Solid copper or stranded copper for speaker cables? What is your choice and why?

cat 8 info

I found a version of this with 22 awg, these are 26 awg.

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In any case, I ordered half black, half red, cut the connectors off, twisted the red/black pairs, added WBT type connectors, done.

Mihorn + good description agree +++++.

@elliottbnewcombjr 

Back in the CAT5 days, the DIY SCs involved a lot of braiding, stripping, and bleeding fingers.  As you pointed out one method could be to simply use them as-is, but it seems another opportunity might be to twist four individual CAT8 cables and then connect them in a star-quad geometry for lower inductance. 
Using 22awg wire the individual CAT8 cables would result in a 13awg cable size per bundle, or 10awg if connected using star-quad geometry.  This source would be enough for a pair of almost 30-foot cables for only $140 or, a pair of 15-foot, bi-wire cables (two full runs per side), each cable at 10awg.

I still make my own cabling. I have specialized tooling to make cables of all types. My preferred base conductor material is round, high purity solid copper or silver 20 awg for analog. The Cu I like the best is OFC highly conductive, Ono cast (OCC),..... Silver is rated at "fine", no use in a higher purity silver.

I have found I prefer the sound balance across the spectrum using 20 awg solid. The way the base material is finished will make a difference. Polished works the best, there are 2 choices: chemical or mechanical. I prefer chemically polished, less dust.

The design I use is a gas suspension using polyethylene tubes that are sealed at the ends. For speaker cables I use 6 strands in separate tubes twisted around a seventh tube. I usually bi-wire my speakers. Hard to beat the performance at any price, but there is better.

mitch2

my friend has less efficient speakers, and that is exactly what he did.