I have found that the items mentioned in the earlier response by Sean to be pretty accurate. A couple of further comments, however.
While thicker cables for interconnects may yield a bit more warmth, I use 24 guage .99999 silver. I have found that, while the 24 guage can be difficult to work with (primarily threading it through Teflon tubing), this size wire seems to add the least amount of coloration (skin effect, etc.) In addition, I have heard no difference between the 24 guage and 18 guage (also .99999 silver) as far as extension in the frequency extremes. Using a high quality solder, such as WBT or Wonder, silver also tends to be noticably easier (i.e. cleaner weld) to solder. To me, silver just plain sounds better than copper....much more linear, better bass extension, and contrary to many peoples opinion, has a cleaner (i.e smoother and less "bright") upper end once properly broken in. I braid my interconnects as I think most do.
Now, for speaker cables I use multiple runs of 20 guage .999 or .9999 silver. I have found the difference in sound to be much less noiticable on speaker cables compared to interconnects as far as purity of the silver goes. Also, when laying down (braiding) 4 runs (2 plus and 2 minus) of between 4 and 9 strands each, silver speaker cables can get pretty expensive for a DIY project. Then add ANOTHER 4 runs for bi-wire...do the math and you'll see why manufacturers charge what they do for some of their cables. I have found that for each upgrade in purity, .999 to .9999 for example, the cost per foot increases roughly 200%. In sticking to the less is more principle, I do not terminate my speaker cables. I simply place the bare ends into the speaker and amp's binding posts.
This stuff really IS fun. Cables make as much of a difference in the way your system sounds and ANY single other component yet are the easiest way for a novice DIY'er to get actively involved in building and tweeking audio components. Good luck and happy listening!! -Jason
While thicker cables for interconnects may yield a bit more warmth, I use 24 guage .99999 silver. I have found that, while the 24 guage can be difficult to work with (primarily threading it through Teflon tubing), this size wire seems to add the least amount of coloration (skin effect, etc.) In addition, I have heard no difference between the 24 guage and 18 guage (also .99999 silver) as far as extension in the frequency extremes. Using a high quality solder, such as WBT or Wonder, silver also tends to be noticably easier (i.e. cleaner weld) to solder. To me, silver just plain sounds better than copper....much more linear, better bass extension, and contrary to many peoples opinion, has a cleaner (i.e smoother and less "bright") upper end once properly broken in. I braid my interconnects as I think most do.
Now, for speaker cables I use multiple runs of 20 guage .999 or .9999 silver. I have found the difference in sound to be much less noiticable on speaker cables compared to interconnects as far as purity of the silver goes. Also, when laying down (braiding) 4 runs (2 plus and 2 minus) of between 4 and 9 strands each, silver speaker cables can get pretty expensive for a DIY project. Then add ANOTHER 4 runs for bi-wire...do the math and you'll see why manufacturers charge what they do for some of their cables. I have found that for each upgrade in purity, .999 to .9999 for example, the cost per foot increases roughly 200%. In sticking to the less is more principle, I do not terminate my speaker cables. I simply place the bare ends into the speaker and amp's binding posts.
This stuff really IS fun. Cables make as much of a difference in the way your system sounds and ANY single other component yet are the easiest way for a novice DIY'er to get actively involved in building and tweeking audio components. Good luck and happy listening!! -Jason