Free speaker wire shootout - cat6 vs romex

[wicked1]

I've been using cat6 (bit thicker diameter wire than cat5) for my speaker wire. All solids to positive, all stripes to negative, so the signal was going through the tp's.
I decided to try some romex (in wall solid power cable).

The romex is way better! More bass, and clearer highs.

My setup is a 7ish watt 300b into fostex full rangers. about 20 feet of cable between amp and speakers.

[c2cthomas]

What gauge Romex are you using? 16??

Nice idea - it won't cost much for me to try this out!

It's solid core wire so you might be on to something with this!!

Now to purchase in bulk - do some cryo treatment - repackage with a snazzy name - and presto!!! Audiophile speaker cables!!

[Matt.B.H.]

Nice, Im using 6 of the cores from 2.5mm2 12 core, XLPE, armoured cable.

[AuroraB]

Now to purchase in bulk - do some cryo treatment - repackage with a snazzy name - and presto!!! Audiophile speaker cables!!

Or- even better - just pretend you have done the cryo treatment....
liquid N is cumbersome to work with... hang on - just maybe -196 C is not enough.... liquid helium? anyone ? maybe argon?

[wicked1]

Originally posted by c2cthomas
What gauge Romex are you using? 16??

Nice idea - it won't cost much for me to try this out!

It's 20amp power cable. (just because I had a bunch sitting in my garage) Not sure on the gage.
You should try it! why not. There are other posts around about the idea, and also about using cat5. After trying both, solid core power cable is a clear winner! I was really surprised at the difference.
I know it's not ideal, but so far it's the best free speaker wire I've tried.

[Theo404]

Originally posted by wicked1
about 20 feet of cable between amp and speakers.

Your speakers are 40ft apart?

[Glowbug]

Originally posted by Theo404



Your speakers are 40ft apart?

Tall speakers + tall equipment racks can use up a lot of wire.

[wicked1]

Originally posted by Theo404



Your speakers are 40ft apart?

No
I thought about clarifying that earlier, and guess I should have. The speakers are 20' apart. The amp is next to one speaker, and the other is across the room. I keep the same cable length on both.

It's not ideal, but that's the way it has to be in this room.

-edit, and yeah, the next poster is right. They are closer to 15' apart, and then add in the distance on each side to go down the table, down the floor past the joists, then across to the other side of the room, back up through the floor and a few more feet to the speaker input.

[Theo404]

Originally posted by wicked1



No
I thought about clarifying that earlier, and guess I should have. The speakers are 20' apart. The amp is next to one speaker, and the other is across the room. I keep the same cable length on both.

It's not ideal, but that's the way it has to be in this room.

-edit, and yeah, the next poster is right. They are closer to 15' apart, and then add in the distance on each side to go down the table, down the floor past the joists, then across to the other side of the room, back up through the floor and a few more feet to the speaker input.

Fair enough, was being facetious really

Nice job hiding your cabling, waf/swmbo enforcement?

Are they shielded btw?

[Wavebourn]

I cannibalized some thick flexible power cords from Home Depot. They have 3 wires, though, so for convenience I connected white and green-yellow together, at least one of wires has a half of resistance.