Paul Speltz speaker cables

Jkuc: Depending on how one configures the geometry of the "Anti-Cables", they can very easily introduce a lack of spacial cues and high frequency information. That's because as one spaces cables further apart, they increase the inductance. As one increases inductance, high frequency roll-off increases. Combining higher inductance cabling with a lower impedance speaker reduces the hinge frequency where roll-off begins to occur at, causing even more loss of "spaciousness" and high frequency articulation. In extreme cases, the upper mids begin to roll-off and the harmonic structure / musical overtones get lost or turn into a blurry mess. As such, you can reduce some of the problems that you noticed with this cabling by bringing it closer together and / or converting it into a twisted pair.

As a side note and on the opposite side of the coin, if one has a very bright and / or piercing system, the use of higher inductance cabling can help, but with the aforementioned drawbacks included. That is, by playing with the spacing between the individual conductors in this cabling, one can somewhat fine tune the high frequency response of the system. You can't really do this with other cable designs outside of "shot-gunning" multiple runs and spacing them apart.

Other than that, I'm glad to see more and more folks catching onto the benefits of solid conductor speaker cabling. I've been an advocate of this for many years for multiple reasons, long before Goertz cabling was even available. If one is interested in the technical aspects of how's and why's, one might want to check out this thread over at AA regarding solid conductor speaker cabling, sonic differences, bandwidth, linearity, dielectric absorption, power transfer, etc....

Bradz: An amp should never oscillate with Nordost cabling. This cable has a much higher nominal impedance ( 100+ ohms ), limits power transfer at any given frequency and isn't all that low in inductance to cause problems. Then again, one will never get the amount of warmth or bass output out of these cables that they can out of other cabling that is better engineered. Try reading this thread over at AA about Nordost vs Goertz from a first hand user and then a brief comment in this thread about the same comparison.

As to the Goertz cabling, these can send specific amplifiers into oscillation. The very low nominal impedance combined with their very wide bandwidth can tend to play games with amplifiers that utilize a specific design and / or are very wide bandwidth. Using the factory supplied Zobel network ( impedance compensation ) should solve this. If it doesn't solve the problem, the amp itself has other problems outside of high frequency stability.

As to the Innersound amps, these are built for them by Coda to their specs. Many of the engineers at Coda used to be affiliated with Threshold / Forte', which were amps that were also known for oscillating with low inductance / low impedance speaker cabling. Having run Goertz speaker cabling in systems using Threshold / Forte' amplifiers, i can assure you that so long as you use a Zobel network at the speaker, you shouldn't run into any problems. This was also discussed over at AA in a similar thread about the Innersound / Goertz combo. Sean
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I've received many emails about the subject of wire geometry / configuration, but i don't want to taint this thread any further than i already have. At the same time, i don't want to respond to a dozen individual emails either as it doesn't serve the greater good of those interested in such things. If someone wants to start a thread about speaker cable geometries and the electrical / sonic results that occur with different designs, i'm sure that there might be at least a few responses and questions posted there. Sean
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PS... Something "strange" is going on in this thread as material that i posted last night is no longer to be found. Why and who pulled it, i don't know.

Bradz: See my response to you in the other "Anti Cables" speaker thread.

As to my previous comment about "strange things" going on, the only thing "strange" is me. I forgot that there were two different threads on this same topic, hence my confusion. That's what i get for posting very late at night when i should be sleeping : ) Sean
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Only cables that are extremely wide in bandwidth and / or have a very low nominal impedance ( very low inductance ) can cause problems with your Threshold. The Anti-Cables are not capable of such a low impedance or low level of inductance regardless of how they are configured. Even if one were to use a cable that could cause the amp to self-oscillate, the addition of an inexpensive and simple to make Zobel network would solve any of those problems.

Using the Anti-Cables or any other design that physically separates the two conductors by a measurable distance drastically reduces bandwidth and raises nominal impedance. In effect, the Anti-Cables will act as somewhat of a smaller gauge zip cord with an increased tendency to roll-off the treble as spacing between the conductors is increased.

The treble roll-off may fool some people into thinking that the treble is cleaner, especially on digital based systems that tend to sound bright or ringy. The solid core conductors are what give the cable the majority of their "special properties", but the lack of other specific electrical traits are what limit the bandwidth and power transfer characteristics.

Like i've said before, buy and use what you like. These cables are a step in the right direction and can be even more than that, but you have to know how to get there in order to achieve the best results. If you already knew how to get there though, you would have chosen a different point to start at though. With that in mind, i'll never discourage someone from finding out what works best for them and / or learning along the way. That's why i said that i was glad to see people learning / experimenting with a type of product that i consider to be a stepping stone to better sound reproduction. Sean
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Paul's comments are valid but there is SOOO much more to cable design that just the capacitance and inductance figures.

The nominal impedance of a cable goes up as one spaces the conductors further apart, which lowers the amount of long term and short term power available from the amp. On top of that, the greater the impedance mismatch, the poorer the transient response and greater amount of signal reflections created.

Other than that, Paul's comments about high frequency oscillation may very well be valid. This is why i suggested the use of a Zobel network with any cable that is very low in inductance and wide-bandwidth by design.

Other than that, i have used similiar cabling to the Anti-Cabling as configured in a twisted pair in the past. I recommended this configuration as being a great cable for the money invested on the net appr 10 years ago when i first logged onto the internet. This cable design was also listed in my modification notes for the "Classic" series of Klipsch speakers, which was posted on their website many years ago. Sean
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Jkuc: venue information i.e. "space surrounding the instruments or performers" is directly related to high frequency speed and articulation. Higher levels of inductance attenuate higher frequencies, causing a reduction in spatial cues. This is why i've recommending using a geometry that is lower in inductance than the more traditionally used spaced conductors with this product. Not only is linearity improved, other benefits derived from increased linearity also become more apparent. Sean
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