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

Mr. glupson

How does it work in engineering:

Most times when values are minor regarding the other major circuit values, they tend to be ignored. Otherwise, it may complicate a lot the calculations. When it must be meticulously engineered (NASA, military, medical life saving etc’) no short cuts are allowed.

If you would like to dig into it, the path between the amplifier’s power supply back to ground, through the speaker cables and the speaker components, could be represented by a series of resistors (in the speaker there are also non resistive elements, as capacitors and coils). R=R1+R2+R3…+Rn. https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/resistor/res_3.html

That would also apply to the cable part as a standalone.

Each piece in that puzzler equals to some R:

· The banana plug contact area with the binding post’s,

· The banana plug itself,

· The short cable between that plug and the 0 AWG cable,

· The two connections: between the banana and the short cable,

· The short cable with the 0 AWG, to be applied in both ends (added twice).

On top, the R should be doubled, as we have two cables per channel: the red and the black.

For some you might need to do a measurement as it might be impossible to calculate.

For some reason, you are now digging into the most minor details of a 0 AWG cable, at a time before this thread, all were good so with a 12-14 AWG cables!

I’ve been following this thread since the beginning and have been sitting on the sidelines questioning myself if I should participate or not. I am not a EE nor do I play one on TV but I like many here have been in this hobby most of my life. I’ve learned a lot over the years, and much has been pure snake oil and some tweaks that appeared to be off the wall have me further pursuing this hobby I have spent some forty years playing with.

I’ve learned a lot of things just can’t be measured or be proven by any equipment, logic or math but my ears tell me otherwise. Maybe I’m the fool with a decent enough income to play along... I don’t know and really I don’t care. I know what I like and that’s all that matters to me.

I’m sure I’ve missed a few post and honestly I’m not going to spend the time to read through all this again but I do believe it’s only fair to hear for oneself if there’s an improvement to ones system regarding the OP’s claim. My short research on the cable most often suggested does not seem to be expensive so why not see or hear. I really don’t care about whether or not there really is or is not a secret formula, but maybe it’s just a gut instinct the OP persues. From what I’ve read no one can really argue b4icu doesn’t have some smarts or maybe just spends a ton of time researching things on the internet and post the links back to us;,my guess he has a background in math and EE above mine so I’m smart enough not to get in a pissing contest.

OK... enough jibber jabber from me. I want to participate and I give my word to b4icu I will buy and build these cables and give you my honest opinion of them on my system and I will compare them to the two cable brands that anyone here can go to my profile to see what I have and my associated equipment. My gear is decent and although not as costly as many here I do have a good ear and I am a musician so I know what to listen for or knows what many instruments sound like on stage.

Before I throw out my amp, speakers and length of I do have a question that maybe has already been asked, but as I stated I’m not going to go back and read through all these post so please forgive me if it’s been mentioned several times. I am curious with such a large cable running the + and - parralel to each other not being twisted around each other is there any concern of these becoming an antenae basically picking up nearby radio stations - RF/EMI? I would think it’s possible. I know as a kid back in the 80s I had a speaker cable that was not twisted or braided that did just that.

I have a Pass Labs X250 amp not a .5 or .8 and I believe the DF is 250. My speakers are Aerial Acoustics 7B’s and my speaker cables are 8ft long per side. I biwire at the speakers only with wire jumpers, so my cables are not configured for biwire. As mentioned above I will build the cables, which I’ve built many cables over the years so I will be careful and not blow anything up. As mentioned earlier I was thinking why use a block or make a pigtail to connect to spades or bananas but just cut back the strands 6” or so from the end before termination... why have anything to degrade the signal?

I look forward to your response on size of cable to proceed and it has to be a 8ft pair please so my comparison between my two other cable brands is fair. I will likely try the experiment cables with the stock speaker biwire metal straps and the two other brands of jumpers I have. In closing I am curious if you have any concerns with RF/EMI and if you do not I would appreciate your response why. Again if the subject of RF/EMI has already been discused I do apologize.

Mr. adg101

Welcome to the thread. Good luck with the cables DIY. Regarding your speaker cable requirements (DF is 250. My speakers are Aerial Acoustics 7B’s and my speaker cables are 8ft long per side) you need a 2 AWG. A 0 AWG will be also fine.

What is the thickness of the cables you are currently using?

Bi-wire as you use it (short jumpers and one cable) is the best. Keep it this way.

EMI RFI

No speaker cables need any EMI/RFI treatment. The Amp's output impedance is so low, that it is like a short circuit to GND, from EMI/RFI aspect. The twisted pair however, may cause some capacitance and inductance while two separates won't. (I explained it down this thread already). There will be no noise issues with the speaker cables I offer (for you to DIY).