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Can cables of any cost and quality provide bass response missing in my B&W speakers?

I'm sure variants of this question have been offered previously, but let me ask in light of the following:  I have a very modest main system powered by an Adcom 555II amp, Adcom GFP-750 pre-amp, and run into a pair of B&W CM-4 speakers (6.5in woofer, 6.5in. woofer/mid. and tweeter, and bi-wireable).  Any music with a moderate-to- heavy bass component (organ, bass fiddle, etc) just doesn't translate to my ear.  I'm using a mid-range pair of Monster cables, and in fact tried a second pair of Z-Series to no audible difference.  On the other hand I have a legacy pair of a/d/s 1090L tower speakers (2x7.5in woofers, 6in. mid-range, tweeter) that deliver thundering bass when needed regardless of cabling used, and powered by the same system.  Even tried passive bi-amping for the B&Ws by using an old Carver M-500t amp for HF input, and Adcom amp for LF input...no diff.  Is there any point really in looking at higher-end speaker wire of, e.g., thicker gauge, or exotic geometry, or multi-conductor "shotgunning", whatever, in order to induce greater LF response from the CM-4s?  Thanks for your patience.
compass_rose
williewonka
3,072 posts
 
@compass_rose - RE:

auxinput...so, how about just using No. 10/2 Romex cable...single Cu conductor, solid, unstranded? I have about 50ft left over from running 240V service for a wall heater...always curious how simple electrical wire would work in home stereo setup. Also, there is a stranded version as well - THHN #10, 19-strand pure Cu...cheap enough at Home Depot...not being sarky, a legitimate query.
Yes - it will work, but do you want the best out of your system?

How well it works depends on the origin of the wire. Not all Romex is equal

Good Cables are designed to combat many EMI/RFI effects within the cable itself - Romex is not - the result is a "smeared" sound that lacks clarity, details, dynamics AND (guess what) bass extension

But give it a whirl and then try a good cable - the difference should amaze you.

Despite many opinions to the contrary - a thicker gauge is not always better - I was using 10 gauge - I now use 16/13 Gauge (i.e. Signal/Neutral conductors) AND I get better bass performance than the 10 gauge.

It’s all about the cable geometry - i.e. how the conductors are positioned with respect to each other AND the gauge of the signal and neutral conductors - it is best if the neutral is a heavier gauge than the signal.

It’s taken me a couple of years of tinkering with cables to come up with this approach on my Helix cables, I even tried Romex (not good), so I speak from experience.

The cables I recommend in my post above are extremely good performers. There is little difference between them in sound quality. One is commercially available, the other is a DIY project.

But feel free to try the Romex - you may not hear the difference, which would save you a bundle

Regards - Steve



compass_rose OP
23 posts
 
Re: smaller gauge...there has been a huge boom in Duelund 16awg tinned CU speaker wire recently, sort of a knock-off of old Western Electric 16awg electrical wire (cloth-covered), which is still coveted and resold at remarkably elevated prices.  Also available at a fraction of the Duelund cost is Belden 9497, seemingly same specs - 16awg, individual strands tinned, but manufactured as a twisted duplex, available for example on Ebay @ $0.99/foot.  I plan on buying enough for double-runs to each speaker as part of on-the-cheap speaker cable evaluation.  Anyone have any experience with any of the above?  
Cheers.
compass_rose OP
23 posts
 
Re: Cerious Tech Graphene Extreme cables...there is a terminated pair being sold on AudioGon for $450/8ft.  Seems a reasonable price, but would love to try something as exotic as these on a money-back trial basis if little or nothing is gained in speaker performance.
mtrot
804 posts
 
Yeah, it looks like it will cost a couple hundred more $ to buy a 8 foot set direct from Cerious.  But at least you can get your money back if they're not worth it to you, and you will never know unless you try them.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

In response to the idea of using 10/2 romex, there are one or two companies that are doing very large awg solid-core speaker cable like this.  However, in my testing, I have found that the awg of the solid core will dictate the frequency response.  Smaller conductors (such as 22awg) will transfer high frequencies but not low.  Larger conductors will transfer low frequency waveforms well, but not higher frequencies.  When I tested using conductors down to 18awg and 16awg, I found a roll-off of high frequency response.  It become very "low fidelity" and I also found that there was a boominess or "blare" in the lower midrange.  (solid-core silver may be different, but then again, silver has it's own problems).

If you look at the Audioquest Midnight, you can see that it uses a combination of 3x17awg, 2x19awg and 2x21awg conductors to support the full frequency range.  The Type 8 uses four different conductors (16/18/19/20) to support the frequency range.

One note, if you get the Type 8, I would not recommend doing a bi-wire configuration because you are splitting off two of the conductors away from the woofers.  With this cable and your speakers, you want as much conductor for the woofers as possible.  You could, however, get two sets of Type 8 speaker wire and use one set for the lower/woofers and the second set for the mids/highs.

I have read a lot of "raves" about the Duelund 16awg.  I did take a look at it.  It uses oil/silk fabric wrap, which is excellent for dielectric, but it's still just stranded copper.  I haven't tried it, but I would suspect that I would still like the Audioquest Type 8 better than the Duelund.  I have used very expensive OCC copper STRANDED Furutech cabling, and it still doesn't sound as good as low end solid-core (it just doesn't sound right in my opinion).

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