No one actually knows how to lculate what speaker cable they need

OK, had to run an errand, so I stopped in Home Depot to check out 0 AWG wire.............Smallest/largest they had on hand was 2 AWG.............My God, the stuff is huge, heavy and stiff and this was stranded, sort of..............I'm not an electrician, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The biggest stuff I've used around the house was 10 AWG.........Cut a couple feet of this stuff and you could beat somebody to death with it!!.......I can't begin to imagine how you would properly connect it to binding posts or terminal strips.................Did I mention that it's huge?         and that wasn't even the 0 AWG I went looking for......Amps and speakers, at least the ones I've seen and own aren't set up for anything nearly that big, heavy or stiff...............Hope you have a workable fix for that little problem b4icu!!...................The upside is that it's pretty inexpensive by audiophile standards, especially if you can keep it on the shorter side. At least from a cost perspective it would be a reasonable experiment.

Quick check of car audio sites has "speaker wire" in the sizes we're talking about. The stranding is very fine and likely to be much more flexible than what I saw at HD today. That had 19 strands, each of which was quite thick and not bendy.............The weight and size will still be about the same I guess............0 AWG is still 0 AWG..............Starts to get a bit pricier though since now we're talking about speaker wires Vs welding cable!!......Anything "special" costs more :(

Sonicelectronix.com............NVX "0" AWG, OFC, high flex, silver tinned. On sale $170 for 50 foot roll, free shipping.......Any takers?

I've found a seller in the UK (chameleoncable on ebay) that sells 0 awg OFC copper cable. b4icu was kind enough to advise me that my set up (classe ct5300 -> B&W 802) would need 4 awg.

I've spoken with the seller and he'll make me up 4 x 2.5m 0awg cables with spades on each end for around £150. I think that's not a bad experiment for the money. My amp and speaker terminals are all at floor level so the weight won't be a problem.

If there's no sonic difference from my Van Dam blue 4mm, it should look cooler using 0 awg cable!

And if that doesn't work, I've also ordered some of that 12 awg silver cable mentioned earlier in the thread. Again, $120 for 10m of cable, you can't really go wrong.

Once I've had them made up and I've tried them out I'll post my findings. by all accounts I'm looking at a 60% upgrade.

Mr. shadowcat2016

We have a say in Hebrew: The beginning of an act shall be thinking ahead.

No, the HD wire is not for us. It is too rigid. A car audio or some other stuff would be better.

Some car audio do not have the gauge they claim. I did a car audio project, needed some 4 AWG kit and ordered one from the US.

The actual cable that arrived was more like an 8 AWG!

 

I'll repeat my say: After you hold a 0 AWG cable of whatever the length you need, how are going to use it?

No banana plug nor binding post can support it.

Soldering a 0 AWG is not a good idea. By the time it will heat up to melt the tin, the plastic cover will be melted at the ends...

A 0 AWG wire, when used in car battery applications, welding machines etc'. are crimped. So with airborne and military applications.

To press a 0 AWG cable shoe, a heavy duty tool is required. This entire thing can become a project of its own.

Just by getting a 0 AWG wire, you are not yet set.

If you have no choice but to have a longer cable and it needs to be 2x 0 AWG, you need more than that crimping tool. Much more.

There is a reason why most speaker cables are not coming at that gauge and those that does have a hefty price tag.

All I'm asking, once you have the recommanded cable (as calculated) please be kind to share it here. Tell us please what cable it replaced and what were your listening impressions. Thanks.