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In Reply to: RE: Preferred Speaker Cables for Maggies posted by TwoTurntables on January 26, 2016 at 05:48:00
anti-cables work well with Maggies - but all they are is a thin solid-core cable ... so it's easy to make your own.
Solid-core is the key for Maggies, IMO (instead of stranded cable) but if you have a high current amp, you are probably wanting enough copper cross-sectional area to be able to deliver this current. Which means multiple individually-insulated strands - ie. Litz wire, which you already have. :-))
You can combine the sonic benefit of solid-core with adequate current carrying capacity by using Cat5 or Cat6 cable - providing you select the solid-core variant. And with teflon insulation, like Belden 1585a, for ultimate SQ.
8x24g individually-insulated strands gives you 15g - which should be plenty enough for 12'. So use 1 Cat5/6 jacket for the '+' terminal and 1 jacket for the '-' terminal ... so 16 wires in all, per speaker.
Note: with these 16 wires, there are 3 ways to connect them up - each way has different 'C' and 'L' parameters:
#1 - just use 1 jacket to each binding post. This delivers the minimum capacitance - which your amp might like - but the maximum inductance ... so is the worst-sounding (low 'L' is what you want in a speaker cable).
#2 - use 2 pairs from each jacket for '+' and 2 pairs for '-'. This has higher capacitance than #1 ... but lower inductance, so it will sound better.
#3 - use the 8x coloured wires for '+' and the 8x striped wires for '-'. This has the highest capacitance of the 3 options ... but, as a result, the lowest inductance and therefore the highest SQ. So the only issue is ... will your amp be able to handle this amount of capacitance? For 12' cables, I would think this should not be a problem.
IMO/IME, these speaker cables sound fantastic ... their only drawback is that they are labour intensive! :-(( (Stripping the ends off 64 strands of wire to make 1 set of speaker cables! :-(( ) I use them in configuration #1 for long cable lengths to ancillary speakers (like, 50' long) and in configuration #3 for my Maggies (6' long).
And the low cost of the Cat5/Cat6 cable means that it costs very little to experiment. :-))
Good luck!
Andy
Follow Ups:
"Solid-core is the key for Maggies,"
I have found this to be true as well!
Currently using Clearday Double Shotguns (4 individual conductors of solid core silver to each terminal) with my 20.7's. They have beat out every stranded copper cable that I have tried with my Maggies. Very reasonably priced and compete very well with cables selling for 3 times as much!
Paul is a delight to work with and can make you up a pair of custom length if required. His cables are cooked on a cable burner before being shipped out.
When using DIY magnet wire,are the conductors only insulated with varnish?
Although varnish is a little misleading. Usually some type of polyamide or other synthetic and it's pretty tough but could be rubbed off with constant abrasion (very unlikely). Also because the coating is tightly bound to the wire, the copper never oxidizes which is not the case with standard cable, especially when the covering is PVC.
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