No one actually knows how to lculate what speaker cable they need

I have tried many cables to drive modified Magnepan MG IIIa’s with a Pass Labs 250.5.  The best so far are DIY five foot cables made with 16AWG .999 pure solid silver inside 1/4” poly sleeve connected directly without termination to amp and speakers.  The two leads per side are keep 2 1/2” apart from each other in a ladder design.  Every 12” a three each piece of plastic plumbers strap is fixed to the cables with zip ties to keep the cables apart.  Total cost: under $7 per foot ($70 for for two five foot cables).  The sound is holographic.  Best bass these speakers have ever produced.  Very revealing mids and highs, particularly with DSD recordings.

Happy listening.

I experience the same results with the silver wire ladder design driving a second system consisting of a Hegel H200 integrate amp driving Aria A speakers (Joe D’Appolito three-way design employing Cabasse cone woofer and Accutron ceramic drivers).
I buy 16AWG naked .999 pure solid silver wire from a jewelry industry supplier in New Mexico for $2.87 per foot and poly sleeve on Amazon for $.14 per foot.  It only takes 30 minutes to assemble these cables (cut silver and sleeve to length, insert wire in sleeve, attach spacers to cables and attach wire to terminals).
Measuring the differences between conventional materials and designs when compared to the ladder described, with instruments other than my ears, is beyond my ken.
Invest $70 and thirty minutes and let your ears be your guide.
For over thirty years, I to, was a cable denier.  I have $9,500 of various unsatisfying cables sitting in drawer or were resold.  I wonder if the measurement sciences have caught up to the reality of how electrons behave when transmitted via different materials, and in proximity to the signal and ground wires.
Happy listening.

Solder bare wire to speakers bare wire to custom crossover and form a soldered wire hook for amp screw clamp terminal.  Any suggestions?

Ebay is selling 25 feet of 0 AWG copper wire for $23.  I will buy it, install it and report back.  I have five feet of cable between amp and speakers.  Any other instructions?  For me the hobby is about experimenting.

Dear Ganainm,

Please a look at the work of Steve Reeve (image99.net, click on Audio Alchemy) regarding noise created by parallel + and - wires.  Steve’s approach to a solution is different.  I have assembled his cables and they are very good.  My ears prefer the wires being separated by substantial space as opposed to Steve’s Helix (coil) design.

Cheers

Ganainm,

Google: Monsterslayer.com for silver wire.  Scroll to the bottom of their ordering form to find the .999 wire.  Or, just call them.  Very courteous staff.

Given your background, I would be most interested in your feedback on copper vs silver.  I have built and bought XLR’s and speaker cables with both.  I prefer the lifting-of-the-vail provided by silver.  I read that others dislike the shrillness or glare of silver and prefer the warmth of copper.  

I like hearing the reflected sound of the room in which the performance was recorded.  For me, detail is more important than warmth.  Tight controlled bass, for me, is more pleasing than detail killing boom, assuming both reach the same SPL at  30hz.  I find that DSD recordings lack shrillness and produce realistic sounding bass through silver interconnects and cables.  44.1mhz 16bit recordings do sound “shriller” or contain more glare to my ears.  I suspect copper wires would tame the glare.

I am concerned that I am biased because I came up with a minor twist in cable design and I recognize that cables are tone controls.  BTW, I have spoken to others who have experimented with the ladder speaker cable design.  Cable TV systems originally used ladder line (naked copper separated by clipped-on 1/4“ wood dowels).

I am equally concerned that other listeners just prefer to hear that which is familiar or that less vailed reproduction by interconnects and/or cables amplify shrillness in source components.  I glean from your comment that, “familiar” to you, is the live performance.  Hence, my interest in your opinion.

I will be ordering the 0 AWG copper and assemble ladder speaker cables.  I remain curious.  Please stay tuned.

Thanks for the kind words.

All good wishes,

Dill,

You are correct, $23 buys clad aluminum.  Thanks for educating me.

I will order pure copper for $69.

Gratefully yours

Dear b4icu,

I purchased 25 feet of 0 AWG form a supplier on eBay for $45 ($12 shipping) and four brass (supposedly gold plated) battery connectors ($7.49).

I constructed four five foot cables in just over one hour.  Battery connectors were converted to spades with a cold chisel and wire cutters, cable was cut with a hacksaw and insulation stripped with the hacksaw.  Spades were connected to Pass Labs 250.5 terminals (PL does not supply banana plug receptacles).  I attached banana plugs to a two inch piece of silver plated 8 AWG wire.  I hollowed out a holle in 0 AWG wire with a punch and did not remove insulation.  I then inserted the stripped 8 AWG wire in hole and secured the assembly with a hose clamp around the insulation at the cable’s end.

The cables were attached to my thirty year old modified MG IIIa’s.  The results are stunning.  The amount of undistorted energy filling the room, is jaw dropping.  I keep turning up the volume to levels that previously irritated my ears, and experience no irritation.  In the modified lyrics of B.B. King, “The shrill is gone.”  My wife is hearing new detail in cuts she has listened to many times before.

In my case, b4icu, you were absolutely correct, thank you (except for the part of you doubting ribbon speakers would be improved with installation of your design).  I can’t wait to try the cables in one of my other systems that employs cone speakers.

I am am sure every case is different.  Nevertheless, I encourage other hobbiest to test your theories.

Thank you for your generosity and patience.

All good wishes

Granny ring,

If you use the terminal ring/spade linked above, you can crimp the terminal with 8” channel locks.  The medal is soft.  Alternatively, Amazon has $15 crimping tools, including one that has a cradle and piston you hit with a hammer.  I suggest you try the channel locks first, allowing one of the tabs on the terminal to overlap the other.  To keep the wire from coming out of the terminal, I bent over few of the strands before crimping.  I achieved a very tight and secure fit.

Good Luck

Dear Professor (b4ic),

I replaced DIY 5 foot 16 AWG silver ladder line.  Have previously used a variety of commercial Helix design, solid flat wire and braided multi-stranded wires insulated and in multiple sleeves.  Alll 12 AWG, 5 to 8 foot length.  Costs ranged from $400 to $2,000.

Link to cable purchased: https://www.ebay.com/itm/25-Foot-1-0-AWG-Gauge-Copper-Wire-Cable-Super-Vu-Tron-Type-W-2000V-Heavy-Du...

Link to terminations: https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-1-0-AWG-Gauge-Gold-Wire-Crimp-Cable-Ring-Terminal-Red-Black-Boots-5-16-Lu...

Don’t know how to send you a picture of assembled cable.  Instructions please.

Best regards

Dear Professor Michael,

Please find photos of the cable I built as a result of your tutelage at the following links:

https://imgur.com/a/12C7MQM

https://imgur.com/a/vIL3qs0

I hope this helps you and your disciples.

All the Best