@alexb76 - I have used a selection of bulk cables from a few different manufacturers over the years and my favourite bulk cable is from DH Labs - similar performance to Furutech, but a lot cheaper
What technical parameters should be considered? - generally speaking ...
- Resistance for wire is pretty low and all the cables you are looking at will be OK
- Inductance can be an issue, but most bulk speaker cables have an acceptable level for most applications. Some amps (e.g. Naim) like to have around 1uH/meter of inductance (i.e. approximately 4 uH in total) because they have no inductive components in their output stage and require the speaker cables to provide it (so I have read)
- Capacitance is only and issue in cables when used with high current solid state amps (like Ayre, Gryphen and Naim) because it can drive amps to oscillation/destruction - even then the level of capacitance has to be very high in excess of 250pF/meter. NOTE: Capacitance is NOT an issue for tube amps
As for the type of metal used e.g. copper, silver plated copper, solid silver, OCC, OFC etc...
- For obvious reasons Solid silver is too expensive for most folk, but it provides the fastest conductivity
- Amongst the copper only variety of wire OFC and OCC is a good place to start
- but some copper wire from a specific brand can outperform other wires.
Another aspect of cable construction is cable geometry - i.e. how the conductors are formed into a cable
- twisting two wires together is a very simple cable geometry
- braiding is a little more complicated but more effective than twisting for keeping noise lower
- then you get into more complex geometries like the helix spiral - which reduces noise even further
- Using multiple wires for a single conductor can be productive, but beware of the overall capacitance
Cable Geometry is where my own DIY efforts reaped the biggest rewards in terms of clarity, dynamics and image.
But the wire that really stands out is the 12 gauge wire from Duelund.whic I used for my own DIY speaker cables
You can even get away with using it only as the live conductor and use a 10 gauge mil-spec for the neutral
https://www.hificollective.co.uk/wire/duelund-dca12ga-600v-tinned-multistrand-copper-wire.htmlhttps://www.takefiveaudio.com/products/1827-mil-spec-10-awg-silver-plated-copper-wire-black-cryo-tre...To start with - You can simply twist the two wires together - about one complete twist every 6-8 inches - add some heat shrink to stop them from untwisting and expandable sleeve and connectors and voila - you got a speaker cable that really performs well.
It will work better than most bulk cables and be compatible with most amps.
I would normally say the cables with some silver plating are more dynamic, but the Duelund tinned copper wire provides superb dynamic performance - better than the silver plated Mil-Spec wire I had previously tried
As for the insulation - for the most part I try to use Teflon insulation because it seems to result in lower overall capacitance - but the Duelind wire is the exception to that "general approach"
PLEASE NOTE - I stress the "general nature" of my comments above, because once you get into different wires, things can change dramatically and it really is a case of "TRY IT AND SEE".
Making your own speaker cables can get complicated - take a look the links below to see the most common issues that can occur...
https://www.psaudio.com/article/cables-time-is-of-the-essence-part-1/https://www.psaudio.com/article/cables-time-is-of-the-essence-part-2/https://www.psaudio.com/article/cables-time-is-of-the-essence-part-3/ If you want to get really serious about making cables to suit your system you need to know more about your amp and speakers to start with and then look at Cable Geometry. At that point you really have to consider Capacitance and Inductance
Hope this helped - Steve
