Speaker Wire.. What do you recommend

[DrWho]

All of you electrical wizards, the ear, for me, is my testing equipment.

For what it's worth, all of science is based on perception (in the case

of audio, hearing). Engineers only use science to quantify their

perceptions to better equip themselves for the creation of future

products. Their ears most certainly aren't being turned off the second a measuring device gets pulled outta the closet.

Part of this process involves removing the possibilities for the

placebo effect. Everyone is susceptible to it and that is why engineers

rely on double blind listening tests, but to this day nobody has passed

one in regards to speaker wire of proper guage. I don't say this to

contradict anybody's perceptions, but rather to encourage them in the

name of science to prove that there is an audible difference.

Putting the audibility aside, everyone would agree that if it were

audible that the difference would be of a very small magnitude (it must

be so if only a select few golden ears can hear it). So the reason some

engineers scoff at the cable debate is because it makes such a little

difference in light of some of the other compromises in the signal

chain. Every piece of gear in the world has its own set of compromises

and there are a lot of pieces of gear that the original sound must go

through...including the cheap $10 XLR's used in the studios...[]

But if you hear a difference and it's an improvent and it increases

your enjoyment of the music and you feel that improvement is worth the

money then by all means continue to enjoy yourself. But let's not lose

focus of the need to address the larger issues first where there is

more bang for the buck.

[Guest " "]

It's all good if you can buy when the price is right. if you can pay HD or lowes prices for it, eeryone is OK with it.

[Jay481985]

One main issue that occured to me is the question of ...... Would you have brought the speaker based on the fact the wire you use or do you base it off what the speaker is? Would the wire have influenced your speaker choice? I think 99% people would not buy speakers based on what type of wire they have or will use.

I think speaker wire is like gas..... There almost all the same (ok some add more detergeants etc) but they make the car run and move doesn't it? No debate on octane though......

[Guest " "]

Gas, yes , glad you asked. Most cars run fine on 87 octane. 89, or 91 octane results in the on board computer rolling back on the mixture, and as a result, you wind up with unburnt fuel going thru you cat converter. Thats the cause of the rotton egg smell.

Back to wire. Buy when it is on sale, or buy on ebay when no one is looking.

This way you get the snake oil stuff at the HD or Lowes prices.

it's all good..it really depends on if you have primo conditions, or are like the conditions I have, in which really weird stuff is happening on the local circuts.

[Jay481985]

speakerfritz I might have to take you on the offer of a loaner pair of lascalas to umm test if home depot wire is better than my 10 gauge beldin or not... []

[Guest " "]

Not only will I loan you a set of LaScala's, I will even loan you some snake oil speaker cables.

As far as the compare goes, keep in mind, you have to compare to 8.97 worth of HD or Lowes cables, since I have posted and pointed out, that the monster XP HP cables are on clearance at 8.97

[oldbuckster]

Speakerfritiz, I paid 21cents a foot for my Monster XP 100' roll, sent to my home in upstate New York, with no 8% sales tax , for Amazon.com, one phone call, a week to receive, shipping was free..........You can't beat that with a stick........Your so right, there are deals out there, you have to look...............This debate is never ending, and I doubt that it will end on this forum, but I think we can all agree, it's in the GAUGE of the wire, and not who manufactures it......................Now let's talk about big speaker Stones............[]

[PhilMays]

Please parden this post...but...in my speaker wire trial days I decided to get some electical wire. It was 10 GA single strand. I spent the time to twisty tie it down the length.

When I hooked it to the speakers the wire did not transmit the highs and was extremely muddy. Of course I took it of immediatly and my brother in law used it for it's intent....wiring.

I'm not an engineer, just a hotel VP who would love to find something "magical".

Taking this a bit further. If that wire sounded that bad with one strand, and two stands I assume would sound somewhat better. Where does the stranding and sound improvement end?

Don't get me wrong...I'm not defending speaker wire at all. I have posted many time I would love to have my money back.

Phil

[DizRotus]

I once succumbed to temporary testosterone poisoning and bought 12 gauge clear jacketed Monster Cable. Its now been replaced with 14 gauge copper black jacketed Carol low voltage outdoor lighting cable from HD at less than $0.14/ft.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I could perceive no sonic difference between the two. The biggest difference is manageability. The 12 gauge is just too large. Connectors are not made to accommodate wire that size. Unless youre talking about runs greater than a few hundred feet, anything larger than 14 Gauge (and probably 16 gauge) is overkill, IMO.

The clear jacketed cable had all turned green from oxidation, but, again, I could perceive no degradation in sound from that change alone. Cutting into the cable revealed bright shiny strands of copper, more than enough to allow the electrons to freely pass.

Sure the electrons are upset that their path is not paved with gold or silver, but imagine their disappointment when they get to the networks and are expected to travel through steel, aluminum, lead and/or tin before they start their return journey to the amp, only to be greeted by more steel, aluminum, lead and/or tin. Why spoil the electrons with, silver or gold between the amp and the speakers when theyll be expected to pass through more plebian materials elsewhere in the circuit path?

Expensive cable is a relatively inexpensive luxury. Your friends can see it lying on the floor. If you feel that it improves your system in any way, then you should indulge. Its your money and they're your ears . . . and eyes.

[Lascaladan]

This hobby of ours is quite ride. I am glad we have the ability to talk about it. I am not here to "sell" a thing. I just want to share my experiences. There are many threads on this site. We can all choose which we want to be part of. I am very glad I joined this site. I mentioned some music to listen to that we can all use to "judge" our systems. Very numerous."The Joker" by Steve Miller is a great tune to listen to for bass speed, depth and articulation. Another is "Tin Pan Alley" by SRV. These are "simple" tunes that all can follow. They can be used to check room conditions, phasing, dynamics,etc. I, however, like using Jazz and Classical to listen for "coherence". Live recordings are also excellent. Our Klipsch really do well with these. We all should have "Jazz at the Pawnshop". Another favorite of mine is The Harper Brothers "Rememberance", live at the Village Vanguard. These ar recordings all of us should own(if you listen to jazz). Classical; Midori, Live at Carnegie Hall(on the Sony Label). I find alot of classical recordings, recorded digitally, to be a bit bright and cold. This might be one. But it does capture, beautifully, the recording venue. The performance is fantastic and puts you "there". I am always open to musical suggestions, and feedback. That, is why, we are here!

[SamS]

I admit to owning some fancy hi-end speaker wire (aquired at a substantial discount), but I'm all for something cheap that gets the job done.

In fact, just yesterday I purchase some 14/2 Romex electrical wire from Home Depot. It was about $12. It was posted above that this type of wire does not sound all that good, but I've used it before with decent results. Heck, it's just a solid strand of pure copper, how bad could it be? []