Has anybody tried using single solid core cables?

Best solid core I ever tried is from Acoustic Revive. Sold my Nordost Valhalla and Audioquest and never looked back. Using bare wire, and short lenght. Very analog and organic sound. Still loads of details. Pure music bliss

I’ve tried some VERY cheap solid core telephone wire (0,5mm) for high tones, solid core electric cable (not sure, maybe 2mm) for low tones. OMG the sound was freakin awesome! But of course it’s not a pretty sight all those loose cables. Maybe I’ll try to wind em all together this weekend or something.

I have been wrestling with cable connectivity for many years now. Recently purchased several MORROW cables after reading all of the reports. Their design approach was different than other cable manufacturers I have tried, and been and been left with that "lack luster" feeling, just shy of dissapointment ! Anyhow, MORROW'S cables sounded at least as good as the best I have tried, right out of the box with minimal break in. I was set back a bit, by their claim that the cables had to be broken for 400-500 hours to reach their peak performance. Basically, after several hunderd hours, I did some very detailed A/B tests with the MORROW cables against my other three top performing cables. The results were somewhat mixed. Bottom line; - -  the MORROW cables sounded as good as my other three test cables, in most areas, but I honestly can't say that I found any significant increase in audible performance by comparison, as their advertisments promote.  So, on to the next step.!!

Several years ago I purchased some solid core cables that proved to be very difficult to install in my large audio console, due ti their extreme stiffness. At the time, I didn't pay much for them so I gave it up, and set them aside. A couple of years later I purchased a pair of solid core interconnects from an individual associated with the Chicago Audio Engineering Society. Very strong performance testimonies ! Again they proved to be very difficuly to route and install. I asked for a specific length, which the individual accomodated me with. Anyhow after installation and break in, I felt that the cables did sound different than others, in a good way. Without going into detail, I liked the cables enough to leave them in my system and purchased another pair. Again, as time went on, I ended up retiring them, and were replaced  with some very expensive interconnects that I managed to obtain two pair from a dealer who I had an association with, at a very large discount.  The cables impressed me in several areas and resulted in my leaving them installed as my reference cables. 

That brings me up to a couple of weeks ago.  I had some time on my hands, so I decided to do some experimentation after reading blogs pertaining to solid core versus stranded cables. 

I happened to have (lying around) A  solid core power cable that I used on and off, plus the old solid core interconnects and speaker cables. I thought, "what the hell", I'm going to try ALL solid core wiring from my power outlet; - -  the interconnect between my CD player to the amp, and then (with a great deal of wrestling) managed to route the very stiff speaker cables to my reference speakers. Anyhow, after system warm up, I thought that I would try a listening test with a couple of CD's that always had a slightly distorted, grainy sound, especialy during very dynamic higher frequencies. Well, surprise, surprise !! All the grain, strain and distortion disappeared. At first I was set back a bit, having some difficulty understanding what was going on here, and beliving what I was hearing. So I dug out several other CD's that I felt had always proven to be problematic sounding, in different areas.  "SAME RESULTS" They all sounded as though they had been "re-mastered", so to speak.  All the "grunge" was gone.  Anyhow, after this revelation,I thought I'd share this with anyone who wants to read my ramblings. It seems, at this point, that the "trick" here was using solid core wiring connections from the power outlet all the way to the loudspeakers.  When I have more time, I intend to do more A/B tests to determine, in my mind, if the premise here is valid. All I can say at this point is that the experience here was a real eye opener, and a strong accolade for the use of solid core OCC high purity copper cableing throughout an audio system. That seems to be the answer as to why using solid core, just here and there during listening tests, never yielded these astounding results.  So be it !!

Quite the mixed bag of opinions in this thread - so here’s my observations of wires tried in the past year :-)

In order of preference (Good to Best) by cable type

Interconnects (signal wire)...
- 1 x16 and 2 x 16 gauge Duelund stranded - Tinned Copper in Cotton/Oil
- 2 x 18 gauge Solid copper with AirLok insulation - VH Audio
- 2 x 18 gauge Mundorf Solid (bare wire) - Silver/Gold(1%) in Cotton Sleeve
NOTE: - the last two appear to be extremely close sonically

Speaker (signal wire)
- 1 x 12 gauge Duelund Stranded - Tinned Copper - polymer insulation
- 1 x 16 gauge Duelund Stranded - Tinned Copper - Cotton oil
- 2 x 18 gauge Solid copper with AirLok insulation - VH Audio

Power Cables (Live wire)
- 1 x 12 gauge Duelund Stranded - Tinned Copper - polymer insulation (FOR SOURCE AND AMP)
- 4 x 18 gauge Solid copper with AirLok insulation - VH Audio (FOR SOURCE AND AMP)
- 1 x 18 gauge Mundorf Solid - Silver/Gold(1%) in Cotton Sleeve (FOR SOURCE COMPONENTS)
- 1 x 12 gauge Neotec OCC Solid copper (bare wire) in cotton sleeve (FOR AMP)
OR if oyu don’t like cotton sleeve for power cables...
- 1 x 12 gauge Neotec OCC Solid copper (bare wire) in teflon tube

Please NOTE: the neutral wires on all of the above cables are stranded, Silver Plated Mil-Spec (Cryo treated) with Teflon insulation - I have tried better quality wires for the neutral, but they made no difference.

Are there better wires? - probably, but these are the wires I have settled on - for now :-)

In general, I observed improvements in...
- Clarity - more noticeable vocal textures (e.g. sibilance) and cymbal work
- Details - in both upper frequencies - a lot more venue acoustic details and for lower frequencies - bass textures
- Dynamics - significantly better bass "slam" and crisper drums/guitars
- Image size and artist placement accuracy and focus in width and depth

It appears, to my ears at least, that Solid conductors provide the best sound quality - however, the type of insulation also plays a significant role in sound quality...
- the best being a bare wire in a cotton sleeve OR in a Teflon tube that allows for air between the wire and the side of the tube.
- Insulations that are molded onto the wire, like Teflon, PVC, appear to have a significant impact whereas foamed insulation variants (like that on the VH Audio wire) performs noticeably better than non-foamed.

Just another opinion :-)

Regards - Steve

@runnin , The impact of the inductance of ROMEX will far exceed any impact of skin resistance at audio frequencies, i.e. 20KHz.

runnin397 posts11-16-2015 1:10pm

On using romex or "HomeDepot" wire, there is a drawback. Larger gauge copper has skin effect, and the wire will also oxidize quickly compared to OFC.