DIY speaker: braid vs twist vs straight

This has been a very helpful thread.
Audioquest says "Simple evaluation of multiple sizes reveals that audible skin-effect induced anomalies begin with a strand (or conductor) larger than .8mm. A much smaller strand yields no benefits but encourages the problems discussed below....".
http://www.audioquest.com/theory/theory2.html

.8mm = .0315" dia = 20 gauge wire = maximum size wire to use

I don't know about the benefits of lacquer vs. enamel but since the magnet wire I found is enamel so I'll go with that. Enamel should be more durable and less prone to cracking than lacquer.

Dekay, large diameter teflon tubing is expensive. Here are prices for 3/8" i.d. x 1/32" wall teflon tubing from http://www.mscdirect.com. You may need to buy 100 feet at a time.
Part number.....type of teflon.....price per foot
48700090........PTFE teflon..........1.66
48702096.........FEP.................1.83
48701098.........PFA.................3.40
heavy wall - 1/16 thick
48702591..........FEP................3.99
48701593..........PFA................5.96

Dekay, do you have a link for Michael Percy magnet wire?

If you want heat shrink teflon tubing:
http://www.mcmaster.com has teflon moisture proof tubing for $10.00 for 4 foot length. .015" wall thickness. P/N 7960K31.
"The PTFE outer layer shrinks for a tight fit and the FEP inner layer melts to provide a moisture-proof seal."

You could build up a couple of layers and get a similar construction as the 47 Labs OTA stuff.

Hi CDC: A couple of layers is $5/ft (I would just purchase another 47 Labs kit, which is less expensive, if I could budget this:-).

Michael Percy is @ percyaudio.com and he has a catalogue download (I use PayPal when ordering).

Glad to hear that the new cables sound good (give them 50 hours, or so, of playing time and don't get upset if they have their ups and downs during this period of time). Not having HF/LF rolloff, means that you are within the realms/synergy of your system, good go.

I don't really know the difference between lacquer/enamel though such is detailed in a thread @ A'gon by a member named Tesla. If the RS wire uses enamel then this is OK (I like the sound of them).

The tubing sounds like "lab" tubing. I used this for bare wire IC's and it sounded very nice. Guess that it depends on how much wire contact is taking place?

Yes, the tubing is funky looking (kind of hard to sell such a commercial cable:-), but who cares if it sounds good and meets one's budget?

I have a 35 ft roll of thick 18 gauge Teflon tubing from Fry's, a local store, that was $7.95 (can't remember what I bought it for). I will check to see if they have a larger size then next time I am in the area.

Any thoughts on silver or square magnet wire?
Naim uses square wire for some reason.
http://www.audiotweaks.com had people using 18 ga silver wire for $1.50/ft from http://www.tobackgold.com and putting 100% cotton shoe lace over it. Less resistance so can use a smaller guage wire for skin effect but less resistance than copper.

CDC: Never tried square wire. There was a thread (in the past week) @ Audio Asylum (in the cable forum) about the use of "soft" silver 18 gauge "round" speaker wire (its use required twisting in order to get it to sound right). I prefer copper over silver in the signal path, though have only experimented with Kimber, Homegrown Audio, silver cables from some tube preamp guru (can't remember his name) and a few of my own designs which used 26 and/or 30 gauge solid core silver. Per the poster this "soft" silver has a warm sound to it and does not require a lengthy break in period. I would like to give it a try, one of these days, for phono cables and for an interconnect that uses a rather odd design (I need bare silver for the IC). If Toback is in NYC then this may have been the source of my silver wire (the name sounds familiar).

I have listened to a few copper "ribbon" designs (speaker cables and interconnects) and thought that they all recessed the mid's a bit. I did not care for them, but others who were present liked them a lot.

One thing that I forgot to mention about "thin" single runs is that the left and right channel cables need to be separated from each other (8" to 12" apart is fine). This goes with many traditional cables, as well, but the single runs seem to be even more sensitive to this. The same goes with IC's (keep the left/right channels away from one another), and keep all cables off of carpet/rugs, etc., especially if they are made from synthetic materials. This is just another free tweak that improves the sound. I don't use anything fancy for this (just hang them from one component to the other if possible and if the cable is too long then I "hang" it with cotton ribbon from my wife's sewing supplies).

I will check out Audiotweaks in the morning (have not been there for a long time).