DIY speaker: braid vs twist vs straight

CDC: Pick up a spool of solid core copper magnet wire @ Radio Shack ($3.99). The spool contains three gauges (30, 26 and either 24 or 22, I forget). Try the two larger gauges (26 and the other one) in single runs (do not twist them). Twisting is for larger gauge wire (from my personal experience) and completely ruins the sound of 24 gauge, on up, solid core wire when it is used as speaker cable (this is assuming that the cables will not exceed 8'-10' in length).

You can remove the lacquer (@ the ends) with 600 sandpaper, or better yet burnishing cloth. If you like the sound then high quality magnet wire is available for very little money (Michael Percy @ percyaudio.com carries it).

I have been using 26 gauge solid core copper/Teflon speaker cable (single runs) for a year and a half in my main rig and have used the magnet wire (also ended up with 26 gauge for the balance that I like) in bedroom systems.

Never tried 22 gauge, but 22-26 gauge seems like a reasonable span to experiment with.

The sonic benefits of such simple designs (smaller gauge and single runs w/o spades, etc.) are reduced smearing and a much more open sound (the sound is more in the room than obviously coming from the speakers).

Imaging on the otherhand is not as precise as some of the more complex designs (I find slightly fuzzy imaging to sound more realistic), but do not confuse my description of the imaging with fuzzy overall sound as the detail of these simple designs can be quite startling (my description is lacking, not the sound:-).

The sound, during break in, of these small gauge/simple cables can be very, very, very odd, but from my experience it only takes 50-100 hours for them to stabilize. For more info on this run a search of "OTA" and read the thread about the 47 Labs OTA cable (it is 26 gauge solid core wire used in single runs).

Anyway, it should be a fun project for under $5 and if you like the sound then you may be able to make very nice DIY cables (both IC's and speaker) for your entire system for very little money, if you stick with copper instead of silver wire.

I would not worry about the the small gauge in regard to amp power as I once used 26 gauge with a Musical Fidelity X-A1 amp (50 watts) and others have used considerably more power than this with like cable (again take a look @ the OTA thread which contains a great deal of info on the matter).

Thanks for the help and link. I can get 600 ft) 18 gauge magnet wire for $15.45 from www.mcmaster.com. The 26 gauge is $15.52 for 3,000 ft.
Teflon tubing is .14/ft for .034 I.D. (AWG 22 is .028") and .09/ft for .022" I.D. (AWG 26 is .018"). So it will be a slightly loose fit. I guess this is okay.
I have heard wires should not be allowed to vibrate hence the heat shrink tube idea but if it's just a single run of wire then just sliding it through the teflon should be okay I hope.

CDC, if you don't have some room in the tubing you will never get the wire through it. You will be very frustrated with the trouble you are going to have as it is. Do not "kink" the wire by pushing too hard on it. If you do, the kink will make it even harder to push the wire through from that point on. The best way I found is to stretch out the tubing totally straight, and clamp the end, so there are no bends or curls. Then carefully push the wire through. When you get to the end, then unclamp the tip of the tubing and push the last inch of wire through it, or cut last bit of the tubing off and grab the tip of the wire with a needle nose plier. It's not as easy as you think. Definitely straighten out the tubing and hold it straight!

CDC: 18 gauge may involve using a more complex design in order to get it to sound good (it will also never sound like, or as realistic, IMO, as the smaller gauge wire, when used as speaker cable, which is what I was attempting to coax you to try:-).

TWL is "right on" about feeding wire through Teflon tubing (it is not an easy task).

Yes, vibration is a concern when using oversized tubing in longer runs, but such tubing is not required with magnet wire. Magnet wire is coated with lacquer which serves the same purpose as the Teflon tubing and which also has similar (favorable) dialectic characteristics.

The best insulation is "air" and what I try to achieve in cable design is the next best thing (@ a reasonable cost) which is either lacquer or Teflon.

The good thing about the RS spool of magnet wire is that you get two useable gauges to experiment with (in regard to speaker cable), plus the 30 gauge can make decent IC's. The M-C wire may be of the same quality as the RS stuff (which is not HQ cable), but you don't need nearly that much, plus you should be experimenting with various gauges. Once the gauge is determined, then purchase high quality magnet wire from a source such as Michael Percy. HQ magnet wire (with a boutique "name") can run as much as $8/ft from other sources, but Percy (and I assume other sources as well) carry HQ oxygen free magnet wire for "much" less than $1/ft in the 22-26 gauge range.

End of rant.

Dekay, the magnet wire I found has a clear enamel coating. So you're saying I don't need ANY tubing to protection it?

* Would this wire configuration have any funky inductance or capacitance like the Goertz stuff? Probably not, but I want to make sure.
* Should I separate the runs by 1/4" or more? Or can the 4 bi-wire runs be bundled together?
* I found the Radio Shack wire. It too is enamel-covered copper and has 40 ft) 22 Ga / 75 ft) 26 Ga / 200 ft) 30 Ga. Not sure about enamel vs. lacquer coating.
I guess it couldn't hurt to try thinner stuff. I am bi-wiring and could do 26 for the top and 22 gauge on the bottom.
Southwire (800) 444-3600 sells round, rectangular, and square magnet wire with nomex, kapton, or paper insulation. MWS (888) 697-9473 sells MULTIFILAR parallel bonded magnet wire said to offer consistent capacitance and impedance. Phelps Dodge Magnet Wire co sells coaings to apply to magnet wire. I couldn't find Michael Percy.

Going to http://www.sundial.net/~rogerr/wire.htm they recommend:
Wire Size 2 ohm 4 ohm 6 ohm
22 ga 3 ft max 6 ft max 9 ft max
20 ga 5 ft max 10 ft max 15 ft max
18 ga 8 ft max 15 ft max 23 ft max

This site also says when resistance gets too high it makes the amplifier look like a current source. "This means the speaker frequency response will tend to follow the rise and fall of the speaker's impedance curve. The impedance of most speakers is not constant with frequency". This could cause frequency response inconsistencies.

So since my speakers are 4 ohm and the run is 12 feet I felt safe with 18 ga. However since I'm bi-wiring I guess the 22 ga may work.
==>I don't want to burn the house down from overheating some micro-thin copper wire! <== Hence the thought on using teflon tubing.
If people have been using 26 ga with50 watts or more, I would wonder how long a run they had.