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In Reply to: RE: "small details are much more apparent, the overall SQ is tighter and less smeared" ... posted by Mike K on June 16, 2021 at 21:09:13
Now, Mike ... you have heard for yourself what solid-core does, compared to stranded wire. But there are people with degrees in electrical engineering who - never having heard what solid-core wires do - would say "smearing, through the signal jumping from strand to strand in a stranded cable ... is rubbish "!
Yet you have heard it! :-))
But there's another theory which is pooh-poohed by electrical engineers ... that better sound is obtained when the signal is carried throughout the whole thickness of the metal ("skin effect").
If you believe in the 'goodness' of solid-core vs. stranded ... I suggest you should consider (or at least keep an open mind about!) the advantages of using thin wire - rather than thick. Obviously, the big problem is that you need to use multiple strands of thin wire (individually insulated, to keep it 'solid-core') to make up a much higher guage required by the spkr currents.
If you look at the table in this link,
https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
... you can see that the highest frequency that supports full depth transmission ... is just over 4kHz.
Because of this I would certainly use 12g for wires going to Maggie bass panels ... but I would not use it for a cable feeding all the drivers.
I would suggest the following guages are appropriate (note: in my system, I simply use multiple runs of 24g solid-core wire):
* 22-24g solid-core wire for ribbon wires
* 16-20g for mids, and
* 12-14g for bass panels.
If you used spkr cables made from solid-core wires that are constructed from multiple strands of individually insulated (preferably, teflon) 24g wire ... I suggest you will hear better highs than you do currently, with your 12g wire.
Regards,
Andy
Follow Ups:
Andy,
Have you ever tried CAT5/6 Speaker Cables ?
But:
1. I use Belden 1595A - which is 'plenum rated' (so the individual solid strands are insulated with teflon not PVC. I strip off the blue PVC jacket.).
2. I don't do the ott braiding which early users popularised. I don't think it's necessary - you simply use as many twisted pairs as you think are required for the current drawn by the driver(s), for the length of the cable, and then you have 3 options for using the strands:
a. use the coloured strand in each twisted pair (tp) for '+ve' and the striped strand for '-ve'. This option gives you the lowest inductance - which is a good thing, in a spkr cable. But it does give the highest capacitance - which can upset some amplifiers if the spkr cable is long).
b. separate all the tps and use all the solid-colour wires for the '+ve' leg ... and all the striped wires for the '-ve' leg. Twist all the strands in '+ve' leg together ... and all the '-ve' strands together - so you end up with two separate cables.
This option gives you the lowest capacitance - which is a good thing for very long spkr cables (like 30' plus!) - but it does produce the highest inductance.
c. use equal numbers of tps for '+ve' and '-ve'. Twist all the pairs together (remembering which pairs you have allocated to '+ve' and which to '-ve'!).
This option is in the middle of the above two, in terms of 'L' and 'C'.
Andy
Thank you for the details.
20 years, about time you give them a HiRez update with some Cat 7e !!! =)
AIUI, Tim - Cat 7e is only different to Cat 5e in its twisting ... and possibly is shielded?
So I doubt it would make a sonic difference, as spkr cables. More important, IMO, is to make sure the tps are:
1. solid core, and
2. teflon-insulated.
Andy
requires lots of wire, complex frequency division electronics, and lots of
fiddling. Once I get everything else sorted, I might look into it.
Whether or not you can observe a thing depends upon the theory you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed. - Albert Einstein
> that better sound is obtained when the signal is carried throughout the whole thickness of the metal ("skin effect").
What's wrong with electromagnetic fields outside the metal? Cann't you say "hey it will be unimpeded by high density electron Fermi surface?"
" Why would solid-core spkr wires sound better than stranded? "
I'm wondering why.
Andy
Diode Effect is the cause of what you hear from stranded wire. Basically, the signal jumps from strand to strand and because of skin effect, causes all sorts of timing problems. The best way to do this is with multiple 28 gage magnet wire or use whatever your favorite Teflon wire is.
Figure the gage you need and twist the wire (I use a drill) and do the same for the return leg. The wire has low inductance and high capacitance, so be aware. I use it with my Quads and love it.
Bill
Nt.
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
I am well aware of that, BE (perhaps you didn't read my earlier posts?) - and all my spkr cables use multiple strands of thin wire.
But there are those (for instance the guy who I was responding to, in the post you answered!) who appear to think that the diode effect is nonsense.
In the same way, there are those (measurement-oriented EEs, for instance) who refuse to believe that skin effect can be heard at audio frequencies.
Andy
Skin effect is a well understood phenomenon Andy.
Insulting EE's doesn't buoy your position. It just makes you look ignorant.
Dave.
.
I guess I should have read the entire post more carefully. You said it better than I did.
Bill
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