Has anybody tried using single solid core cables?

Uberdine, in this wire gauge table AWG 24 is indicated as having a resistance of 25.67 ohms per thousand feet. Eight of them in parallel would have a resistance of 25.67/8 = 3.21 ohms per thousand feet. As you can see in the table that is very close to the resistance of AWG 15. So each of your two conductors is approximately equivalent to AWG 15.

Regards,
-- Al

Ozzy, your onto the real deal. I agree with your findings based on recent endeavors.

With the exception of my interconnects (copper/silver alloy, stranded) my power and speaker cables use solid core conductors.

The power cables are ~15 gauge DIY Home Depot-style solid core wires, twisted and non-shielded. These are connected sans powerstrip so that the respective conductor-ends (lead, return and ground wire) are tightened directly to each other via screw terminals.

Speaker cables are Mundorf's ~15 gauge Silver/gold (99% silver; 1% gold) solid core wires, teflon insulated, and tightly spaced in a pure cotton outer sleeve. As an on/off experiment these are connected in (single-wire) parallel mode with Mundorf copper foil coil-"wires" (28*0.07mm = ~14 gauge), with the foils more loosely spaced.

A friend gave me this tip, and while initially I was somewhat reluctant into following his advice - for no other reason really than ill-based skepticism (I'm no "techie") - I must say this combination of copper foil and silver/gold wire offers a very satisfying result as well. Compared to the silver/gold wires alone leading edges here seem sharper, less smeared; low end appears better integrated and more coherent, likely because of better very low end control and mid bass energy; mids have slightly more texture, fullness and presence, and the highs are a bit smoother with more substance.

Overall the sense of quickness, coherency, lack of smear, and presence/texture is more outspoken - in a sense a more intimate presentation, but without the soundstage being restricted as such.

I'd be very interested in knowing from others who've experimented with parallel speaker cable runs in single-wire configuration (solid core, preferably :)), particularly with different conductor materials and/or overall cable geometry.

From the perspective of wire directionality, how many high end cable manufacturers are there that mark their solid core cables with directional arrows? Part 2 - are there any manufacturers of stranded cables that mark their cables with directional arrows? Or would that be expecting too much, keeping track of the proper direction of all the various strands?

Try hooking your cables up backwards...all hell breaks loose, the cat explodes, and music becomes an unlistenable heap of cacophony rendering the listener on the floor curled into the fetal position wimpering, "stop, please stop."