What speaker cable ?
17 June 2007, 10:48 PM
#31
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I think that's where it all gets a bit messy and confusing, with multiple schools of thought, which is why you can buy solid-core and multistrand cable.
I also found an interesting page about making your own speaker and interconnect cables at DIY audio cables
I also found an interesting page about making your own speaker and interconnect cables at DIY audio cables
17 June 2007, 10:57 PM
#32
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I would have thought trying out various cables is a bit tricky if you are building a HC room and burying the cables in the walls, as the acoustics of the room wont be ready to throw a few speakers in for testing
18 June 2007, 12:29 AM
#33
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No offense, Bubba, but you seem to be demonstrating the old adage "a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing"!
Mind you, you're still a lot nearer the mark than those that swear this hi fi stuff is all b8ll8cks and there's no difference between cables at all.
18 June 2007, 01:07 AM
#34
I've got some 14 gauge (AWG) oxygen free speaker wire (2 reels of 50ft) going spare if you want to make me a reasonable offer for it.
(AWG) = american wire gauge
(AWG) = american wire gauge
Last edited by jods; 18 June 2007 at 01:27 AM.
18 June 2007, 12:01 PM
#35
One problem is the length of cable you want. Generally I feel if you can afford it you generally won't go wrong with Nordost, but 35m of even their cheapest cable is going to be silly money. QED silver anniversary at say £4/meter (a lot more for bi-wire) is still not cheap, but might be a decent compromise. At not very much more money, I'd seriously consider the Chord Company Carnival Silver Plus - personally I like the style of sound you get from Chord co's products.
Be aware that different cables suit different setups better. My hi fii speakers run Nordost Blue Heaven (rev 2) which actually sounded better with my set up than Nordost Red Dawn (rev 2), despite Red Dawn being the more pricey. The moral of the story? If you can try a few different cables with your amp / speakers, do so as certain cables just sound good with certain bits of kit and not so much with others. The silver anniversary cable allegedly can sound over-bright with some kit, but I can't claim personal experience of this either way.
Some amps will hate the capacitive load of Rob's suggested home made co-ax cable, and using it at decent volumes would almost certainly physically damage one or two amps I've encountered, so try it with care! A standard cheap but OK job is twin and earth mains cable (1mm or 1.5mm is plenty), which gives IMHO better results than plain QED 79 strand and you can buy it for peanuts.
Be aware that different cables suit different setups better. My hi fii speakers run Nordost Blue Heaven (rev 2) which actually sounded better with my set up than Nordost Red Dawn (rev 2), despite Red Dawn being the more pricey. The moral of the story? If you can try a few different cables with your amp / speakers, do so as certain cables just sound good with certain bits of kit and not so much with others. The silver anniversary cable allegedly can sound over-bright with some kit, but I can't claim personal experience of this either way.
Some amps will hate the capacitive load of Rob's suggested home made co-ax cable, and using it at decent volumes would almost certainly physically damage one or two amps I've encountered, so try it with care! A standard cheap but OK job is twin and earth mains cable (1mm or 1.5mm is plenty), which gives IMHO better results than plain QED 79 strand and you can buy it for peanuts.
Now you have me wondering - I have had problems with my amp and speaker configuration.MAS Solitaires / Infinity Kappa 9's. The amps crash at high volumes as you have suggested . Output transistors normally need replacing-fuses don't save them.I believed the amps were failing because of the low impedance of the speakers !
18 June 2007, 01:51 PM
#36
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just get some 4mm sq pro audio cable, cheaper than the hifi stuff and equally as good.
robjenks - driving an amp at lower impedances than recommended at high volume will indeed more than likely fry the output stage.
robjenks - driving an amp at lower impedances than recommended at high volume will indeed more than likely fry the output stage.
19 June 2007, 12:29 PM
#37
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Just looked up price of Nordost Valhalla speaker cable for a laugh. Would you believe $4200 (can't find a UK price) per metre pair.
I use Naim A5 (£7 metre when I bought it) in an all Naim system. Handy thing about this is that they specifically recommend against using anything else due to amp output protection requirements, so I don't have the problem of choosing.
I use Naim A5 (£7 metre when I bought it) in an all Naim system. Handy thing about this is that they specifically recommend against using anything else due to amp output protection requirements, so I don't have the problem of choosing.
19 June 2007, 12:45 PM
#38
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19 June 2007, 01:39 PM
#39
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Proel HPC640 Flexible 4-conductor twisted speaker cable - Proel HPC640 Flexible 4-conductor twisted speaker cable - Proel HPC640 Flexible 4-conductor twisted speaker cable - Flexible 4-conductor twisted speaker cable.
this would probably be better anyway, just double up the cores.
i get my 4mm sq stuff from my local pa company.
i fitted speakons to my hifi speakers and i use a pro audio amp with speakons and just bought some ready made speakon to speakon leads, does the job perfectly.
this would probably be better anyway, just double up the cores.
i get my 4mm sq stuff from my local pa company.
i fitted speakons to my hifi speakers and i use a pro audio amp with speakons and just bought some ready made speakon to speakon leads, does the job perfectly.
19 June 2007, 03:37 PM
#41
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you can get whatever you please. pro cable usually comes sheathed so its more resiliant to cuts and stuff. it comes in either 1.5mm sq, 2.5mm sq, 4mm sq or 6mm sq. you can get it as a normal pair or 4 or even 8 conductors. its so they can use 1 cable to do both bass and mid tops instead of running 2 cables. in my house i have 2.5mm to the full range speakers and 4mm for the sub. if you get the cable with 4 conductors and join them together its basically the same as all these folk buying 2 cables and so called 'biwiring'. your just basically halfing the resistance resulting in a better conductor.
21 June 2007, 08:49 PM
#43
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Ok.
Its nearing time to order.
One final push for you guys to help me out here.
Looking at 50 metres. Budget minimum, quality excellent
Its nearing time to order.
One final push for you guys to help me out here.
Looking at 50 metres. Budget minimum, quality excellent
21 June 2007, 09:00 PM
#44
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eBay.co.uk: SPEAKER HIQUALITY CABLE WIRE OFC 196 strands @ 25 MTR # (item 180129775554 end time 22-Jun-07 10:02:19 BST)
How about this ? Item no 180129775554
How about this ? Item no 180129775554
21 June 2007, 09:08 PM
#45
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eBay.co.uk: SPEAKER HIQUALITY CABLE WIRE OFC 196 strands @ 25 MTR # (item 180129775554 end time 22-Jun-07 10:02:19 BST)
How about this ? Item no 180129775554
How about this ? Item no 180129775554
22 June 2007, 12:13 PM
#46
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its only 2.2mm sq that stuff, better can be found for that sort of money.
eBay.co.uk: PREMIUM SPEAKER CABLE 4mm 25m NEW {B4-25} (item 270034242280 end time 25-Jun-07 10:42:13 BST)
or..
eBay.co.uk: 25m premium, high quality, speaker cable. brand new 4mm (item 120134337454 end time 27-Jun-07 11:33:28 BST)
eBay.co.uk: PREMIUM SPEAKER CABLE 4mm 25m NEW {B4-25} (item 270034242280 end time 25-Jun-07 10:42:13 BST)
or..
eBay.co.uk: 25m premium, high quality, speaker cable. brand new 4mm (item 120134337454 end time 27-Jun-07 11:33:28 BST)
25 June 2007, 08:47 PM
#47
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If anyones interested in reading further, search out 'the genesis report' written by QED's chief engineer at the time (Steve Privett) about the science behind cable design.
Neil
Neil
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