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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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In Reply to: RE: What's the difference in versions of Kimber 8TC speaker cables? posted by George S. Roland on February 7, 2016 at 09:05:19:
Sorry for the late reply.
A 4TC cable has 4 wires for the positive leg and 4 wires for the negative leg, for a total of 8 wires in a counter-rotating braid. 8TC has double the number of wires in each leg, 8 of each, for a total of 16 wires in a counter-rotating braid. The individual wires are the same for both, so 8TC is thicker.
When used in a single-wire configuration with just a + and - connector at each end, 8TC has roughly half the resistance and inductance of 4TC but more than twice the capacitance of 4TC. In most systems, 8TC single-wire will have more bass than 4TC single-wire, but 4TC will have a clearer and more extended treble. The results are system dependent of course.
Your configuration is called "internal bi-wire". Regular bi-wiring (external) means running one cable with + and - legs to the low frequency binding posts of the speaker, and running a separate cable with + and - legs to the high frequency binding posts. Internal bi-wire is the same thing except the low and high frequency runs are within the same cable instead of being in physically separate cables. Internal bi-wiring is done by taking a single cable and using half the conductors for the low frequency run and the other half for the high frequency run.
Since 8TC uses the same wire as 4TC but with double the number of wires, your 8TC internal bi-wire cable is almost the same as external bi-wiring with two 4TC cables. However, there will be less isolation than you would get with two separate cables.
Shotgun also uses two cables, but instead of using one cable for LF and one for HF (each with a +/- pair), in a shotgun configuration one cable is used for the + leg and another cable for the - leg. A shotgun configuration reduces capacitance but increases inductance. Capacitance and inductance depend on the spacing between + and - conductors, which is uncontrolled when using separate cables, so shotgun can produce inconsistent results.
Finally, a double run is just connecting two single cables in parallel, with the + leads from each cable connected together at both the amplifier and speaker ends, and the same for the - leads. This configuration reduces resistance by half, doubles capacitance, and reduces inductance only a little bit.
A double run of 4TC will have about the same resistance as a single run of 8TC, a little less capacitance, and more inductance. Subjectively, I find that a double run of 4TC sounds closer to a single run of 4TC in the treble and closer to a single run of 8TC in the bass, which is a good tradeoff to my ears. But it's system dependent.
I suggest you also search for the Kimber "puffing" tweak, where you take a 4TC or 8TC cable and compress it lengthwise to expand the braid, sometimes inserting rope in the center. This will reduce the length of the cable by 25% or so, but if you can spare the extra length it is worth checking out and is easily reversible.
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Follow Ups
- RE: What's the difference in versions of Kimber 8TC speaker cables? - Dave_K 15:30:36 02/11/16 (0)
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