Do speaker cables make any difference?

[planet10]

Full article at http://www.t-linespeakers.org/oddsen...ittX/cat5.html

The top graph is the impedance vs frequency. The bottom graph is the phase shift vs frequency. All the plots have been normalized to the impedance & PR of the resistor.



dave

[planet10]

Originally posted by panomaniac
I'm generally of the cheap, thick cable school

I'm generally of the skinny, solid core school (and being a frugal-phile(tm) it helps if it is cheap)

Wire is amp & speaker dependent. It is a system. Position can also play a role. Is the amp behind the speaker or across the room.

Right now my system is happy with a separated pair of cryo-treated Cat 5 strands.... (FR125 bipoles driven by BGT chipamp)

dave

[janneman]

Originally posted by planet10
Full article at http://www.t-linespeakers.org/oddsen...ittX/cat5.html

The top graph is the impedance vs frequency. The bottom graph is the phase shift vs frequency. All the plots have been normalized to the impedance & PR of the resistor.



dave

Dave,

What I conclude from your graph on impedance is that the Nordost and Cat5 reduce the speaker damping to no more than 5 or 6 with an 8 ohms load, even less with lower loads. I would expect that to be audible, and also I would expect a mutual influence of speaker and cable.

Based on these graphs alone, one would select the 12 ga if one is being concerned with uncolored, transparent reproduction.
I can understand that using one of the other cables would change the sound coloration which some might like, but for me this would be a system weakness; I don't want my equipment to modify my sound unauthorized!

One reason we would probably never see eye to eye on this. But then again, there are worse things in life than this.

Jan Didden

[Trebla]

When Nelson Pass did his cable article for speaker builder in Feb 1980 (26 years!!!), he had these measurements (use of dots to keep the columns in line):

Yes 26 years and still no definitive answer.
Which rather suggests that there isn't one.

Even if in the year 2050 it turns out that all cables do sound the same. It doesn't alter the fact that swapping two sets of cables (speaker or interconnect) usually results in an audible difference, whether it be subtle or obvious.
So the electrical and mechanical properties of the individual cables must be changing the way that the amp and/or speakers work.

[planet10]

Originally posted by janneman
Based on these graphs alone, one would select the 12 ga if one is being concerned with uncolored, transparent reproduction.

Maybe, if damping factor is all you are concerned with and if your calculations were valid -- the wire here is but a small fraction of the voice coil impedance (the vertical scale was misleading (i fixed it) -- it is the wire + the added R normalized to the R (ie the FR plot is the R(cable + the resistor)/R(resistor)) ) .... i'm not choosing wire based on the charts -- they are just thrown out as more data points.

My 12g OFC is in a box in the basement ...

dave

[Pano]

The graph might also show us:
Wire the woofers with 12 Gauge or better.
Wire the tweeters with Cat5!

[janneman]

Originally posted by Trebla


Yes 26 years and still no definitive answer.
Which rather suggests that there isn't one.

Even if in the year 2050 it turns out that all cables do sound the same. It doesn't alter the fact that swapping two sets of cables (speaker or interconnect) usually results in an audible difference, whether it be subtle or obvious.
So the electrical and mechanical properties of the individual cables must be changing the way that the amp and/or speakers work.

No, not at all! As I tried to explain above, you can predict sound changes from cable data. Really very straightforward.
I think the main "war" is between the view of some people (like me) who want their cables not to add or subtract anything, while others take their chances and leave it up to the cables how their systems will sound.

Surely, in a showroom, you can be impressed by the specific sound color by some cables, but one should then realised that not only the sound but also yourself are being manipulated for the glory of the salesman (how's that for literature .

Jan Didden

[Pano]

Oh boy! Aren't cable threads fun?? Almost as good as oil threads on my motorcycle forums. Yeaaaah!


I do like those graphs. Wonder if they could be done and normalized with a real driver as load?

[quasi]

Originally posted by panomaniac
Oh boy! Aren't cable threads fun?? Almost as good as oil threads on my motorcycle forums. Yeaaaah!

Can you buy $10,000 / litre motor oil ?

[quasi]

Did I read it right. That the test was done into a 0.22 ohm resistance?

Should it be done into say a 4-8 ohm impedance (or 6 ohm)?

Or did I read it wrong?