Speaker Wire for a non-anal listener

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.

DIY Cat5? Isn't that a high capacitance design?

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,

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 :)

Erikkellison: It's not the gauge so much as it is the depth of the conductor that causes skin effect. Using ANY type of stranded wire basically increases this problem, so using a smaller gauge stranded wire doesn't resolve the problem. This is why one needs to resort to something that has a large surface area to keep series resistance down but is also thin enough to remain mostly all "skin". Using multiple conductors for each polarity, regardless of how it is done, creates impedance variations between the various strands & polarities with further variances in the arrival times.

This is why heavy gauge low inductance "foil type" speaker cables both sound and measure the best. One path per polarity for consistent arrival times regardless of frequency, no skin effect, low series resistance, wide bandwidth, etc... Anything less than that is a compromise in at least one given category.

The cables that i suggested falter in several different areas, but they are still superior to many other more costly products. Like anything else though, how it sounds in a system is up to personal interpretation. Electrically speaking though, it is a winner and does quite well bang for the buck.

Then again, so does solid core 14 gauge from your local hardware store configured in a twisted pair arrangement. If you like more treble detail, you can reduce the gauge size to achieve the specific tonal balance that one seeks. If one is able to bi-wire, you can use a smaller gauge for the mids and treble and a heavier gauge for the woofer. Using such an approach reduces the damping factor of the circuit and lowers the dynamic current capacity that can be passed. Given that ALL amplifiers increase their output impedance as frequency rises, and distortion gets worse as frequency rises, using a smaller gauge that introduces even more potential for problems into the equation seems like putting the cart before the horse.

If you want to get technical, any "round" conductor that is heavier than appr 24 gauge should not be used if shooting for the ultimate in signal purity. If used as as speaker cable, you'll have no bass and the system will lack dynamics, so that's why the smarter cable manufacturers resorted to flat conductors. You get the best of both worlds without the drawbacks. You can maintain a low series resistance due to having a heavy gauge conductor working for you but skin effect isn't a problem either. Like i said, any other approach is a compromise in at least one area of measurable performance. Sean
>

PS.... TNT has nothing on the research that Jung, Marsh and Pass conducted 25+ years ago. Why learn from second-hand sources when you can go to the original information sources and get it from the horses mouth???