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

@b4icu 

Wouldn’t you feel better if you would have a blue print or a formula in hand, that would specify by engineering methods what is the optimum cable that customer really needs?

When you find one then by all means clue us in.  If everyone had the same opinion of how the “optimum” cable sounds then we would only need one cable manufacturer.

@b4icu

Sorry you missed some of this tread, explaining that every amp-speaker has its optimum cable, by engineering calculation.

You are in fact correct, I previously had only read parts of the thread, so I went back and read the whole thing. Between ROTFLMFAO and taking aspirin to make my headache go away, I learned there are apparently 3 lucky beneficiaries of the secret engineering calculation that primarily shows just about everyone (except the three) is using speaker cables that are too small. Not sure why 6 pages of posts were required to uncover this sensational revelation but hey, whatever it takes to move the industry forward.

What's the record for most posts removed from a thread?
I never lost one until this thread.
Good thing they don't bump them for spelling and grammar.

This looks promising for those wanting to try the large gauge wire DIY path;

https://www.rockvilleaudio.com/12-feet-r0g100red/

Like Geoff and Wolf I have recently gone back to my solid core cables.  Not AQ but Harmonic Technology that uses multiple, thin, OCC copper wire individually insulated with foamed PE.  Just ordered some more, which I will use to run tfull 9 awg wires to each of my 8 speaker binding posts.   I am seriously thinking of trying the large gauge thing just for fun and the linked Rockville cable at $25/12 feet looks like it could be perfect for the purpose.

Anyone here actually tried using jumper cable wire as speaker cable......if so, how did it compare with other speaker cables you have used?

To OP: Aside from all the posturing on this thread, I am curious about a couple of your ideas but have a couple of questions.

1. Where is this "formula"?  I went back through two weeks of posts and still could find no formula, just multiple comments about basing the wire size on the amplifier and how "0 gauge" seems to usually work well, and also a couple of comments about needing thicker than 0 awg in cases where the SCs are longer.  When I started to see other posts asking "where is the formula" I assumed going back further would be of no help.  I would like to apply this formula to my situation and calculate what gauge wire I would need to meet your formula based on my SS amplifier.

2. I read your opinion about separating wires and assume your DIY results in running separate pos and neg wires from the amplifier to the speaker.  Your point seems to be that this should resolve mutual inductance and that resistance (i.e., inverse of wire size) is the governing factor.  Some manufacturers have done this (separated pos and neg wires) in the past but typically that approach has not seen long-term commercial success (low WAF?).

One way to get pretty close to your 0 awg would be to purchase 8/3 50A NEMA welding extension cord and then connect the three internal wires together and use a single run separately to each pos and neg terminal.  Each post would then see just under 3 awg (i.e.,  3 x 8 awg ~ 3 awg) 

To actually achieve 0 awg wire, I would probably purchase 0 awg battery jumper cable wire in the length I need and crimp a short, large gauge, lead-out wire to the jumper cable wire that would attach to my speakers and amp.   I would run the two battery jumper cables separately with one going to each of the pos and neg posts.

Where is the formula?

Maybe a fun DIY project in my spare time would be to order this;

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0167K786A/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B0167K786A&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=f52e26da-1287-4616-824b-efc564ff75a4&pf_rd_r=83DVKJH6N8G9QDV816AJ&pd_rd_wg=BsaKN&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&pd_rd_w=kUgYS&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pd_rd_r=f21cc8f0-dd1e-11e8-bee5-11f85c3f70ca

and these;

https://www.amazon.com/SELTERM-Gauge-Copper-Welding-Eyelet/dp/B073Y9RYFM/ref=pd_sim_328_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B073Y9RYFM&pd_rd_r=fe7ca96e-dd1e-11e8-8073-9598c706805b&pd_rd_w=oz9zG&pd_rd_wg=xgHbu&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=18bb0b78-4200-49b9-ac91-f141d61a1780&pf_rd_r=3QTYW38P4053NS2A9H5E&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=3QTYW38P4053NS2A9H5E

and then I could run 3.75 ft. lengths of two red and two black of each to my bi-wire speakers. I have a hydraulic crimp tool that has a die to accommodate 2 awg connectors so cutting and stripping the wire will be the most difficult part of the operation.  Those copper ring connectors might actually fit over my binding posts by removing the nut, installing the copper ring over the post and then replacing the nut.  About $70 to see what all the fuss is about.  Oh, BTW, I ran the calculation and 2 awg is what I need.

@b4icu 

No matter how good you get, beyond the standard purity of 99.90%. All the difference in conductivity is below 0.1% and no one would notice an audible difference in such a small difference in conductivity.

The whole issue of hearing a difference, in the context of everything else going on in a home audio system, becomes even more incredible when you consider many audio companies (and many cable manufacturers) still use brass (or another low conductivity alloy) in their connectors......that's right, your new $27K Lamm M1.2 Reference monoblocks use "brass" binding posts!  Amazingly, they still sound great. 

Another example is most banana connectors, which are made from a copper alloy such as brass, bronze, or beryllium copper.  Those three alloys have an associated range of conductivity of about 20 to 50 percent of IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard).  I believe the best of that group is Grade E phosphor bronze at about 48% IACS - Furutech uses that metal.  If you can find connectors made from tellurium copper, they are rated much higher, at about 93-94% IACS, which is close to the conductivity of pure copper (i.e., about 100% of IACS).  There are a few banana connectors I know of that are advertised as being made from copper -  KLE and Xhadow, and Furez that are reportedly made from tellurium copper.

Below is a link to a not-so-secret calculator that can show how much your speaker cables affect your damping factor.  The calculator is at the bottom of the article on damping factor.

http://www.bcae1.com/dampfact.htm#demo

Regarding your lead-out termination and the issue of going from 0 awg to a smaller gauge wire - why bother with crimping, soldering, or a transition of any type to a different wire?  You could simply strip the insulation from the final 6 to 10 inches of the large wire, and then remove wire material from the perimeter of the bundle until you have the desired lead-out size that can then be covered with heat shrink for isolation and attached to a typical audio connector (banana or spade).  This would provide a direct connection from one end of the cable to the other without the need for transitions but still allowing the benefit of the larger 0 awg wire throughout most of the cable run.   BTW, Furez offers some copper connectors that have very large wire openings to keep the lead-out as large as possible.

Some of the large-sized (0 awg) wire I am looking at uses multiple bundles of wire such as in the linked example below.  If you count bundles, you can easily leave the same number of wire bundles for the lead-out resulting in a consistent lead-out size from cable to cable.  Looking at the linked wire picture, it appears one could simply remove the outer wire bundles and use the smaller inner bundles as the lead-out.

https://www.amazon.com/Gauge-Premium-Welding-Cable-Black/dp/B07CZ4VKG3/ref=sr_1_12?s=hi&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1541181672&sr=1-12&keywords=1%2F0+Gauge+Premium+Extra+Flexible+Welding+Cable+600+VOLT+prime