Hi guys,
I have some interesting experience wit DIY loudspeaker cable made from two RG 213 cables, and the cable was very interesting and in terms of subjective listening and blind tests the result was comparable to some very expensive ones. Now i am searching for some more decent, smaller diameter DIY cable for my small speakers (preferably smaller diameter than the garden hose of the previous). I have read about using some phone cables but i have difficulties to find any DIY speaker cable on this pages.
So i have decided to ask you, DIY colleagues for help, or "insider tip".
Any recomendations will be welcomed, thank you and merry Christmas !
I have some interesting experience wit DIY loudspeaker cable made from two RG 213 cables, and the cable was very interesting and in terms of subjective listening and blind tests the result was comparable to some very expensive ones. Now i am searching for some more decent, smaller diameter DIY cable for my small speakers (preferably smaller diameter than the garden hose of the previous). I have read about using some phone cables but i have difficulties to find any DIY speaker cable on this pages.
So i have decided to ask you, DIY colleagues for help, or "insider tip".
Any recomendations will be welcomed, thank you and merry Christmas !
RG 213 probably overkill.
I use heavy duty zip cord. Its probably 14 gauge. Its worked very well for me.
I use heavy duty zip cord. Its probably 14 gauge. Its worked very well for me.
Overkill
I don't mean to rain on your parade, but DIY cable IMHO is only for the satisfaction of having made it yourself, not for sound improvement.
This is a subject hot for debate, but cables don't distort signals, therefore they don't affect what you hear. One of the greatest rip-offs of audio is boutique cables - ones costing hundreds to thousands of dollars, and to my knowledge there has never been any scientific evidence that they improve sound. In order for cable A to sound better than cable B, cable A must be audibly distorting the signal, and cable B less so. I have never seen any data to support this.
Thick cables look cool, which is fine, but that's about it. Building your own may be fun, but to me it's time, work and effort better spent on the speakers.
BTW - Car amplifier cable is about the best value, dollar per foot, and getting up to something like 8 AWG definitely affords some visual impact to your system, if you want to go that route.
I don't mean to rain on your parade, but DIY cable IMHO is only for the satisfaction of having made it yourself, not for sound improvement.
This is a subject hot for debate, but cables don't distort signals, therefore they don't affect what you hear. One of the greatest rip-offs of audio is boutique cables - ones costing hundreds to thousands of dollars, and to my knowledge there has never been any scientific evidence that they improve sound. In order for cable A to sound better than cable B, cable A must be audibly distorting the signal, and cable B less so. I have never seen any data to support this.
Thick cables look cool, which is fine, but that's about it. Building your own may be fun, but to me it's time, work and effort better spent on the speakers.
BTW - Car amplifier cable is about the best value, dollar per foot, and getting up to something like 8 AWG definitely affords some visual impact to your system, if you want to go that route.
Cheapest solid core is better than any megabuck nonsense - but your Country Club buddies will say "so you haven´t yet sold your Porsche to get better sound?"🙄
Are you saying cables don't alter the sound or are you saying there is no good, better, best ?
Different cables do have different sound IMO , not necessarily good, better, best and you can measure them, their electrical properties (RLC) and phase angle tells the tale.
Different cables do have different sound IMO , not necessarily good, better, best and you can measure them, their electrical properties (RLC) and phase angle tells the tale.
Hi,
different cables/interconnect have different combinations of L+C+R due to the different physical geometry and to a lesser extent different dielectric.
Both amplifiers and speakers are affected by what is attached to the outputs and inputs respectively.
Any differences in sound output by changing cables is an indication of how sensitive your amplifier and speaker are to reactive loading. It not the copper that changes the sound. It is the spacing between the copper conductors that can change the amplifier's and can change the speaker's reproduction abilities.
different cables/interconnect have different combinations of L+C+R due to the different physical geometry and to a lesser extent different dielectric.
Both amplifiers and speakers are affected by what is attached to the outputs and inputs respectively.
Any differences in sound output by changing cables is an indication of how sensitive your amplifier and speaker are to reactive loading. It not the copper that changes the sound. It is the spacing between the copper conductors that can change the amplifier's and can change the speaker's reproduction abilities.
I like this stuff. Could be cheaper though.
AR Pro II Microflat Speaker Wire 18 AWG 30 ft. | Parts-Express.com
AR Pro II Microflat Speaker Wire 18 AWG 30 ft. | Parts-Express.com
What I forgot to mention: double a pair of cable's on one channel. If you don't notice a change you were already doing OK.
Have you ever heard of twinax?
It was initially used by the telephone company for video and later used as thicknet for computer networks. Never tried it but I don't think it would sound any better.
It was initially used by the telephone company for video and later used as thicknet for computer networks. Never tried it but I don't think it would sound any better.
Well said Andrew...but (as usual) you left out one VERY important thing: IMPACT.
Yes, there can be measurable differences in (competently made) various cables but their overall impact on both (competently made) speakers and (competently made) amps is negligible and certainly inaudible.
I'm not so sure it is negligible.
I heard reports that a well known British made amplifier would become unstable when cables other than the supplied high inductance cables were used.
Allegedly, this amplifier required the extra inductance of the cable to help isolate the reactive speaker load from the amplifier output. This is an extreme case.
But, just as valid are the hundreds of reports that abound claiming audible effects in swapping cable types.
The point I am making:
The cable does not have a sound. The amplifier can have it's sound altered by changing the reactance attached to the output terminals.
Similarly a speaker can sound different with different source termination. A high resistance will increase the Q of the LF response. This again is audible. It is not the copper in the cables that has sound. It is the way the speaker reacts to changes in source loading at it's terminals that results in audible differences.
I was looking at them and they are described as "microphone or line level cables".
Do you have positive experience with them as speaker cables ?
Absolute **. While they may be snake oil, they can and do affect not only the sound, but the operation of power amps. Some amps, like Naim for instance can go unstable with cables with incorrect capacity. I guarantee that will affect the sound! So yes they can definitly affect what you hear.
That said, I agree with the snake oil label for many ultra high dollar cables. I find a distinct improvement (particularly over a period of years) of decent quality oxygen free copper over el cheapo cables that turn green in 6 months.
beyond that and some strange capacitance issues, I tend to agree.
Similarly, capacitiy of cables in extra long runs (B/W pre and power amp) can also roll off frequency extremes, particularly pres with higher output impedances like tubed units w/o cathode followers.....
Russellc
PS Dam! I see Andrew beat me to it!
They seem to sound fine.
4s11 star quad with a flex coating, some shrink wrap, and Nakamichi spades
Works great and cheap to
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