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Speaker Cable 4 Conductor vs 2

Kptn Howdie

Kptn Howdie

Well-Known Member
Hello,

Been dabbling with diy wire 4 conductor vs 2; now 4 wire 12ga terminated at the ends should be 9ga equivalent, but since only the ends contact, are you really gaining the full potential of conductivity vs wire stranded together? Is it worth going down this rabbit hole?
 
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There are a lot of variables involved, so the end results always vary, but there are some potential benefits. The increased gauge can help reduce the impedance, but it's more critical on longer runs. There's also some benefit from star quad wiring where you connect opposite conductors together for positive and the other two opposites for negative, which helps reduce inductance, lowers noise, hum, and interference. In addition, it can add options for bi-amping/bi-wiring in the future.

I'm using some Monoprice 4-conductor OFC 12 awg wire. It's comparable to several other more prominent names, and it's worked out great. Very affordable (~$65 IIRC), and performs nicely...no regrets!
 
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This is a speaker wire discussion, there are probably at least a hundred that have been started and then closed because the believers and non-believers will never agree. It can get heated, you might as well be asking which religion is the right one.

Will heavier gauge wire decrease resistance? Yes. Will it decrease resistance even if they’re only making a small contact patch at the speaker/amplifier? Still yes. Is it significant objectively? No. Will it make an audible difference? Not answering that.

I do know that I’ve tried silver, copper, twin-lead, braided/litz, heavy gauge and lighter gauge, and have had some results I didn’t like but nothing yet sounds better than quality 12AWG copper kept as short as possible and the terminations kept un-complicated. Personal experience, YMMV.

You’d be surprised how much longer the wires are in a litz cable than if the wires were straight. DIY as you’re proposing is the most economical way to try different designs. Enjoy experimenting and don’t worry too much about getting consensus.
 
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Do you know what will make a bigger change in the sound of your system than doubling up the probably already more than adequate 12 gauge cables? Moving your speakers 6" (that's about 150mm in case you live in a civilized country).
 
Cross sectional area should tell you that. I would think that if 12ga is thought to be too small, go to 10ga and don't screw with 4 wire . . .
 
I have some left over Amazon basics 12ga, so the plan was to double it up, run loom over it and have a nice set of dyi cables. Is it worth the time?
 
Kptn Howdie said:
I have some left over Amazon basics 12ga, so the plan was to double it up, run loom over it and have a nice set of dyi cables. Is it worth the time?
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If by worth the time, you mean will it make your stereo sound better, probably no. If you mean will it raise your cred among audiophools, yes for some, no for others who will scoff at the budget nature of it.
 
In your OP you mentioned the ends being terminated which I presumed meant you are running the wires in parallel with one amp channel going through two pair of wires, into one speaker terminal.

The later bi-amp post is of course different.

As far as the 12AWG x2 vs 9AWG equivalent, cross-section is cross-section and it won’t matter if the contact is made (well) at both ends or constantly in a single sheath, you have the same quantity of wire/conductor.

Your project will yield more interesting looking speaker cables, as you can already see the probability of hearing a change is going to be opinions, do what makes it fun.

I will say that in all of the years I’ve had audio equipment I’ve never had anyone walk over to admire my speaker cables and in most cases I hide it as well as possible so I don’t expect anyone to be impressed. The WAF of wires is typically very low.
 
10ft one side and 15 to another. Amps are gallion monos to magggies. This project is mostly for bragging rights and visuals. I appreciate the feedback, mostly curious about wire ends twisted together vs stranded together
 
If you want bragging rights, I built a biamp set with two 10AWG silver and two 12AWG silver per speaker, braided and wrapped, looked cool but not a lot of actual engineering.

Just do it, if it looks good it won’t hurt anything and yes two 12AWG parallel are the same as 9AWG, FWIW, if they’re the same length and terminated well together. If they’re different length, different material, or different in any other way the resistance id different and it’s no longer the same as parallel, can’t be summed electrically.
 
It's not just about conductors, but insulators as well. Most people ignore that aspect of it, but it also plays a noticeable role in performance.
 
80W into 8Ohms is only about 3A and 25V (RMS), most wiring insulation is at minimum sufficient for 300V and your peak voltage should be well shy of that (guessing that the amplifiers’ rails are no more than +/- 40V).

If you’re concerned about capacitance, PVC and only 10’ for the longer one, … in the whole system both capacitance and resistance will be small enough to be a rounding error.

Cables over 14AWG for that run are just for fun so stop worrying and have fun.
 
SaturationPt said:
80W into 8Ohms is only about 3A and 25V (RMS), most wiring insulation is at minimum sufficient for 300V and your peak voltage should be well shy of that (guessing that the amplifiers’ rails are no more than +/- 40V).

If you’re concerned about capacitance, PVC and only 10’ for the longer one, … in the whole system both capacitance and resistance will be small enough to be a rounding error.

Cables over 14AWG for that run are just for fun so stop worrying and have fun.
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Ok thanks for the help
 
Kptn Howdie said:
Since the wire is Amazon basic 12ga (2 pieces), would its stock sheathing suffice?
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Depends upon how pretty, and what color you want it to be. I get the Keco 100' roll from Amazon. Parts Express also has cable sleeve in different colors/sizes. Sleeve needs to be 'snaked' on the cable. Kind of a push pull operation. Be sure to burn the ends (with a lighter) immediately after cutting, or it will fray. Once in place, cover the ends with shrink tubing.

This one is rather short, but it gives you an idea of the finished product.
 

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