DIY speaker wire: does insulation matter?

Cotton is a terrible suggestion as a dielectric for a copper conductor. Untreated cotton will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and allow unabated access of the atmosphere to the conductor. In the form that you will be using it in it's dc is a min. 3.9 a bit higher then PVC (not good for this app.)BTW I believe anti-cables use a polyester varnish like magnet wire not PVC.

The only thing cotton has going for it is that it reduces vibrations that is why it is used as a filler not an insulation.

Try something with teflon...
http://www.takefiveaudio.com/mall/shopdisplaycategories.asp?id=8&cat=Cable%2FWire

I tried Anti-Cables twisted and not.... I untwisted them for a more open and effortless sound.

Re voltage levels, I had my calculator handy and I did a representative calculation. 200 watts into an 8 ohm speaker corresponds to 40 volts rms (root mean square) or 57 volts peak.

Regards,
-- Al

Thanks all.

Al: thanks for the explanation and running the numbers. My amp is 2x75 W so taking 57 V peak is more than safe. Still, 57V is rather low voltage in terms of insulation, so that's good news.

CPK: thanks for pointing out anti-cables are insulated with poliester. Maybe insulating mine with mylar (which is a poliester) is a good start. I didn't understand your comment: "In the form that you will be using it in it's dc is a min. 3.9 a bit higher then PVC (not good for this app.)" Could you elaborate?

Thanks again!

You're welcome! 75W into an 8 ohm speaker would be only 24Vrms or 35Vpeak.

By "dc" CPK meant "dielectric constant," which is proportional to the capacitance the cable will have, and the amount of "dielectric absorption." Thicker insulation will also increase capacitance, everything else being equal, and thinner insulation will reduce it.

My own feeling is that as long as it is within reasonable limits capacitance in an 8 foot speaker cable is not especially critical. It would be more important in an interconnect cable, because of the much higher output impedance of the component driving the cable. The opinions of others may differ on this, and I readily acknowledge that other factors, known or unknown, might in some systems make capacitance more important than I am envisioning.

Enjoy your project!

Regards,
-- Al