Here we go. Again. 
OK. Confess. Which berk re-started this thread?
Different wire LCR properties can (can) audibly affect the behaviour of the components it links together, with the most noticeable results tending to be at speaker level. Thus amplifier - wire - speaker is best viewed as a summed system, & balanced off to match. You can use the wire to help with that to an extent, one obvious example being to use a high wire resistance to artificially raise the Q of a drive unit. It's not difficult to make a wire that has no audible effects though. Just ensure you have sufficient gauge to minimise voltage drop and don't do anything daft with the geometry, i.e. ensure capacitance & inductance are held to sensible levels so its effects on the amplifier / speaker interface is minimised. TTBOMK, nobody has been able to repeatedly tell the difference between physically similar wires in a properly controlled double-blind test. And many people in blind tests have been fooled into thinking they heard differences between wires when in fact the wire was never changed (Dunlavey pulled that one a few times). Caveat Emptor.
OK. Confess. Which berk re-started this thread?
Different wire LCR properties can (can) audibly affect the behaviour of the components it links together, with the most noticeable results tending to be at speaker level. Thus amplifier - wire - speaker is best viewed as a summed system, & balanced off to match. You can use the wire to help with that to an extent, one obvious example being to use a high wire resistance to artificially raise the Q of a drive unit. It's not difficult to make a wire that has no audible effects though. Just ensure you have sufficient gauge to minimise voltage drop and don't do anything daft with the geometry, i.e. ensure capacitance & inductance are held to sensible levels so its effects on the amplifier / speaker interface is minimised. TTBOMK, nobody has been able to repeatedly tell the difference between physically similar wires in a properly controlled double-blind test. And many people in blind tests have been fooled into thinking they heard differences between wires when in fact the wire was never changed (Dunlavey pulled that one a few times). Caveat Emptor.
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'one obvious example being to use a high wire resistance to artificially raise the Q of a drive unit'
Why would you realistically want to do this though - the resistance would depend on the length of the wire. Much better to build the resistor into the loudspeaker.
Kevin
Why would you realistically want to do this though - the resistance would depend on the length of the wire. Much better to build the resistor into the loudspeaker.
Kevin
I didn't say I recommended it. Just that it is possible. There are however some advantages to employing a resistive wire rather than a resistor per se, assuming of course that it is practicable and / or necessary / beneficial.
Try 2.5mm home wiring. Its heavy duty, solid copper and beats quite a few High End Snake Oil cables.
over here, for the metrically challenged, that'd be #14 - certainly works, and can be a fraction of the cost of audiotweakoholic rope-laid OFC freeze-dried etc, but isn't the easiest stuff to "dress"
my own vote is for CAT5 or 6 network cable( #24 solid) - dirt cheap and unless you're running huge power levels or great distances, it works quite fine - inside the enclosures as well
some of the extreme FR crowd go even further down to single conductors of #30 magnet wire, but that's a real PITA to strip and terminate
Looks like us genuine Old Farts are taking on the Snake Oil vendors.
Crappy Wall Mart Zip Wire is certainly CRAP, but I cant hear the difference with any Decent Gauge wire with good connectors at its ends.
Crappy Wall Mart Zip Wire is certainly CRAP, but I cant hear the difference with any Decent Gauge wire with good connectors at its ends.
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You probably could if you did something daft with the geometry (providing the run was long enough & the system efficiency high enough for such changes to be more easily discerned). Why you'd want to is another matter entirely, assuming you're happy with what you have in the first place. 😉
GOF is a selective term of endearment hereabouts - we only insult the ones we love - the others can go elsewhere for abuse
say, Audio Asylum 😀
Yep, it's all about current carrying capacity [voltage drop] over distance with the connections being the weak link, so wire gauge within the amp, cab, XO, etc. can be quite small due to the very short runs and why long power runs with multiple junctions are normally tapered to cut down on cost.
GM
Amen.
You ever get the feeling that the connections have caused more problems than wire ever has?
You ever get the feeling that the connections have caused more problems than wire ever has?
I often wake up at night with cold sweats and that very thought on my mind!
Will it never end?..........
I know it's true in the electrical power distribution industry and many a time 'fixed' a poor sounding system by just redoing terminations and/or cleaning pots.
A good example is my phone land line. When it rains heavily my phone usually has either a lot of static or just plain dead, so when it dies, the service crew go to the junction boxes and if that doesn't solve the problem, it's down into the tunnels with maps of all the termination and splices added over the ~100 yrs since it was originally installed and check each one and repair as required..... till next time rather than testing/fixing them all and being done with it. If I'm to believe the service crew, all the original wiring itself is still good, they've just added parallel runs as demand increased.
GM
A good example is my phone land line. When it rains heavily my phone usually has either a lot of static or just plain dead, so when it dies, the service crew go to the junction boxes and if that doesn't solve the problem, it's down into the tunnels with maps of all the termination and splices added over the ~100 yrs since it was originally installed and check each one and repair as required..... till next time rather than testing/fixing them all and being done with it. If I'm to believe the service crew, all the original wiring itself is still good, they've just added parallel runs as demand increased.
GM
And that my friend goes to the very heart of this argument and all arguments regarding boutique and so called "audiophile" wiring claims...the internal wiring of amplifiers, loudspeakers, CD transports, turntables etc...you name it...is all very ordinary stuff and small gauge, at that.
So to answer your question....there is neither any logic...nor any point..beyond aesthetic considerations.
Can I get a witness?
Just finished wiring a 12 woofer, 21 mid range and 48 tweeter vertical line array speaker. I was asked why I didn't use crimp connectors 😱 I do find it amusing that folks will blow serious bucks on wire for their 10 year old speakers that have slide-on crimp connectors.
A veil has been lifted!
So obvious yet some don't realize it even when it smacks them upside of the head.
I'll take the stand your honour. 🙂
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