14/4 wire for speakers- good idea? Bad idea?

@argon66 - Cable geometry is key to producing a good cable, whether it be IC;s, Speaker or power cables.

Twisting the ends of a 4 conductor cable can be beneficial or detrimental - it all depends on the geometry of the conductors inside the sleeve and the conductors that you select to twist together
- you WILL also affect the capacitance and inductance of the cable which may be detrimental to the amp - some solid state amps (like NAIM, AYRE) can be driven into oscillation if a high capacitance cable is connected and you end up burning out the circuit.

I prefer to take a different approach...
http://www.image99.net/blog/files/d048bbacfce9bcad4a025be804771d9a-76.html.

This will approach almost eliminates any interference between conductors resulting in an extremely low noise cable

It also has low capacitance AND inductance parameters making it ideal for most amps and speakers.

@toddverrone, has provided a link to the Helix power cable above - he has tried all of the Helix Cables on my site - I think he likes them :-)

I’ve spent 4-5 years trying different geometries and conductors and the HELIX cables are the net result. The conductors identified on the site provide what I consider to be the best bang for the buck

I have compared them at length to a few commercially available cables costing substantially more (up to $2000) and the HELIX has the edge across the board everytime - i.e. dynamics, clarity, image, control etc...

Personally - I would NOT advise taking your approach - sorry :-(
It might work now - but it could damage other amps you might buy in future.
- it happened to a friend of mine with his Ayre - and he was using Cardas Cables

Regards - Steve

@argon66 - you might want to consider the Van den Hul CS-122 bulk cable.

VdH’s D-352 provides better bass, but it’s a little more expensige

The CS-122 is a great sounding bulk cable and extremely well made.
http://www.vandenhul.com/products/cables/cs-122-hybrid-halogen-free

You can "augment" the clarity and dynamic performance simply by removing the flat center insulator strip and spacing the conductors approximately 1" (or wider) apart. You don’t have to be accurate with the spacing either - just keep the two conductors separated.

This cable is designed for car audio use - hence the little strip of insulator in the middle - keeps things neat and tidy

I’ve tried splitting the conductors with the CS-122 and the D352 and they perform so much better.

Beware of counterfeit products on the web.

I had them in my systems for many years - until I was introduced to the KLE Innovations speaker cables - then I developed my own and the rest is history
http://image99.net/blog/files/category-002ahelix-speaker-cable.html

Also - if you are using banana plugs on your cables - you might want to consider these
http://image99.net/blog/files/f6ae775e30339e2b0375b739988237b7-77.html

The are by far the best Banana plugs I have ever tried - bar none. The provide the best clarity, dyamics, image, bass and control

Good luck with your quest - steve