Should I upgrade my speaker cables?

@mariobeniteziv 

Please go online to search for chenaudiolab Free Trial

@mariobeniteziv

You can find me when you click on the articles listed above me.

Thanks 

No, you should not upgrade them. 

How do I get cables from you ? Or are you with the cable company who I already talked to?

@mariobeniteziv

Audio cables are a special piece of equipment, and speaker cables even more so. The sound of each speaker cable will have its own unique emotional state, independent of price. I explain this mechanism of action in my article "Peculiities of the Audio System". You may find some interesting sound effects by experimenting with different speaker cables.

Over the past few months I've made matching cables for Genesis 200, Usher - Dancer Mini Two, German Physiks Borderland Mk IV, Tannoy TD 12, B&W Nautilus 801, ELAC Adante AF-61 speakers. The cable to match the ELAC Adante AF-61 was sent to the user a few days ago and he has yet to receive a comment. Every other user has sent me their surprises after 2 weeks of using the matching cable.

The matching cable is fully refundable so you can try it out to see how clear your speakers can sound.

You guys are awesome!!  Thanks for all the great advice 

Those fidelium cables caught my eye, what you guys think of them?

I’ve not heard them but the Enjoy the Music review along with several others here who own them rave about them got my interest.  I just read on another thread here that they may offer a 30-day, risk-free trial so might be worth looking into it further. 

@mariobeniteziv...

First - 1000 watts is the max output of your amp, so unless you are using it to drive speakers in a very large hall I doubt very much that you are coming anywhere close to using 1000 watts of power

Second, Classe amps are a high current Solid State design and as such, speaker cables having a high capacitance can drive amps of this design to a point of oscilation which can seriously damage the amp i.e. damage the internal circuitry

High end Cardas cables have a very high capacitance, so this is one brand of cable I would steer well away from - they are great for tube amps though.

An aquaintance had this same problem with his Ayre amp and later his Gryphon amp and TOTL Cardas speaker cables - very costly - switching to lower capacitance cables resolved the issue

I am of the opinion that the cables you have are perfectly adequate for your setup.

If its the quality of sound you are concerned with, try Hijiri cables for a more refined presentation

As a comparison - a 1700 watt hairdrier normally has a significantly smaller power lead, so the efffective gauge of the Nodost cables is more than capable of handling the power at play here.

Regards - Steve

I’ve been casually reading this thread because I’m curious as to what 4000 watts and a 90dB speaker sensitivity have to do with speaker cable.  On the loudest of musical passages, in a large room, how many transient watts are passed to the speakers.  I’m going to specify that nobody is to have permanent hearing loss and no drivers will be destroyed in the process.

I thought about that , but I need 2 sets, and it’s hard to find just one set, any ideas where I can get used Valhalla 2? I heard any Heimdell 2 are better than Valhalla 1 but not better than the 2

If you have that kind of budget you can buy used TYR 2 or Valhalla 2 Speakers cable USED....

 I found a gauge converter calculator and 18 strands of 22 gauge translates to 10 gauge all together 

It is easy to remember that every 3 steps of gauge double the area.  In this case:
gauge 22 - 1 strand
gauge 19 - 2 strands
gauge 16 - 4 strands
gauge 13 - 8 strands
gauge 10 - 16 strands

In addition it is enough to remember that middle of the pack gauge 16 is about 4 mohm/ft.  According to double area rule gauge 13 will have 2 mohm/ft and gauge 10 will be 1 mohm/ft

Those fidelium cables caught my eye, what you guys think of them?

One set of Heimdells 2 is 4 meters, the other set is 3 meters,  that is what my dealer had available at the time, to be honest 2.5 meters is all I need.  I’m starting to hear It’s not a bad idea to to just keep the Heimdells, I found a gauge converter calculator and 18 strands of 22 gauge translates to 10 gauge all together 

Look into Townshend Audio's F-1 Fractal speaker cables. They best most everything and they are reasonably priced. I have a pair that replaced my Straight Wire Crescendo's and the improvement was more than significant. Their Fractal interconnects are also fantastic. 

Heimdal2 is not a low tier model, it is the low end of the higher tier Norse2 series.  As such, it uses the same materials and tech as upper Norse2 models.  You don’t say how long they are…it matters.  Kijanki spelled it out…he must be a physicist…so if your speaker wires are under 3M I’d say you are getting what Nordost has to offer.  You can try some Transparent Ultra or Cardas Cygnus if you want a mellower balance, at the expense of $$$$ and maybe a little clarity, or as the Bris call it, insight.

Check with a local dealer. Often demoing cables is a lot easier than equipment. Good luck and let us know how you make out. 

Thanks 

i agree, welcome.

I would say it is likely you can improve the sound of your system with a different choose. Not so much because of the change in wattage… more in terms of a cable upgrade. My experience is that upper end Nordost are really good sounding… not so much the lower tires.

But it isn’t entirely a question “of better”, more a question of sounding better in your system… but also higher quality. You need to find ones that make your system sound better… typically the only way to do this is try them. If you think your system sounds perfect… then you will not be looking for a warmer or more crisp cable. But you still might find that one or the other helps. You might try a high end Nordost, Audio Quest, Transparent, Cardas, and wire world. These have huge advantages of being widely professionally reviewed so you can get an idea of their characteristics before borrowing some… then help to make further choices. 
 

You need to make sure any you try are broken in and you listen to them a lot as you want all the nuances to be positive to you. Not just have them sound more detailed or have more slam.

Try lending library at the cable company.

I wouldn't.  18 lines of gauge 22 is area equivalent to gauge between  9 and 10.  Resistance will be in order of 1mohm/ft.  20mohm (both ways total) of 10ft cables is very low.  Yes, it is creating divider with the impedance of the speaker, but it is the same divider no matter what delivered power is.   Are you afraid of overheating the cable?  Even if you run 12A causing 3W power dissipation in the cable it is only 0.3W per foot and it is peak power. Dissipated heat is a function of average power, that for music is very low - perhaps the highest for popular music at about 7% of the peak power - making here 20mW per foot.

Thanks, I will check them out 

You might try Fidelium cables — they’re getting quite the buzz and may save you $1000s.  

Welcome to the forum.