Probably. But you should be testing the options and telling us what you found from the experiment. That's the fun.
Double up on speaker cables
I have 2 sets of good speakers cables. Tara Labs and Audioquest. The Tara Labs are detailed and airy. The Audioquest carry more mid bass but are less airy and detailed. Can I connect both at the same time and benefit from both? One with spades and the other with bananas! My speakers are Rockport Atria 2’s and are not bi-wireable.
22 responses Add your response
My guess from experience is it may sound on initial listening to have the attributes of both. But you will hear a slight smearing of notes best heard on well-recorded triangle and cymbals. Then you'll notice it in other aspects of recordings until you can't unhear it. Always do A-B-A testing to confirm.. |
might be interesting. Many years ago a friend of mine read bout hooking up positive poles of Left and right channels into a center speaker to bring out detail recording engineers managed to drown out on master disc prior to pressing vinyl. We laughed our butts off listening to Jimi Hendrix’ throat clearing, hawking and spitting as background noise from the studio came out clear as day. It got too distracting as we went through a couple dozen LPs listening for this kind of stuff which really detracted from the overall “experience” (ahem…). Not as much fun as hearing “I buried Paul” in that Beatles’ song (I was never really a fan but knew about this first-hand from my brothers’ TT) But do let us know what you hear. I suspect, as others mentioned, you’ll hear some smearing/slurring - increased sustain/delay - of some signals as they work their way through the different cables.
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Cables don't make any sound they can only hinder frequencies so when you put them together you will only get the negative effects from both cables. It's not that one cable is airy it's that that cable has poor response everywhere else. Your speakers need to see a window of impedance and doubling the cables will change the impedance so there are at least 2 insurmountable problems in your experiment.
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I continue to be astounded that intelligent, educated adults still believe a few strands of silver can provide "airiness", " finer detail", "improved mid bass" and bring out "nuances" only previously heard by golden eared fruit flies. Even more ridiculous that these strands of silver can be packaged in hundreds of different options, all providing different sound signatures. Is there some magical, proprietary unicorn dust sprinkled upon them? The fact is, a cable transmits a signal from source to end point. Nothing more, nothing less. The only difference in sound you will hear is the difference in sound you want to hear. Pure placebo. |
@timkeough1964 Well, good for you. Keep being astounded. |
Dear Tim,
There is one part science and one part art when it comes to speaker cable construction. While you don't have to believe it exists, you can't simply proclaim it invalid because you don't know why and you haven't tried it. I understand skepticism and exercise it pretty regularly myself.
You probably don't believe in the benefits of bi-wiring either but a properly engineered circuit on the speaker crossover yields a discernably different result. It doesn't improve every speaker but it isn't the fault of the method, it's the fault of the crossover.
If you think wire is wire and cable is cable then cool. Grab a solid core copper wire and compare the results with a copper litz cable and let us know the outcome to your ears. Do two solid core copper wires sound the same if they are different gauges? (spoiler alert: Absolutely not).
Once again, believe what you believe, its cool....stating your "hypothesis" as fact is intellectually dishonest. In other words, your "absolute" assertion is absolutely wrong.
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@timkeough1964 It would make life easier if that were true. Unfortunately, you are wrong. The fact is, it’s amazing you haven’t tested your supposition, or can’t make the aural determination, or don’t possess a system capable of the requisite resolution.
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Agreed cables do make a difference. Quality of copper, Gauge size, Routing a/c Interference etc. It’s the good better best lipstick on a pig it’s better tomorrow, BS that’s disgusting. And the price you’re expected to pay for this placebo pseudo-engineering, that’s criminal ! A true whatever the gullible market will bear situation. This 200 year debate lol, wouldn’t be happening if Science verified documentation was supplied. The you hear I hear isn’t debateable it is what it is. One can’t Address or Teach without fact, add pompous BS to Poorly informed and we’re all tired. |
@1971gto455ho Interestingly, I agree with you on almost everything you said, including the gullible market. The challenge is to weed out the real from the pseudo- engineering from the actual effort to make a significant difference by trial and (mostly) error. Audiogoners come from all areas of expertise, and perhaps not as many can appreciate the engineering of a cable as can truly HEAR a difference. The problem is often they can definitely tell a difference but really have no idea why that difference is there. For those who like relatively basic but informative rabbit holes, check out what you find when you do a search for ac conductor surface effect vs frequency, OR, Skin effect | Description, Example & Application (your-physicist.com), or for an even deeper dive, simply go to the Wikipedia page Skin effect - Wikipedia. The bottom line is that what you get at the speaker end of the cable will be determined by a whole handful of electrical parameters that vary with the size, shape, material, number of and proximal interaction of the conductors in the bundle, interna (yes, INternal) and external cross-section of each conductor (a variety would be the best), insulation type and thickness, EMI suppression, termination, and is different at every frequency. Throw in the mix the variety of dedicated engineers (who all think different aspects of the problem are the toughest to deal with) and the charlatans that see a market ripe for exploitation, and you have a witch's brew of possibilities. My only recommendation is to arm yourself with whatever of the above resources you are comfortable with, set a budget, talk as knowledgeably as possible with several product suppliers, and then trust your own ears, which are hopefully the most important part of the process. What drives the load and what the load presents back to the amp will be integral parts of the performance profile of EVERY cable. There is no standard answer - Focus on achieving the sound you like in your environment. Test, compare and hopefully enjoy something just that little bit better in your place. Compare to others if you wish, but it will never be the same as the guy next door. |
