or physics class would help you understand. Then you'd see that the only ludicrous thing is your airplane analogy.

Um, I have an electrical engineering degree so I've had, um, a few classes in electronics and physics (not to mention electromagnetics and linear algebra).

 

Sure, you can try shielded cable if you're experiencing interference. Much of the EMI is from the electronics, few cases involve speaker cables. Most of us don't experience much interference at all. If you want to spend hundreds or thousands on expensive shielded cable, perhaps raise them up off the floor if you feel better about it, go right ahead.

 

But sorry, I don't evaluate speaker cable by hooking it up to a tuner. You're welcome to do so.

 

The thing I find most interesting about these golden-eared cable nuts is for some reason they usually refuse double-blind listening tests that would prove/disprove the so-called improved sound quality of their cables.

[MicroMara]

Always the same discussions when it comes to speaker cables. No matter in which forum in the world.I would never go to a forum with such a question, because it is pointless. Do what you think is right, experiment a bit, rent different products and make a decision that suits you.

 

 

[fmalloy]

1 hour ago, MicroMara said:

Always the same discussions when it comes to speaker cables. No matter in which forum in the world.I would never go to a forum with such a question, because it is pointless. Do what you think is right, experiment a bit, rent different products and make a decision that suits you.

 

 

Yep, I hear you. Fell into that trap...hooking a speaker cable to a tuner tho, that's a new one!

 

Maybe I should hook up an antenna to my speakers to evaluate its signal capturing abilities...?

[MechEngVic]

7 hours ago, fmalloy said:

Um, I have an electrical engineering degree so I've had, um, a few classes in electronics and physics (not to mention electromagnetics and linear algebra).

 

Sure, you can try shielded cable if you're experiencing interference. Much of the EMI is from the electronics, few cases involve speaker cables. Most of us don't experience much interference at all. If you want to spend hundreds or thousands on expensive shielded cable, perhaps raise them up off the floor if you feel better about it, go right ahead.

 

But sorry, I don't evaluate speaker cable by hooking it up to a tuner. You're welcome to do so.

 

The thing I find most interesting about these golden-eared cable nuts is for some reason they usually refuse double-blind listening tests that would prove/disprove the so-called improved sound quality of their cables.

If you read my comments you'll find I am no proponent of spending thousands, nor one of using simple zip cord. As an engineer, you would see that the experiment in the video illustrates a valid point, and you'd ignore the host's hyperbole in using it as a "method" to evaluate speaker cables. A simple argument in favor of using better than zip cord is made by the video, as is the "snake oil price of admission" all the argument one needs to side against the other extreme. My whole point was that simple zip cord and expensive cables are the extremes of an issue who's answer lies somewhere in the middle. Your point seems to be to insult and argue.

[MechEngVic]

On 7/29/2020 at 5:27 AM, Don Richard said:

So let me get this straight -  hooking speaker cables to the antenna input of a tuner is a good indicator of it's audio quality as speaker wire? 

 

I have read where noise was getting into an audio system, and it turned out to be a nearby traffic signal controller. The speaker wires were picking up the noise, which was amplified through the amp's feedback circuit. Their solution for the problem was to use coaxial cable for speaker cable, with the shield connected to common. Please note that it was a combination of a nearby EMF producing device, the speaker wire, and the amplifier's circuitry that caused that audible issue.

 

If an EMI issue exists, shielding all wiring may be necessary. Some audio equipment is better at rejecting noise than other equipment, so YMMV.

I used to have a torchiere style floor lamp who's cord ran along with my speaker wires, and every time I turned it on to a middle brightness setting, I heard buzzing through my speakers. In that small apartment, I didn't have much placement choice. I read way back then that the complexity of your wire's windings helps with shielding, so I ended up braiding my own cables and put ferrite rings on the ends of them and it helped a lot. That's why the video resonated with me. This video's experiment got me thinking about the wires that come with a receiver for the FM antenna, it's basically zip cord. So if there isn't much difference in simple vs. expensive cables, then it behooves us to find where we can achieve gains for not outrageous prices.