Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Speaker Wires

Steven,if there is any audible difference(provable in blind tests)between standard lamp cord of adequate gauge for the distance involved( I use 16ga)and another speaker wire, then the other wire is introducing inaccuracies and by definition is inferior, regardless of its cost, to the lamp cord.

You spent almost as much on the cables for your speakers as you spent on your center?

That's absurd. I'd be very interested in hearing your response to buying some good 12ga from Home Depot and having a friend switch (blind to you) between the two.

I would be very surprised if you can tell the difference.

Incidentally, you might find this useful:
http://www.passlabs.com/pdf/spkrcabl.pdf

Sorry for the long post, but I promise no more after this one.

Ok here’s the deal, I would stop short at saying all wire is equal for speaker use. Because in reality this is not the case. When referring to cable for speakers, I would not recommend cheap lamp cord. I would recommend a good quality cable, for example from a reputable brand manufacturer i.e. Belden, Alcatel…etc. Let me play devils advocate here for a minute to explain something, and understand that this is just one of many potential problems that can exist in cheap lamp cord. I will not even deal with the problems of composition of the copper in these cables.

Cheap cord is just that, cheap; it is for the most part made in China typically, and is manufactured in older mills using archaic technology. For this example I will cite a very common periodic manufacturing problem that happens in cheap cables. Lets say for example XYZ manufacturer in China has a wheel in their extruder which is out of round. This out of round wheel may stretch the center conductor making it microscopically thinner at one point. Or the dielectric might come out slightly smaller in diameter for each turn of the wheel. While such a change is very minor, and may not even be readable with test gear, or noticeable in use, this flaw will be added over and over and over again each time the wheel turns. This simple common flaw now adds the dimension of multiple flaws at the same spacing. If you have a flaw every 100 cm (a common circumference for the extruder wheels), over and over, this distance corresponds to a wavelength of a specific frequency. While a 100 cm flaw creates a major flaw at 3 GHz fundamental frequency, this anomaly will also show up to a lesser extent at every harmonic of 3 GHz. It doesn't take many divisions to get to key frequencies for cable television, digital video, digital audio and similar applications. Also, this problem would not be a factor if the cable were very short, but, with increasing distance, this minor flaw could be a major cause of signal problems, and you can't even tell by looking at the cable if this flaw exists. Now you change the cable to one of these premium brands and all of sudden you have a wonderful signal and magically the whole system sounds better. You would accomplish the same thing with a good quality 12-14 gage wire from a quality manufacturer without spending the hundreds of dollars.

And i thought i was the only one who rambled on with points of contention in posts with widely opposing opinions.
Nice post John.
A new perspective on the whole cable topic that i don't think i've seen before. You can tell where your work experience influences the thinking process about the issue.

I got the Phoenix Gold 12g from www.partsexpress.com - It is a high quality looking wire with a clear jacket. Again it did have a nice sound to it and I wasn not displeased with the sound quality.

Again last night even while watching just plain TV the sound quality with the new Belden speaker wires & Belden jumpers for the M60's, is absolutely significantly improved. All sound is just much more detailed. It is a very open, clean, detailed, airy, fluid, accurate, non-edgy,clarity type of sound.

I am really amazed at this.

Hi Steven,

After looking at the link you posted for the DIY wires I see that they are using coax for this. I will not get into a rambleing post as before but I can understand now you hearing a difference. In simplest terms the coax is coloring your signal. There are numerous technical papers published on the problems of using coax for speaker wire. (Never mind the ear full my design engineers gave me this morning about this, they are still back there going on about it!). Chess if you want a rambling post let me turn the computer over to them for a bit, OMG!

Steven, If you are pleased with the sound then that is all that matters, and I am glad that for you it makes your system more enjoyable, since that is all that really matters.

Cheers
John.

I have found that the length and guage is a bigger difference maker than anything else.

Keep you guage high enough and keep your lengths as short as possible.

John Henderson

You are oviously very knowledgeable - If you are right about the Belden 89259 coax cable adding a color to the sound - then the "color" it is adding is simply outstanding!

Hi Steven,

Please don't feel that I am trying to rain on your parade. Since your experience has been a positive one you should be happy you got the results you did, and very proud that you were able to do it yourself. Not eveyone would have the patience to do it themselves. I would love to see a picture of your cables, as i realy enjoy DYI projects myself.


Regards

John