I think the general feeling is that stranded is better than solid but likely some will feel otherwise.
09-19-10: Stanwal
Stan, I think you have it backwards.... More use solid core than stranded for audio branch circuit wiring.....
Cable Options from Breaker to Receptacle
There seems to be a number of products suitable to run from the main panel to the receptacles. I currently use Romex 10 gauge copper, but wonder if a more pure copper would make a difference. The run is not that long, so silver may also be possible. Manufacturers include:
Neotech
Cardas
Oyaide
Acrolink
Belden
Looking at Neotech, they even make a 9 gauge copper 'speaker cable' with a very robust housing. Also, a braided silver raw power cable which is incredibly expensive, but possibly with huge implications on the sound. Of course, these would be very difficult to maneuver in some situations.
It is difficult to do head-to-head comparisons, so perhaps people can relate their experience or speak to the use of these raw cables in building power cords.
Thanks
Neotech
Cardas
Oyaide
Acrolink
Belden
Looking at Neotech, they even make a 9 gauge copper 'speaker cable' with a very robust housing. Also, a braided silver raw power cable which is incredibly expensive, but possibly with huge implications on the sound. Of course, these would be very difficult to maneuver in some situations.
It is difficult to do head-to-head comparisons, so perhaps people can relate their experience or speak to the use of these raw cables in building power cords.
Thanks
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- 15 posts total
Just because more use solid than stranded doesn't make it better. Look at the forums and see the opinion of those who have compared the sound qualities of each. My tech friend, who has over 30 years experience, also told me to get stranded. I saw very few who had tried both and liked the solid better on the forums. |
Stanwal, With larger gauge stranded wire it is susceptible to strand jumping, strand modulation problems. The late Bob Crump on the subject. Solid core Romex has an absolute ton of inductance and you can use that to roll of the digital backwash and end up isolating your analog from digital with yards of the solid core Romex in the walls. Romex is insulated with PVC and, again I will say that PVC is what you want rather than anything faster as you just want to pass 60hz and attenuate anything above that.....Stranded wire, especially a twisted lay, will pass high frequencies better, exactly what you don't want to do with 60hz AC.......Regarding power cords made with PVC it apparently works pretty well as have sold over 8,000 of them the past 21 years....... Jon Risch , an EE on the subject. AudioQuest on the subject. |
Stranded wire, especially a twisted lay, will pass high frequencies better, exactly what you don't want to do with 60hz ACJim, even though this comes from a fairly distinguished source, I'm not sure it tells the whole story. Assuming the power amp is not Class A, as you certainly know the amount of current drawn will fluctuate widely, and will generally be drawn in bursts within each 60Hz cycle. During the increments of time when the amount of current is rapidly changing, frequency components will be present that are much higher than 60Hz. So higher inductance would seem to present a tradeoff between the noise filtering benefits it might provide, and degradation of power amplifier dynamics and transient response that it might cause (if the amp is not Class A). Also, fwiw, "strand jumping" and its alleged effects strike me as speculative, and I would want to see (and have yet to see) something that establishes its significance in a QUANTITATIVE manner. That said, I have no opinion on the question of solid vs. stranded. Best regards, -- Al |
- 15 posts total