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Speaker wire update-- Don't use extension cords!

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nj pheonix said:
Total sidetrack but glad to see you here.
For whatever reason, I remember reading your posts all the time and then didn't notice seeing for some time.
I was a little worried about you.
Glad your well:thumbsup:
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His post was from 2008, but he is doing well. ;)
 
CraigVMN said:
I've always wondered what effect adding one strand of pure gold wire into a multi-strand copper speaker wire would have (and what it would add to the cost)
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Gold has approximately 70% of the conductivity of copper.

So, at least at a basic level, if you replaced some of the copper with an equal amount of gold the net resistance would go up.

If you added a gold wire to an existing cable, due to the increased area, the net resistance would decrease but not as much as if the added metal was copper.
 
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That's often true. Those ribs like on lamp cord sometimes can be hard to see or feel. Copper vs. tin plated wires or red/black insulation or a bold white or black stripe stand out fairly well.
 
I am impressed with the Kabel Direkt stuff that I have recently been using. OFC copper and only about $20 for 50 feet or 40 cents per foot. Has that nice red stripe on one wire to aid in identification...
 
I started using Knukonceptz "Kord" 12 gauge speaker wire a couple of years ago. I think I now have around 500 feet of the stuff in various systems. It has 294 strands of very fine OFC copper wire, the jacket is easy to cut, but hard to damage, its flexible as hell and fitted with a nice set of BFA banana plugs, makes me not want for more. The cost is more then reasonable, there are no big claims other then its nice cable, and yes, it allows the nice detail that I would expect a speaker wire to conduct. No other claims required. One wire is clearly marked for positive/negative ID. Perhaps the 12gauge was not really necessary, but fits nicely in the BFAs that I use so it all just makes for some nice, quality cable. That's it. http://www.knukonceptz.com/mobile-a...ire/sp/kord-ultra-flex-12-gauge-speaker-wire/
 
zenith2134 said:
Ok, not looking for ny kind of trouble, I just want to share my experiences wih speaker wire vs extension cord with my equipment.

For the last ~2 years I've been running 16awg extension cord as speaker wire, since my runs are under 20 feet. It's cheap, sounds good, and is practical. I didn't buy into Monster cables, cable tweaks, etc.

I was in Home Depot yesterday before the game, and decided to buy a 100 foot spool of GE 14-gauge 'HD speaker cable' (lol).

When I swapped out the cables on my speakers, the difference was night and day.... I swear, this was the first time I heard a difference.

With the extension cord, the top end just didn't have that sweet 'sizzle' I was missing. Also, oddly, the dynamics got stronger and more pronounced. This isn't in my head, it was a blatant improvement. (And the speaker wire hasn't even had a chance to burn-in yet! KIDDING!)

So this morn' I measured the resistance of both types of cable, and while the extension cord came in at an average of 0.03 ohms, the GE speaker wire came in at 0.01 consistently.

I'm thinking this isn't due to the wire's actual composition, but oxidation of the terminals over time.

In any event, I am happy. The importance of proper wire cannot be ignored.
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Try cutting an inch off of the old cables on each end and re-attaching them, and make sure they are well-attached on both ends. 16 vs 14 gauge shouldn't make any difference on 20 foot runs, but bad contacts will make a difference.
 
WaynerN said:
I started using Knukonceptz "Kord" 12 gauge speaker wire a couple of years ago. I think I now have around 500 feet of the stuff in various systems. It has 294 strands of very fine OFC copper wire, the jacket is easy to cut, but hard to damage, its flexible as hell and fitted with a nice set of BFA banana plugs, makes me not want for more. The cost is more then reasonable, there are no big claims other then its nice cable, and yes, it allows the nice detail that I would expect a speaker wire to conduct. No other claims required. One wire is clearly marked for positive/negative ID. Perhaps the 12gauge was not really necessary, but fits nicely in the BFAs that I use so it all just makes for some nice, quality cable. That's it. http://www.knukonceptz.com/mobile-a...ire/sp/kord-ultra-flex-12-gauge-speaker-wire/
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Similarly I've been using Coleman Cable Seoprene 105 for years. It may not have the strand quality you mention but it is extremely flexible and durable. I came into a roll and a half of the 16/4 stuff (part number 23486) and so I use it everywhere. The round black exterior lays flat and has an attractive look.

Having 4 clearly marked conductors has advantages too. Parallel a set of 16 gauge and you have the equivalent of 13 gauge conductors. You can more easily insert the smaller conductors into vintage equipment speaker terminals. If you run both A and B terminals you can combine at the speaker with a binding post or keep them separate for bi-wire. If you live in an apartment you can then turn off the bass portion for late night listening or TV watching. Its perfect for 4 conductor Speakon cables with my pro gear, allowing me to use use multichannel connections for everything.

I use 8/4 for a generator cable and tried some 12/4 (23488) for use with the notoriously low impedance PSB Goldi but could not discern a difference with the relatively short (under 12 foot) run.

When you find a cable you like you may tend to stick with it.
 
I like the White Lightning Moonshines as you can break'em in with a weed whacker.

banana2.jpg
 
CraigVMN said:
I've always wondered what effect adding one strand of pure gold wire into a multi-strand copper speaker wire would have (and what it would add to the cost)
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To do it right, you would wrap the single gold wire around the outside of the other strands and use a clear insulator so you, and your impressed friends can see the gold wire.
Kind of reminds me of some friends and I were into cigars back in the mid 90’s. We learned quickly that there were some cigar “aficionados” who would buy the most expensive cigars and always keep the band on when smoking and always facing outward for everyone to notice.
 
The difference between 0.03 ohm and 0.01 ohm DCR in a speaker wire would not make an audible difference. Reason is that the speaker voice coils have several ohms of DCR, plus you have the x-over DCR, and 0.03 ohm difference in a wire is just too tiny to be audible in the face of that much additional DCR. Something else is responsible for your hearing a difference in the two cables.
 
The last time I was visiting my wife's relatives in Italy I picked up a pair of 5 m Scoreggia cables for € 250. They improved the sound so much that I had the relatives send me another pair which I put in series with the originals using the companies proprietary Ingannare couplers, even though my speakers are only 4 m away from my amplifier. 10 m gave twice as much improvement at 5 m!
 
nj pheonix said:
Total sidetrack but glad to see you here.
For whatever reason, I remember reading your posts all the time and then didn't notice seeing for some time.
I was a little worried about you.
Glad your well:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

‘While I thank you for the kind words, that post was from 12 years ago.

I don’t swing by very often anymore, just a few times a year.

‘Nice to be remembered. And good to see Sergeant Preston again. :)
 
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