Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Alan, Can you give any insight on speaker wire?

oh i've done alot of soldering now
24 whopping banana plugs, a couple a night for a week
I'm all soldered out.
It is definitely a finicky thing until you get the knack for understanding what it is supposed to do. My first mistake was using WAY too much solder...

and not enough heat?

btw - those banana plugs Dole or Chiquita?

R

oh i had plenty of heat alright
i tried out some pratice runs on 2 inch clips off the wire ends and on the first 2 i melted the casing

the plugs were AMX, i would buy a higher end plug next time more for the quality of the housing than anything

Chess...
OK so you won't bite on the joke part...( I love a good laugh)

seriously on the plugs - have you seen/tried those expensive twist locking ones made in Germany (oooh.. whats the name? WBT or something)

Sure look really good

Randyman

That was a good one Randyman. I tried using some Dole bananas but I kept smushing them during installation, getting all over the back of the receiver. When they did work the room would start smelling after a few days.

For my system I got lucky, I was able to piece together all the wiring in two nights. I used to solder my own guitar cables so I was already a decent solderer.

For the interconnects I almost went for the WBT plugs, they are nice looking) but bagged my Neutrik phono plugs for a little bit more than a buck a piece. Originally my system had junk plugs from Radio Shack (not even gold-plated) but I use Monster and Phoenix Gold banana plugs and spades.

yes yes bananas
that's a good one alright

so when does Randyman open up his new brand "monkey plug" company and start selling us the cheap bananas?

Ahhhh...
The smell of roasting bananas!

I prefer to solder mine with a little bit of butter, brown sugar, and a squirt of lemon - just the right combo for sweet sounding connections!

hmmm.. chesseroo...I have to think about that mokney plug company thing - esp. since I am really close to an endless supply.....

Thanks, You guys are great!

Randyman

I have to say something in the defence of people who have spent years developing speaker wire and other audio cables. There is science in their craft. I'm and Engineer who's studied electrical things, although I won't claim I'm the pre-eminent authority on electronics. However, from what I do know:

1. Electrons are not moving along the wire at the speed of light, although I don't think that matters.

2. The electrons do care about the wire they're travelling through. If the resistance of the wire were the only detrimental factor experienced, then why not just get 8 guage wire and keep your runs short? However there's more going on than this.
The wires will inherrently have inductance and capacitance, and these can be more nasty than just resistance alone, because they are dependant on the frequency of the signal being carried. Inductance will cause more impedance at low frequencies, and capacitance will cause more impedance at high frequencies. These impedances will also affect power factor, which can cause phase-shifts for some notes relative to others.

I'm keeping this purely theoretical so far... I'm going somewhere trust me.

3. This is the most important one by far: An audio cable must also protect the signal from being polluted by noise. Noise is caused by magnetic fields surrounding the cable. These fields are generated by other electronics in your house, and even with good magnetic sheilding, more is always better. I assume this is why Kimber Kable braids several small conductors instead of using a co-ax or conventional wire.


Now, having stated at least some of the theory behind making a better speaker wire, I must still concede the one rule of audio that's always true. If you can't hear the difference, or you don't like the difference you hear, then you'd be better spending the money elsewhere. I doubt I'd be able to detect any difference between the cables I use and $10,000 cables. And mine aren't that expensive. One of the reasons is that the distortions that will be caused by a poor cable will be miniscule compared to other, more critical aspects of a stereo system.

Spend your money somewhere else, for sure. I haven't yet tried bi-wiring or bi-amping my system yet, but I believe there is more merrit to doing this than on buying top-end speaker wire...

Lastly, the cable I use is by Kimber... the 4TC. It does the job and was not rediculously expensive, but was pricy enough for me. I think it's the best-looking cable, blue and black braided together. If that sort of thing matters to you, then I'd suggest checking out Kimber. You're stereo is really all about what you want it to be. I see it as a hobby, and once music gets involved, it's very enjoyable.

Regards,

Scott

All things are not equal, but for all things there is a point of deminishing returns..
Duff, don't be hoodwinked by all the hype out there.. Gauge is important, but unless you are planning on backing up your local electrical power station, 12 is big enough, but even 14 works fine in most cases..
All those adds about silver this, and cosmic that ? Just smoke-n-mirrors.. Sure, solid gold wire would be a pretty sweet ride, but would you or I honestly hear any difference between that and good old pure copper ? (Cost? Yikes !!)
Same for connection points.. Bare wire, secured in the provided posts works perfect.. Unless, as has been said by others, you intend to attach and unattach them often.. No problem, just get a good quaility device (banana/spade/pin) and have it.. Don't spend a fortune on super duper extra special, because my friend, it doesn't exist.. (Except on cheesburgers or course !)
As Judy found out, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain".. Use a little common sence and you will fine..

As with speaker wires I thought like most of the people on this message board. An insulated zip cord is still a zip cord. But I think Scott picked one really seemingly 'special' zip cord. Try out the Kimber 4TC. If you bi-wire 4TC on top with 8TC on bottom and you will notice something with this special type of zip cord.
I tried Monster MCX and the Monster Z2 reference. Some people have mentioned that those are crappy compared to the Kimbers.

http://www.kimber.com

http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/review_read.asp?ID=419

http://www.audioreview.com/Cables/Kimber,Kable,8TC/PRD_116464_1584crx.aspx

http://www.audioreview.com/Cables/Kimber,Kable,4TC/PRD_116461_1584crx.aspx