Cable Asylum

I agree with Tom E

216.110.206.99

In Reply to: RE: thinking of DIY cabling...gauge recommendations? posted by madisonears on May 03, 2008 at 19:40:42

I tried an experiment. I ran first one 18 OCC (teflon insulation) per leg. I liked what I heard. Then I doubled down to two wires per leg in a twist. Liked that better. Then three wires in a braid. Oh, boy!

I couldn't resist and modified the braid with a fourth wire. Really, really good. Then I tried a fifth wire and the sound stage collapsed. I use a four wire braid per leg now (12 AWG) and am extremely happy with the results. whether you are working on one watt or 600, resistance is the enemy of speaker wires, and speakers are current driven devices---up to a point.

In a conversation with Pierre Sprey at Mapleshade. He likes 18 to 19 AWG as speaker wires. His, of course, are silver over copper. Tried them and liked them, but I like mine better in my system.

And there's the rub. What works in YOUR system may not work in mine and vice versa. So try lots of options and really get a handle on what your system likes. It is fun, relatively expensive, but rewarding in the end. Hey, it's a hobby.

As you point out, you are using low wattage equipment. But I suspect that you should try a variety of less expensive wires in different configurations until you get what you like, and if you like the sound that silver provides, go for the winner in silver. I recommend you keep the copper prototypes, however. You may find that, in the end, you like the sound of the OCC copper over the silver.

I also use ChrisVH's DIY silver recipe, and they are the best I have found after years of trying this and that, both cheap and expensive, DIY and manufactured. The DIY silvers are real keepers.

I tried silver wire for my speaker connection, several types. Didn't like any of them. Yet, I use LCY super tweeters with silver wires from Guerilla Wire running from the speaker binding posts to the LCY's. These sound really good. Just by the by, for me, Guerilla Wire was the best of the silver configurations I tried on my mains.

YMMV

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