Basic speaker cable question

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Hi,
The other day it crossed my mind that it could be a good way to cut the cost of your speaker cables to use higher quality cable for the red and lower quality cable for the black (ground). If the signal is going back to ground you don’t need to be worried about distortion or noise I guess. Is there some people with deeper knowledge that can elaborate?

Best Regards, FD
 
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use higher quality cable for the red and lower quality cable for the black (ground).
If the signal is going back to ground you don’t need to be worried about distortion or noise

The two wires are equally important. Their function is electrically exactly the same,
and they carry the same signal current (in opposite directions).
 
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Well, speakers use an AC waveform. Current does not travel in one direction only. In either case, you should have the same type and gague wire on positive and negative since they will be carrying the same signal.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the negatives on an amplifier are not usually grounded.
 
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the negatives on an amplifier are not usually grounded.

They are at ground potential in most amplifiers, but not in balanced or bridged types,
such as BTL class D. The concern about ground is misplaced, only the potential
difference across the load matters. The wires carry the same current, and this current
flows in a loop made of the load and both wires. There is only one amplifier output current.
 
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They are at ground potential in most amplifiers, but not in balanced or bridged types,
such as BTL class D. The concern about ground is misplaced, only the potential
difference across the load matters. The wires carry the same current, and this current
flows in a loop made of the load and both wires. There is only one amplifier output current.
Thanks for the clarification. I get that it's the potential between positive and negative. I just wasn't sure if the OP was referring the negative as earth ground or not... Probably should have said that in my first reply.
 
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I think you'll find on that receiver the black speaker connectors are at chassis ground potential. However, I also think you'll find a two-wire AC line-cord vice the more contemporary three-wire cord with earth connection. So, your black speaker connections will not be at an earth potential, unless they're brought there with another piece of equipment in your system.

Be careful.

Dave.
 
I think you'll find on that receiver the black speaker connectors are at chassis ground potential. However, I also think you'll find a two-wire AC line-cord vice the more contemporary three-wire cord with earth connection. So, your black speaker connections will not be at an earth potential, unless they're brought there with another piece of equipment in your system.

Be careful.

Dave.

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the reply.
You say "be careful". Is there some danger related to the ground? Should I change to a power cord with a ground?
 
Hi Everyone,
I have to admit that I am still a bit confused by it.
The thing that I still don't understand is:
If the "black" cable is the "return" cable, it should not matter if there is strand to strand interactions or other tiny sources of distortion since those distortions will never be heard.
For example, I'm looking at AudioQuest description of their cables features and I understand that it could help the SQ to have those features on the way to the speakers but if the return cable is cheaper but equivalent in resistance, capacitance, and impedance, that should be enough, no?
 
Hi Everyone,
I have to admit that I am still a bit confused by it.
The 'red' wire going to the loudspeaker and the 'black' wire returning to the amplifier form a single loop called a series circuit.

Going back to basic physics, the current in a series circuit is the same at all points in the circuit.

The current in the 'red' wire is therefore the same size as the current in the 'black' wire.

It follows that the 'red' wire and the 'black' wire are of equal importance and that each should be of a decent thickness to avoid restricting the current.

So just use a good two core speaker cable - it's as simple as that - there are no 'Mythical Creatures' involved!
 
Don't believe anything you read on an audio cable website, without first checking it against basic physics.

Almost any music you listen to will have gone through quite a long distance of perfectly ordinary cable in the studio. This cable will have been designed and installed on the basis of physics, not alchemy. Therefore if alchemy is the truth then the music has already been damaged so there is no point in you using fancy cables. If physics is the truth then the music may be unharmed by studio cables so there is a good reason for you not to use fancy cables designed using alchemy - some of them can damage the music.
 
The only thing which matters is the total loop resistance, so you don't actually have to use the same wire for 'signal' and 'return' but there is no reason not to do this. Both are equally important, as both contribute equally to the total resistance.

I'm curious. Does the same thing apply to unbalanced interconnects? When using coax, for these, the center connector is very different than the braided shield but this is what is recommended rather than shielded pair for instance.
I hope this doesn't hijack the thread.
 
An unbalanced interconnect and a speaker cable are quite different things, with different problems.

An interconnect needs to preserve the signal so shielding or balancing is needed to eliminate interference. Shielding necessarily means that the two conductors will be different. In many cases it is important that the return conductor has low impedance, so that the return current follows the interconnect instead of finding its way back via safety ground connections.

A speaker cable is fed from a much lower impedance (assuming voltage drive) so no need for shielding. The speaker is electrically floating so there is no need for the return connection to be particularly low in impedance. The ratio of load impedance to cable impedance is quite different too.
 
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