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Speaker cable vibration?

After trial and error, I discovered that a certain 'edginess' and lack of coherence I was hearing from my speakers was due in part to the physical vibration of the speaker cable and connectors. As music was playing, I felt the connectors where they connected to the binding posts, and they had significant vibration, in direct relation to what the drivers were doing. Also, to a lesser degree but in the same vein, the speaker cable itself was also vibrating.

I then tried damping the the cable and connectors with very DIY items from Home Depot -- pipe insulation and felt washers for sinks. The result was a much tighter, smoother more natural and direct sound.

I am in the middle just now of receiving different speakers after selling off the ones I was using. I have wondered if poor binding post insulation was the culprit, and will find out more definitively once I try the new speakers and see if vibrating binding posts are still an issue.

I bring this up, because:
1) The issue seems significant in its affect on the sound
2) I haven't read/heard much about this before (I would think any significant source of vibration would have been jumped on by the tweak companies by now)
3) Why haven't speaker cable companies addressed this
4) Curious to hear from others

The sound has been improved, but looks-wise, I've got speaker cable wrapped in pipe insulation. Not very WAF to say the least. I do know of one company -- Acoustic Revive -- that I think has some sort of insulation in their connectors. FYI my speaker cables are thick Synergistic Research with WBT 0645 banana connectors.
tholt
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
Well I found with my KEF Q300 bookshelf speakers that not only do the binding posts vibrate but the whole enclosure of the speakers vibrates when music is playing. Top, rear, sides... I know. I know. What did you think was going to happen?

I guess I'm used to the internal bracing and thicker cabinets of the bigger older KEF floor standers where you don't feel much vibration when you touch the speakers when music is playing.
wolf_garcia
6,711 posts
 
Harbeth makes very expensive speakers that vibrate like crazy...part of their design.
dover
2,249 posts
 
I have found the easiest upgrade to many speakers is simply to pull the crossover out of the box. Even without updating capacitors, this generally yields a significant improvement. I assume the sound inside the box has quite a deleterious impact on crossovers.
highend4me's avatar
highend4me
16 posts
 
Go see a doctor seriously. Read your post again, obsessed with your equipment rather than just listening and enjoying music.
tholt OP
551 posts
 
11-30-11: Highend4me
Go see a doctor seriously. Read your post again, obsessed with your equipment rather than just listening and enjoying music.
Highend4me (Answers | This Thread)

Posted to an audiophile forum in a site that sells nothing but audio equipment, your "obsessed with equipment" comment is curious, Mr "Highend4me". Further, I think it's you who need reread my post, in particular the part where I write "The issue seems significant in its affect on the sound," and tell me how that's not related to enjoying music. But thanks for the advice. I was hoping someone with real enlightenment would finally chime in.
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