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How to select a good Speaker Cable

Speaker cables do have a significant role in how our system sounds. Different cables sound different. 

So which one is the right one for you?

The Speaker Cable is an extension of the Amp. and not an addition to the speaker's load. It shall have a certain resistance (low) not to spoil the Amp's DF figure. As so, it can be calculated and there is a formula to do it.

The higher the Amp's DF, the lower the Speaker Cable's resistance shall be. As today SS power Amp's get DFs of 400 and above (Digital Amps go by thousands) the cable of 10 ft (3m) long, gets as thick as 0 AWG.

I can see your eyebrows elevates, when that thick cable is to be deal with. Most Speaker Cable makers skip it because of that. So most cables on the market (regardless of the look or price) are of 14-12 AWG. Way less that supposed to be.

Worst! no Speaker Cable maker, dealer or seller knows the answer, of what is the correct cable for your system. 

So most of us ended up, with a cables too thin for the task.

A conducted test, on this site, about a year ago as well as with some closer friends, shows a significant improvement with a calculated size cable over their previous cable. The results were all positive and preferred the calculated cable.

So, instead of asking: which of two brands, or two prices or two colors of Speaker Cable do I need, you should ask how thick of a Speaker Cable do I need.

I'll be happy to provide you the calculation, for who request it. All you need to provide is:

1). Length (Ft. or meter)

2). The Amp's DF figure.

Thanks


128x128b4icu
djones51
4,947 posts
 
No I am going to argue numbers because you're trying to sell cables using irrelevant numbers. What's relevant is the DIFFERENCE  between one guage and the other using the amplifier resistance plus the wire resistance not the percentage of change in one wire over another without taking the DF into account. To be even more precise you should know the speakers impedance swing as well. 
b4icu's avatar
b4icu OP
553 posts
 
Mr. hilde45

Not yet.
All the cables thing was absolutely free.
I provided the calculation, some advice and all the rest was done (DIY) by those who had the will to pioneer the idea.
As you can see, some sharing of their comments is attached...

If someone would ask for a cable, I might do it. Never did it for sale or money.

However, I did developed some methods, to include one to use the same product, for #0 awg, 2x #0 awg and 4x #0 awg.
I made one #4 awg and one #0 awg for friends, for the cost of materials and shipping. (one is local (Israel) so no shipping, one was in Vancouver BC, Canada).
Now I'm building a #0 awg (10ft. / 3m long) for domestic demo.
b4icu's avatar
b4icu OP
553 posts
 
Mr. djones51

As you can see above, I’m not selling anything. I’m offering an idea for free. Mostly for a DIY project that cost below $100.- In this hobby it’s a small and insignificant amount that no other investment of $100 would do so much improvement to your sound quality.

For the calculations, sorry but you are wrong. It looks that you are determined to go against me, no matter what!

The speaker’s impedance is non relevant in this case. The Speaker Cables (even though they called so) are an extension of the Amp. and not of the load (speakers), when analyzed.

It can be a
Magi 1.6 or III, with 4 ohms and 86dB/w/m SPL efficiency (hard to drive) or a
Klipsch Forte-II with 8 ohms and 99dB/w/m SPL efficiency.
The same apply for both. It was checked and tested.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
The same don't apply for both. Why bother with DF? Speakers don't have a flat 4 or 8 Ohms they can fall to 1 Ohm and jump to 30 Ohms. A 4 awg cable in home audio is not necessary and when figured with amplifer and speaker resistance is a fraction of resistance of the whole. Now perhaps if your speaker run is 50ft to subwoofers it might have an audible effect but normal 8 to 12 foot runs I'm not going to bother with a battery cable. 
grm
149 posts
 
I used to be in the camp that wire is wire, I have learned through my own experience that this could not be farther from the truth. Speaker wire can have a large impact on SQ IMHO and I view speaker wire not so much as an extension of your amplifier, but more of an interface between Amp and Speaker. I have also learned that one not need to invest a major outlay of $ to get excellent results. Unless someone asks, I'm not going to bore readers of this with my long journey that resulted in my final "interface" with my speakers. The short answer is I ended up Bi-Wiring my speakers. My Speakers are two-way, each with a 15' run of #10 awg Belden 1313A going to the low frequency driver, and Audioquest Type 4 (#15.5awg) going to the high frequency driver. The results were excellent with this configuration and my total outlay ended up around $220 for two fifteen foot runs. I have read about many high-end Audiophile speaker cables, but there is no way I can justify spending over 5K on speaker wire, I just do not understand what I would be missing, I don't believe much! Thanks!  
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