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Converting Power Cords into Speaker Cables?

Someone very knowledgeable in high end audio swears that instead of buying more expensive speaker cables, it's more cost effective to look for power cords of the same cable and use it as speaker wires. He has very successfully done this with Vahalla power cord and found no sonic difference between the original Vahalla speaker cables and one he made from Vahalla power cord. He is now applying his creativity to other brands. The advantage is considerable cost savings but downside is when you want to sell these reconverted cables. Your views are appreciated. Anyone tried this trick? Any technical/cable geometry flaws in doing this?
lall
lall
8 responses Add your response
cpk
190 posts
 
Why not just sell the KS's and get a real speaker cable?

You mentioned the Nordost pc converted to a speaker cable, while it might have sounded ok or even good I am sure it didn't sound like the corresponding nordost speaker cable, the geometries are completely different.

If someone took a pc I make and converted it into a speaker cable they would be sorely disappointed by the results.

Chris Kline
Tel Wire
lall OP
122 posts
 
I have mono amps standing close to each speaker, and thus require about only 1m length of speaker wires. I was thinking about converting my 2m Kubala Sosna emotion pc into a 1m pair of speaker wires. Will the trick do?
cyclonicman
693 posts
 
You must be thinking 3 or 4 ft speaker cables. In my setup, I need a ten foot pair of speaker cables. This translates into either two 10 ft power cables or one 20 ft cable and I don't see too many of those around.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
When I biwired my MG1.6 speakers the first time I tried an experiment. Noting that I was using a one ohm tweeter padding resistor, I used thin (cheap) wire (AWG 24 I think) for the tweeter, and got rid of the resistor. The speaker cables were quite long and the tweeter wire resistance was close to the resistor value. Results were good.
uncertainsmile
88 posts
 
look at 6moons white lightning diy
mr_hosehead
210 posts
 
It's been done - and you could spend the rest of the day Googling for the various references. There's an older story where Quad has reportedly demo'd their gear using Black & Decker extension cords to connect to the speakers, etc. Audioholics has a bunch of articles, or Google Roger Russell (of McIntosh fame - try Roger-Russell.com, I think) and get more answers there. Bottom line is that it's all wire - some has better insulation, some is thicker, but if it's 12AWG or better you should be good to go (as I pull on the fire-retardant suit... ;~).
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
... mad desire to experiment on something not worth wasting time for.
You can go through the 'cooking' recipes of making a speaker cable buying simply high quality bulk wire(that could be used in power cords) and assembling/terminating it.
Spending for ridiculously expensive Valhalla power cord than stripping it and making speaker cable is even more ridiculous.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
A high amp rated power cord is made of thick AWG wire and will indeed make a good speaker cable. The primary concern with speaker cables is something that makes a good contact at each end and has low resistance. Some power cables may be a bit too stiff and may not have enough individual strands to make excellent contact - so be careful.
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