Most "Musical" sounding speaker cable under $1000

Outstanding answer by Newbee, IMO. It is entirely possible that cable A would sound more musical (however that may be defined) than cable B in one system, while in another system cable B would sound more musical than cable A.

Regards,
-- Al

Sunnyjim, the impedance curve of your speakers, as shown near the end of this review, is much more benign than most, being fairly flat, at about 5 ohms through much of the spectrum, and with phase angles that are not highly capacitive at any frequency. I suggest that you research posts by owners of the same or similar speakers to see what cables they are using. The fact that most other speakers do not have impedance characteristics that are similarly easy to drive, and may also differ significantly from the 5 ohm nominal value, suggests that recommendations based on experiences with other speakers stand a good chance of not being applicable, IMO.

Regards,
-- Al

Nasaman, nothing that I or Newbee have said is inconsistent with the experiences you reported in your post.

Regards,
-- Al

Hi Nick,

Basically, if the speaker's impedance phase angle becomes significantly negative (i.e., capacitive) across a significant range of frequencies, the amount of current that the amplifier has to supply, and the amount of current that will flow through the speaker cables, will increase at those frequencies.

That will occur for two reasons. First, everything else being equal the efficiency of the speaker will be less than if the phase angle were zero degrees (i.e., purely resistive). The amount of power delivered at a given instant is proportional to the product (multiplication) of voltage (V) and current (I) at that instant. For a purely resistive load, voltage and current are in phase, meaning that they reach their maximum, minimum, and other corresponding values within each cycle at the same time. For a load that is partially capacitive and partially resistive (i.e., with a phase angle somewhere between zero degrees and -90 degrees), voltage and current will be somewhat out of phase (to a degree that increases as the negative phase angle increases), resulting in a reduction in V x I at any instant of time, and therefore less power delivery than if they were in phase. So to deliver a given amount of power and produce a given volume level, the amplifier will have to deliver more current and voltage if the load is significantly capacitive than if it were purely resistive, everything else being equal.

Secondly, the amount of current flowing through a capacitor is proportional to the rate of change of the applied voltage. So if the impedance of the speaker is significantly capacitive at high frequencies, a greater amount of current will have to be provided during high speed (rapidly changing) transients than would otherwise be necessary.

If the impedance magnitude (the number of ohms) reaches low values at frequencies where the phase angle also reaches low (more negative) values, the increased current requirements resulting from those effects will be further compounded.

Best regards,
-- Al

07-11-12: Sunnyjim
To Almarg, I should have checked with Acoustic Zen about other choices than their own cables, but it seemed pointless in some ways However, your point is well taken, but checking with owners of the same speaker or others that are 5 to 6 ohm impedance. The Adagios are officially 6 ohms.

Sunnyjim, I would emphasize my reference to the flatness of the impedance curve I linked to, across most of the spectrum, and to the fact that the phase angle curve (the lighter of the two lines in the graph) does not go significantly negative at any frequency. Those characteristics are probably more important for present purposes than the nominal impedance.

Most speakers do not have similarly flat impedance magnitudes, and most speakers have impedance phase angles that reach considerably negative values (i.e., considerably less than 0 degrees, meaning they are capacitive) at some frequencies. Sounds like Swanny's speakers might be an exception, which would increase the relevance of his (and DRubin's) suggestion.

Regards,
-- Al