Looking for really fine cables at really low price

Granny, I liked your thought to try a simple twisted pair but wanted more wire than 16 awg so I decided to also try some of the larger 14 awg that Teresa (tajacobs) is selling. The individual strand size is the same as with the smaller 16 awg wire. Theoretically, the quad run of 16 awg should perform better due to the star quad geometry I plan to use, the smaller individual wire gauge (e.g., 16 vs. 14 awg should have less skin effect, if you believe in that at audio frequencies) and the larger aggregate size (13 vs. 14 awg) but the differences are small so, you never know.

Mitch2 can you provide a link showing the braid method you are going to use? Thanks!

Hi Grannyring, with speaker cables and power cords, low inductance and low resistance are considered good. Heavier gauge wire reduces resistance and effective geometry can reduce inductance. A star-quad geometry is considered to lower inductance compared to a twisted pair and may also offer benefits by reducing the amount of stray magnetic field pickup.

I first heard about star-quad geometry from Jon Risch and Chris VenHaus (before he started VH Audio) over on Audio Asylum years ago. The geometry consists of twisting four wires together in an even twist that is tight enough to maintain shape when bent in normal use, but not so tight as to over-stress the conductors. The "star" part comes when you cross-connect the wires. In other words, connect one pair of wires that are opposite (not next to) each other for the positive polarity and the other opposite pair for the negative side. Chris VenHaus uses this geometry for his well-regarded Flavor 4 DIY power cable as illustrated by his star-quad DIY bulk power cable.

I believe braiding can have a similar effect in lowering inductance and is successfully used by Kimber, HomeGrown Audio, and most spectacularly by Jena Labs. Back in the early days of these websites, many folks successfully braided CAT 5 cable to make speaker cables. The multiple small gauge solid core braided wires is a theme used by Chris VenHaus in his well-regarded Chela cable and by HomeGrown Audio in their top-of-the-line X-32 silver speaker cables. I believe Jena's wire is stranded, as is Kimber's. Unfortunately, I have little experience with braiding cables.

I have a straight run from speakers to amp - no braiding or twisting and it sounds pretty damn good. Will I realize an additional benefit twisting the + and - around each other from speaker to amp?

It's questionable, to me. My Supras run parallel to each other with nary a twist and with barely any separation between them but then, they were designed that way.

I realize it's a completely different make of cable but it's similar in concept so maybe it's not necessary.

All the best,
Nonoise