Duelund speaker cable gauge for my system?
Hi everyone!
I feel like trying a different flavor of speaker cable. At the moment using some Chinese "Neardost Odin" cables (OFC copper, silver plated, teflon insulation of each individual core) and it's a very good cable, but I'm trying to get rid of everything silver plated in my system (because of a slight unnatural glare).
Using very high sensitivity horns in an active tri-amped situation: subs <60Hz, bass and low mids 60 > 500Hz, mids and highs > 500Hz.
Average sensitivity from 60 to 20KHz is 105dB. Midbass drivers are 15inch, horn loaded.
I listen to almost every music genre there is, including electronica / techno.
In my system only the range above 60Hz would be concerned by the Duelund cable.
And, I don't know what gauge to choose! Should I take 16GA (my instinctive choice) or 12GA? I'm confused.
Also, do the recently added "dual" wires sound different than the single 16GA or 12GA?
And last but not least, is the Duelund cable suited for every musical genre? Is it smooth at high levels? (I tried Belden 9497 for a while and, while I liked it very much at low SPLs, I found it insufferably rough and gritty at higher SPLs...)
Thanks!
@ghdprentice +1 I agree. Solving that problem with wire changes sounds like chasing your tail. BTW, I have a wide variety of speaker, interconnect, and power cables made from both Duelund and old stock Western Electric tinned copper wire. The house sound is full-bodied and somewhat midrange-centric. Another similar wire you could consider is made by Jupiter Condenser Co. in 16 and 12 gauge twisted pairs. The machine twist is nice. |
Well, a friend of mine sent me a short length of Duelund DCA12GA 600Vdc. It is the wire that is recommended for power cables, but some people like it a lot as speaker cable. I know my friend did! On horns. The difference is the dielectric, which is oiled cotton on the regular DCA cable, and a "Polycast" resin on the 600Vdc cable. So, I connected the left channel with the Duelund, leaving the old cable on the right channel (there was not enough length to do both) and I must say that I’m impressed. The Duelund DCA12GA used as speaker cable sounds a bit dark, very meaty, "intimate" but is articulate and quite detailed - I don’t feel there’s anything missing from my music. It seems the synergy with my horn speakers (which are not exactly "soft" sounding) and electronics (Gustard X26Pro DAC, Pass b1 preamp, Sublime Acoustics K231 active crossover, class D chip amps) is just right, toning it down a bit without sounding overly soft or mellow - electronica and rock sound great, upper bass is punchy and meaty, guitars have bite but everything is just darker in color) On a laidback system, it would probably be better to use the regular Duelund cable, but on a bright / upfront system, the 600V cable works really well. So, I’ve ordered some length of DCA12Ga 600Vdc to be able to cable the whole system, and I will come back to give my impressions with both channels. I expect the burn in period to be long and difficult but I’ll hang in there! |
