Math + Logic + Science = something completely mad...


So, I've done a metric fuckton of research, notwithstanding the clear bias the man who designed and built my Belles has against esoteric cabling.  And here's the conclusion to which I arrived. 

My monoblocks are sitting on top of the speakers.  The distance from the amp to the speaker is barely a foot, which is exactly how long a run of wire I intend to use.  Goal is to minimize the effect the wire has on the sound.  

According to the calculations I've seen and done, the skin effect depth on copper wire at 20Khz is 461 micrometers.  Meaning a 19-gauge copper wire (911 mics diameter) would reduce skin effect to zero.  As in no impact whatsoever on the signal. 
 
Of course, it's actually very difficult to find 19-gauge wire.  18-gauge (1024 mics) is much easier, and the skin effect is near zero, but not quite zero.  Seems to be an acceptable compromise. Could go down to 20-gauge and eliminate skin effect entirely.  If I could find insulated aluminum wire, 18-gauge would eliminate skin effect entirely, because skin effect depth on aluminum at 20khz is 580 mics.  

12 inches of 18-gauge wire produces 0.006 ohms of additional resistance.  20-gauge = 0.01 ohms.  

Frankly, I don't see the value in spending big bucks on esoteric, heavy-gauge wire for this application.  I'd rather make the bigger investment in the 2m runs from the preamp to the blocks, because that's where the wire's going to have a hell of a lot more of an effect on the sound.  

Stepping back to allow you all the opportunity to punch holes in my thought process here. 
jerkface
running a short piece like that is going to act more like a light bulb than a speaker wire.
I don't get how you arrive at this conclusion.  Again, 12 inches of 18 gauge wire adds a net of 0.006 ohms of additional resistance to the signal.  

Also, light bulb filament is a mere 46 micrometers - it doesn't even rate on the AWG scale, the smallest gauge being 38AWG (100 micrometers).  

Care to explain the science behind your declaration? 
I was half joking, thinking out loud. I couldn’t imagine putting my MacIntosh mono blocks on top of my speakers with a little tiny 18 gauge wire. Seriously I don’t know,Wouldn’t the wire at least get warm if you played it at a continual hundred watts?
Wouldn’t the wire at least get warm if you played it at a continual hundred watts?
 Report this
Two part response here:

1) These are 25-watt monoblocks going into horn-loaded loudspeakers.  So they will never see 100 watts.  Not even at peaks. 

2) Heat generation is directly proportional to resistance and current.  More resistance + more current = more heat.  The amount of current flowing through a speaker wire is laughably small, even with big SS amps.  And further, if a small-gauge speaker wire was at risk of catching fire at 100 watts, you'd have to think that the much tinier wires on the other end of the speaker's crossover would instantly burst into flames, because they're typically 24AWG or smaller.  
Sounds like you have a plan.  Go for it!

Can you provide a picture of your setup?
NO. Setting amps on speakers.
NO. 18 gage cable.
NO. skin effect

If you don’t have the room for the amps come up with a different plan.
A good 8 - 16 strand OCC/silver clad PTFE weave up to 3 meters long will work perfect. Red copper or copper/silver terminal ends. (B-16) is an option. OCC or OFC 8-24 strand weave PTFE is another.

No idea where you got your information.. We’re not rewiring a toaster or an ARC welder. The RIGHT kind of cable selection goes a long ways as far as "How does it Sounds".

You’ll squeak out some sound with #18 all right.. :-)

The cable I’m talking about sells for 250 - 3500.00 +. Depends on who’s name is on it..

They actually cost about 150.00 usd. Delivered.. and put together pretty well if you want someone else to do the work..

Second option is a ribbon design.. Same price very close in SQ to Norcast Vanilla. They make anything sound as good as it’s gonna get..
Ribbons and weaves are really really good cables for the money.

GREAT cables are very affordable, LOL so are BAD ones..

Time to feed the chickens..

Regards