Shotgun connection

Here's another way to look at it:

With Option 1, you are connecting two Ocellia Reference cables in parallel.

With Option 2, in effect you would be connecting two cables that are no longer Ocellia References in parallel, since with the + and - conductors no longer being closely twisted together, you are in effect redesigning the cable. The "redesigned" pair of cables will have much higher inductance than in Option 1, and I suspect it would also have significantly higher inductance than if you were running just one cable per channel rather than two.

At a 2 meter length it might not make much difference either way, but why "redesign" an excellent cable, with unpredictable results?

Regards,
-- Al

Use option 1.

Option 2 will considerably increase the inductance of the cables, which may have adverse effects at upper treble frequencies.

In saying this, I'm assuming that you are not using one of the few cable types that have ultra-high capacitance and ultra-low inductance, such as Goertz. Option 2 could conceivably be preferable in those unusual cases.

I'm also assuming that the goal is to minimize the sonic effects of the cables, as opposed to softening the upper treble.

Regards,
-- Al

As I indicated, if the + wires and the - wires are not physically VERY close together (and preferably twisted together, as the OP described for Option 1), inductance will increase considerably. That is the main consideration in choosing between the two choices he described, IMO.

How critical minimizing inductance will be depends in part on the impedance of the speaker at high frequencies. The lower that impedance is the more critical keeping inductance low is likely to be. It also depends on the length of the cable, since if everything else is equal inductance is proportional to length.

And looking at this photo of the OP's specific cable it would appear that twisting + and - closely together, or even keeping them in close proximity, would be essentially impossible under Option 2. Therefore I respectfully disagree with Akg and ZD.

The OP's stated goals of increasing gauge and adding a bit of weight to the sound are likely to be accomplished to the same degree (whatever that degree may be) with either option, as I see it. But depending on the impedance characteristics of the speaker and on the length of the cable, Option 2 could very well end up acting as an unwanted tone control in the upper treble region, attenuating those frequencies at least slightly, and causing transient response to become more sluggish, at least slightly.

Regards,
-- Al