Inside every brand name cable there is a core of wire that come from the same plant (give and take) as the one in the DIY spool. A 99.9997 OFC copper is what it is. Then it is the treatment, strand wrapping, twisting then packaging and merchandising that differ. At $1 a foot, companies like AQ or VdH are probably not spending time with fancy treatment. They likely take some good old core wire and tube them into a protective jacket, a helix or cross twist may be and that's it. Whatever they do with it, a 14 awg will be a 14 awg with limitations in the lower register and loss factor for long runs. Copper for copper, a 10 awg "pure" OFC copper cannot be a bad choice I presume and that would be mine if budget was limited to $1-2 a foot. At least, you pay for copper, not branding and the rest of the marketing gimmick.
$1 a foot cable: 10awg no-name or 14awg brand?
If you had to run extra long speaker cables (40 ft) and were given the choice between a $1/ft 10awg no-name DIY-store copper in clear jacket OR say a $1/ft 14-16awg Audioquest GLC or similar from well-known brands, which way would you go? system is say entry hi-fi ($3k per component, total $10k).
Showing 2 responses by beheme
Buy the buck-a-foot and try these designs. I am sure they would beat the hell out of $15,000 Transparent cables.... http://www.tresse-metallique.com/images_tresse_metallique/tresse_metallique_1.jpg |