We recently bought a pair of Klipschorn speakers. The speaker wire connection won't allow us to continue using our 4' Quicksilver pure silver speaker cables, which we really like.
So I made a pair of 6' pure silver speaker cables--2 strands of 20ga for each pos/neg connection in teflon sheathing--and they sound woefully thin. I've heard another system with these cables, and the music sounds quite full. Problem is, it's been so long since we got the Quicksilver that I can't remember if this is normal for new silver cables. Tonight, I hooked up one side with the Quicksilver (only one side is long enough, and just barely), and there is a big difference in the tonal roundness and fullness of the music coming from that speaker. When I swap the cables, the other speaker becomes the better one.
I'm dreading finding replacement cables for the Quicksilver, and I really can't spend $500 right now for a 6' pair from them. With them in the chain, the music is more lively and transparent than with any other cable I've tried. So the question is, do we save our pennies, or do we give my DIY's adequate time to burn-in?
*Also, I hate to have to say it, but if your position concerning cables/burn-in/etc. will not allow you to resolve this dilemma, please don't respond. I'd rather not be the author of yet another mucky cable thread on the fastrack for censorship. In other words, please just answer the question. Thank you. Howard
BTW, I thought the AQ silver-conductor cable so good I bought short double-biwire lengths of KE-6/8 and KE-4. Sure does sound great, but it is indeed expensive! .
Jeffreybehr, off the topic. The real Spread Spectrum Technology I know is only for radio transmission in military , cordless phones and cell phones technologies. I think AQ just made up this buzz word. As far as using different size of conductors in one cable, this is nothing new. XLO has been using this since the 90s (you can buy the XLO raw cables from percy audio but I made my own.) I've been using it for my own design too for the interconnects. However, I do find it more effective in interconnects than speaker cables ( I've tried many different combo in the past 2 years.) I felt that it adds uneven sound in speaker cables. No so smooth transition as single size conductor. Not sure if it is due to much higher current and voltage passing through vs a fixed low current/voltage for the interconnects.
This is from my observation with mixed cord speaker cables: i.e. The tremble sounded more extended but slightly distorted. The bass sounded more volume but less refined and snappy. The mids made no improvement.
Also found fewer conductors gives you lower distortion.
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