2. cables
  3. 126393-65769

Doubling a Set of Speaker Cables

While reading a "professional "review of the Daedalus Audio Ulysses Floorstanding Speaker, the reviewer is adamant about the improvement TWO sets of speaker cables connected to each speaker - regardless of the brand - makes.

This is something that crossed my mind long ago, prior to reading it now, but I’ve never realistically considered trying it nor have I ever come across this in a review. At face-value it seems to me this technique would do more harm than good. I’m wondering if there are any folks on the forum using this technique of two sets of cables (and as mentioned in the article this is irrespective of bi-amping or merely using a smaller gauge) and if so, can/do you vouch for any "improvement" one should expect.

Thanks.

http://www.dagogo.com/daedalus-audio-ulysses-floorstanding-speaker-and-bass-optimization-woofer-bow-...
128x128gdhal
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
... it’s quite possible that doubling speaker cables is also doubling cable capacitance, and I’m not sure about inductance.
Hi Erik,

My initial post above addressed that. Paralleling ("doubling") identical speaker cables will double capacitance, which under most but not all circumstances will not matter. It will also cut inductance (as well as resistance) in half. The reduction in inductance is most likely to make a difference if speaker impedance at high frequencies is low (the impedance presented by an inductor increases as frequency increases), and/or if cable length is long (cable inductance is proportional to length).  Electrostatic speakers, in particular, tend to have very low impedances at high frequencies. 

That difference, if it occurs, would be in the direction of greater accuracy of signal transfer, but of course whether or not the improvement in accuracy would be subjectively preferable in a given system to a given listener is another matter.

Regards,
-- Al

gdhal's avatar
gdhal OP
1,641 posts
 
I appreciate the feedback from all of you. At least there are some goners here that have tried this doubling technique and report positive results. That too gives me something to consider.

I'm currently using Belden 5T00UP wire. That's not entirely by choice and is somewhat dictated by cost as I simply wouldn't feel comfortable spending hundreds if not thousands on cables, like the Graphene cables mentioned in another thread or many of the other exotic cables out there. In addition, I'm connecting the bare wire to the binding posts and they wouldn't accept a larger wire / small gauge, so to even try doubling I would need spade connectors or similar.

This is an excerpt from the Blue Jeans Cables website. While this has essentially been stated in this thread, they sum it up rather eloquently.

"Because speakers are driven at low impedance (typically 4 or 8 ohms) and high current, speaker cables are, for all practical purposes, immune from interference from EMI or RFI, so shielding isn't required. The low impedance of the circuit, meanwhile, makes capacitance, which can be an issue in high-impedance line or microphone-level connections practically irrelevant. The biggest issue in speaker cables, from the point of view of sound quality, is simply conductivity; the lower the resistance of the cable, the lower the contribution of the speaker cable's resistance to the damping factor, and the flatter the frequency response will be. While one can spend thousands of dollars on exotic speaker cable, in the end analysis, it's the sheer conductivity of the cable, and (barring a really odd design, which may introduce various undesirable effects) little else that matters. The answer to keeping conductivity high is simple: the larger the wire, the lower the resistance, and the higher the conductivity. "
davehrab's avatar
davehrab
380 posts
 

I will plead guilty to using a double run or shot gun style speaker cable set up ... I started with a single run of Ridge Street Audio Poiema !!!'s and then added a second set for all the reasons Al mentioned ... lower resistance lower inductance and lower impedance

 These are high purity silver based flat ribbon cables in cotton with no shields ... I choose them because IMO flat ribbons offer greater band width .. better noise rejection and are relatively immune to skin effect

  I started with a single run of the RSA P!!!'s and then added a second set ... the difference wasn't night and day ... more like dusk to dawn ... but all positive with no down side

 The basic metrics of Bass - Mid Range and Treble along with dynamics and sound stage show little or no change ... but the overall presentation was more relaxed and natural sounding with more swing and sway (PRAT)

 I could tell immediately that there was an improvement, but was hard put to put my finger on what improved

  My WAG is the reduction in impedance allows for faster and easier signal flow and transfer ... thus the improvements in speed .. edge detail .. trailing/decaying  transients and notes starting and stopping ... which make for a more relaxed natural presentation

  I run my set up a little differently than the conventional way shot gun set ups are run  ...rather than stacking one speaker wire set on top of the other set at the binding post ... I take each individual + and - pole of the individual speaker cable and tie them together at the amp and speaker termination this way each individual run is either positive or negative ... hopefully reducing the inductance of the + and - poles in a speaker cable that induce from the Positive run to the Return or Negative run when both are run inside the same sheathing

   If you are looking to improve something in the basic metrics of your system that is lacking ...  this won't help much ... I don't see it improving some characteristic problem in your system that is a problem ... it is more a enhancement of the general presentation sorta like waxing you car after washing it

 The washing of your dirty car brings back all the glory of that custom paint job but the waxing just brings out or enhances the custom color

 The washing is improved and enhanced by the waxing .

.



     Enter your text ...

miko71's avatar
miko71
75 posts
 
Skin effect is a problem in high voltage power lines. Not speaker cable measured in feet.

Jusr like power lines, gauge is the primary factor. 10 awg or lower and your golden.
skoczylas's avatar
skoczylas
241 posts
 
how can you effectively connect double runs to the binding posts? 
More to discover