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Speaker Wire for a non-anal listener

Okay, so I'm not about to spend mega-flow on super nice speaker wire that I won't be able to tell a difference between it and merely decent wire at 1/10th of the price. My stuff (nor my account) simply doesn't justify spending that much. If I followed the 10% rule (which I don't necessarily think is a rule to follow, but merely an end result in many cases), I'd be spending roughly $0 on speaker wire since I already have a very nice (IMO) interconnect between my CD player and my receiver.
However, I'm willing to spend up to around $100 for speaker wire, which doesn't necessarily have to be factory-terminated, but does include the price of the end terminals.

I am running a NAD T750 and a NAD C523 [soon to be] biwired to a pair of Monitor Audio Silver 3i's through at least 10' of speaker wire, maybe upwards of 15'.

As I understand it, basically I'm in the market for high percentage copper wire in a decent size gauge, though a higher number of strands would make the wire more flexible. How important is the percentage copper versus the size of the wire versus the strands per wire?

So, Monster Cable has some XP/XPHP spooled offerings that seem decent, but they're probably a ripoff knowing MC. They also make some "THX-certified" 16awg wire that I can get on ebaY for $30 for 100'. Since I'm only running 60W, I am wondering if I'll suffer by having 16awg or even 14awg wire.
Also, on ebaY, I found an auction for some high end "car stereo" speaker wire. It has 413 strands per conductor, or 826 strands per factory packaged wire. It is 10awg wire, however I can't find what percentage copper it is. I use their wire for my car stereo, and I like it, though that's not exactly an insulated environment.

So, to conclude, what characteristic of the wire should I be most concerned with, gauge, purity or strandage? Does anyone have any suggestions on a manufacturer?

I could ask a lot more questions, but I think you get the gist of where I am coming from and what I'm looking for. Any opinions are welcome!

Also, if you have any opinions on what type and brand of connectors to get, feel free to throw in a few cents worth of info. I have heard that spades offer the best connection, but screw-adjust banana plugs (not the spring tension ones) seem pretty good too.
erikkellison
Post removed 
rsbeck
887 posts
 
No, but it will encourage folks to treat his post in kind ---

>>recommend something that does well in blind testings<<

Which cable would that be? I'd love to see the blind studies to which you
refer.

>>How come so few people know how much a zipcord pair sucks for
inductance?<<

Sucks, as in causes as audible problem -- one that can be heard in blind
studies, since that is your criteria? Maybe because this has never been
established. This seems to be something you either read in a cable ad or
heard and believed. What sucks for inductance are cables with the positive
and negative separated.

>>smaller gauge is better for frequency response?<<

This also must have come directly from a cable ad -- where's the blind tests
or any other kind of scientific back-up for such a notion?

>>Think outside the marketing jargon box....So much misinformation.<<

Yes -- much of it located in your post.

Geesh.
aroc
760 posts
 
DIY Cat5? Isn't that a high capacitance design?
mattybumpkin
590 posts
 
I agree with Tvad,

Erikkellison, if you are so knowledgable, above and beyond everyone here, don't waste OUR time. Do your own research.

And if you really blind taste test wine, you must be anal.

Regards,
erikkellison OP
20 posts
 
You guys are right, I came off a bit harsh. I was thinking about it as I was logging in here. I am very grateful for all the responses. I just had my eyes opened when I read about how different frequencies travel across different kinds of wire, and basically, what characteristics need to be maximized or minimized in order to make a good speaker wire.
I'll assume that Tvad is referring to my disagreement with others on the type of wire in my price range, because those who listed expensive wire weren't responding very well to my original post.
Rsbeck, I wasn't referring to any blind testings per se, just surprised that absolutely no one recommended something that did well in that format, except maybe for Snofun. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if separate + & - makes for inductance, and zipcord has separate + & -, then wouldn't that make zipcord bad for inductance (amd possibly anticables too?)? As far as smaller wires working better for frequency response, read some articles on TNT, or just look at how some high end cables are designed.
Still, don't hate me because I disagreed with some opinions. If I don't take your advice, it's my loss, right? I seriously weighed almost everyone's post, and researched each item suggested. I just didn't have a starting point. Thanks again :)
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