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Twisted or Straight?

I searched Audiogon for info on inductance and capacitance. From an excellent post by Sean on March 24, he explains that inductance increases with wire spacing ant that capacitance increases as wires move closer together. Therefore, a twisted pair raises capacitance as contact between wires is increased. On the other hand, I'm a bit confused in that I thought winding wire would increase inductance.
Here is my question: For an ac power cable running from the panel box to the outlet, would it be better to run twisted wire or straight (i.e., parallel) wire? Specifically, I'm referring to twisting the hot, neutral and ground vs. having them run parallel? I've read strong preferences for both. Per Subaruguru's post, straight romex increases inductance and allows unwanted high frequencies to roll off. Other posts suggest that twisted is better. Please help me sort this out since I am running dedicated lines to my stereo. Thanks in advance.
ozfly
bishopwill
369 posts
 
Glen,

You forgot the 27 vestal virgins singing the Benjamin Britten "Hymn to the Sacred Electrical Particles."

Incense will help, too. I've had good results with pure gum frankincense, although the addition of a bit of myrrh can help to tame a hot tweeter.

Let's smile, folks. I respect those who believe with all their hearts that these things make a difference and I respect those who think it is all blue smoke and mirrors. What a pity they so seldom respect each other....

will
ozfly OP
887 posts
 
Thanks all. I'll go with the 27 vestal virgins approach. In lieu of that, the twisted 10 gauge in conduit seems like a plan. Not too expensive and likely to gain good results. Thanks again.

P.S. Per suggestions in earlier posts and above, I will be using the "star" pattern in that all grounds will first go directly to a separate ground rod (next to the one for the house) and then be tied together at the box to avoid ground loop noise. A preferred ground "star" approach. Thanks.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Marakanetz - The di/dt currents in the power cord are what matters. IF it is too inductive, the drops can be in the Volts, not mVolts. I have one of the lowest inductance cords on the market and it is getting rave reviews when used with power amps. If you read my description on my poer-cord page, it describes how the voltage drops can occur. Poor power cords can have the same effect that plugging into multiple power strips has, except on transients. If your amplifier has switching supply, the impact of a low-inductance power cord may be much less, because of the regulation.

BTW - twisting the two current-carrying wires has the additional benefit of radiating a smaller magnetic field that can impinge on nearby interconnects compared to two parallel wires.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Your delight is appreciated, Audioengr. Thanks!
glen's avatar
glen
714 posts
 
Thanks Will, I completly forgot about the Virgins :^)

Just as long as your having fun and not burning down the house it really doesn't matter what you do IMO.

I ran six dedicated circuits to start and am now kicking myself I didn't run ten. There's just something about isolating every component, sub woofer and powered woofer section that really turns me on, and this time I'm being serious

The noise floor dropped dramatically with three circuits to two seperate systems. I can't help but wonder how much lower it can go.
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