speaker wire-solid v stranded

grillebilly

Empty Head
Not knowing much about audio is one big reason I'm here. Last week I posted a thread asking for some advice, and got a :thmbsp: for what I was using, which was standard 14 gauge stranded spool copper wire which had a coating to prevent corrosion. I got a couple responses saying solid wire is also good.
That brings me to the question I asked the electrician who supplied the wire to me, he says:

Stranded is best due to the "skin effect". Higher frequencies travel on the outer edge of the wire, so the more surface area, the better.

Any one want to argue his point?
I don't doubt those who say solid works, maybe the higher frequencies are beyond what I can hear.
Thanks in advance for any comments.
 
I use both, like both... Skin effect is more of a problem at Radio Frequency levels than in the audible range.
 
When I used to care about such things ...

It shouldn't be an argument.

Your experience should be your guide.

Whatever you hear is a factor of the equipment you have. Along with interconnects, gauge, distance and quality of speaker wire and other factors in the piece of the puzzle. Especially your own experience and hearing abilities. Oh and budget too.

My experience when I was trying to squeeze the most out of my set up:

I was trying to get more of the high frequencies. More cymbals and detail out of good CDs, smoother vocals out of some harsh CDs. I got progressively more expensive stranded speaker wires until I hit on some audioquest solid copper wire which delivered. Your system and results may vary. The trade-off is you need some very strong and solid posts to connect the solid copper to.

This was also before I knew the problems I was hearing was because of poor quality or remastered CDs. Regardless, the improvement was noticeable.

Just my experience.

Now, can stranded sound very good? Yes. Can some stranded sound better than some solid? Probably. There's always something better. For some systems it may be overkill and expensive.

To say which is best or better is to ignore all these for the sake of argument. And I'm sure there will be some who say no difference.

I'll leave the argument for others.
 
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There are as many types and sizes of wires as there are opinions on which type or size is better. In England solid core (single strand) is very popular. In the US multistrand is more popular.
Some of my speaker cables were constructed of CAT-5 Ultra (computer network cable) others were constructed of dis-assembled extension cords. You will probably get lots of responses to this thread. There will be those who say all wire is the same. There will also be those who say every wire is different.
 
I tried 12 ga. solid, but the amp wouldn't stay on the shelf.:no:

Kept getting kinda suspended in mid-air.
 
I don't believe that all wires are the same.

However, I believe that how wires act are primarily factors of their R, C, and L properties and how these interact with the output impedance of the souce and input impedance of the receiving component.

IMO, most cables and most components are enough alike in these properties that cables, IMHO, make little difference in these cases. But, there are some cases where the properties are enough outside "normal" parameters where there may be some audible effect.
 
I couldn't tell any difference until I did a left vs right compare. The stranded seemed louder which made it sound better at first but the solid core had more clarity, detail, and definition. In other words, each voice and instrument was easier to pick out and identify with the solid core. No need to try expensive wires imo. Try romex to see if you like solid core. I use 10 ga romex but 12, 14 or maybe even 16 would suffice.
 
I use both, like both... Skin effect is more of a problem at Radio Frequency levels than in the audible range.

Correct. It would only be an issue if you were actually using large gauge solid wire. In that case, you would be running into skin effect at the top of the audio frequency range (say, 15 kHz) if you were using wire much smaller than approximately 18 ga solid.

However, any stranded wire, even 12 ga, will have individual strands much smaller than that, so skin effect isn't an issue. The signal will always go to the center of each strand.
 
I don't believe that all wires are the same.

However, I believe that how wires act are primarily factors of their R, C, and L properties and how these interact with the output impedance of the souce and input impedance of the receiving component.

IMO, most cables and most components are enough alike in these properties that cables, IMHO, make little difference in these cases. But, there are some cases where the properties are enough outside "normal" parameters where there may be some audible effect.

I find myself agreeing with whoaru99 more often than not! The only thing I would add is that cable construction seems to matter more than I would have thought before I tested several types. I'm currently running the "star quad" variety and like them best considering the reasonable cost.

I can't believe no one has said "copper is copper" yet. :D
 
To the guy with my favorite avatar: Generally I've found solid out-performs stranded so long as the design is good. No one can make a blanket statement about this because there will always be exceptions, but when buying or making cables I'll always go for solid core conductors.
 
"However, any stranded wire, even 12 ga, will have individual strands much smaller than that, so skin effect isn't an issue. The signal will always go to the center of each strand"

??? Is this right? I thought that like charges repeled therefore driving the signal to the outside of the conductor. Also, wouldn't the signal go to the outside regardless of single strand or multi strand?
 
In the original thread a couple of us posted about door bell wire.

I was in the Home Depot electrical section once and noticed the thin red and white solid core door bell wire. It was the cheapest wire there at about 3 cents/ft and I bought about 100 ft just to play around with in my garage etc. And I was surprised at good it was for speaker cables. But it's not soft and flexible.

Certainly cheap enough to make some comparisons if you're interested.
 
"However, any stranded wire, even 12 ga, will have individual strands much smaller than that, so skin effect isn't an issue. The signal will always go to the center of each strand"

??? Is this right? I thought that like charges repeled therefore driving the signal to the outside of the conductor. Also, wouldn't the signal go to the outside regardless of single strand or multi strand?

I don't know the particulars of the gauges off hand, but yes, it's true.

Skin effect is only a serious consideration in high frequencies, higher than audio frequencies.
 
Well I am no expert on this subject but when I upgraded the wire in my bedroom system to 16 gauge strand from some old strand wire I noticed the high's were crisper but it seems like I lost a little bit of low end. The tweeters in these B&W's are killer!
 
I used standard speaker wire for years,
and purchased should i say some
monster audio z1 reference cable, and noticed the top end and the mids came through clearer and lost some of the bottom end,
So i thought the bass is actually deeper, more controlled and where it should be in the back ground and not booming out the rest of the audio vocals mids etc.


like everyone says its down to you and youre tastes ?
If everything sounded the same what would we all be discussing ;-)

I LOVE MY LIFE AND I LOVE MY MUSIC AND BECAUSE OF MUSIC I ENJOY MY LIFE MORE
 
personally i like both, i have 2 pairs of infinity RSa and ones on stranded and the other solid. but they are connected to different amps. and yes the solid is very stiff. and the stranded just fits (barely)into the speaker terminals. but still i like both sets. maybe i add the photos, to my link, if there is any modicum of interest. i twisted my pair of solid strand. so it works out well.
 
Thanks for the input.
Sometimes in audio, different is just different, not any better or worse.
I have a bunch of rigs to play with, and way too many speakers.They all have their merits, and some sound better to me at different times with different music.
The only time I personally have said "wow, what an improvement " when making changes to a rig (other than speakers, naturally) was a phono cartridge.
That must mean my critical listening abilities are not as good as most, so all the opinions are appreciated.
The responses seem to confirm that there is no better style, as long as it is up to the task. No "must have" way to go.
 
I've often thought about trying the cat5 just for the heck of it. Then I see some of the people that do it complaining about twisting the wires and sore fingers. A mechanic in the garage I'm working in showed me a neat trick. Put 2 ends of the wires in vice very securely. Attach the other end of the wires to the chuck in a cordless drill. Keep the wires tight and spin the drill slowly and there's your speaker wire all twisted up nice and neatly in about a minute. Now why didn't I think of that?
 
Stranded is best due to the "skin effect". Higher frequencies travel on the outer edge of the wire, so the more surface area, the better.

Theoretically, I agree with you. Most of the current flows on the outer portion of a conductor. Just let your ears be your guide. :yes:
 
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