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Solid core Versus Stranded Speaker cables

Ok for starters I have never tried a solid core Speaker cable until recently. I was very skeptical of the solids performance but I'm glad I tried it. As a matter of fact I tried it and found it to be the best cable I have ever used to date. After much searching, getting opinions from fellow audio enthusiasts and trial and error I happened upon a seller here on Audiogon, JW Audio who offered a 30 day in home trial period with full money returned, no questions asked and took a shot in the dark. That shot hit the bullseye dead center. After receiving the Cryo Nova 12 foot long cables, I was somewhat stunned when I seen the cable, it was nothing like I expected but I connected it anyway. Holy S....t did it make an immediate difference and it keeps getting better. My entire system (Krell) opened up like peeling the skin off a banana. Highs, lows, detail, soundstage, depth, clarity and details that I was missing were revealed. ( and I thought what I had was really outstanding )

Which brings me to the point of this thread. Not knowing what makes a solid core or a stranded speaker cable more desirable aside from the obvious flexibility issues I'm curious to know what my fellow audiocrazies use and why they prefer one over the other or if they even tried both. Anyone willing to give up their opinions on the pros and cons of solid versus stranded speaker cable? I will start that I am a convert to at least this particular solid core speaker wire and unless someone can better it with the 30 day free trial period I do believe it is here to stay.

128x128gillatgh
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Took a quick look at the Jenving stuff.  They are just using tinned copper (which can actually be cheaper than OFC copper).  It's a plated coating on the copper to prevent oxidation.  It's true that tin is not as conductive as copper, but it is still conductive.  Look at the following:

http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/sitefiles/15/2/2/152201/On%20the%20Conductivity%20of%20Selected%20Metals.pdf

Copper conductivity is 59,77.  Many products (such as terminations) using different types of plating to affect the sound. They may be less conductive, but they still work well.  For example, Gold plating (at 42,55) gives you  more of a laid back sound.  While Rhodium (at 22,17) which is much less conductive will actually give you faster more detailed sound.  Brass at a very low 14,94 will transfer a lot of current and be very strong/forward.  You'll also see Nickel plating used in a lot of industrial connectors. 

I still think there is some cross-conductivity in the Jenving tin-plated strands. It's my opinion that they are just giving you a marketing statement to get you to buy their cheap tinned copper cable.

If you really want true coated strands, look at Cardas Litz wire.  Each Cardas strand is actually coated with enamel, which completely prevents any conductivity between the strands.  This is good and does exactly the same thing as solid-core.  The strands are typically much thinner at 26awg or smaller.

kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Strands don’t have to be 26awg since 18awg copper has 100% skin depth at 20kHz, as I mentioned in previous post. When they are stranded insulated then you will still have skin effect since they are in magnetic field of each other. That’s why they arrange them on hollow tube or flat tape, so that any particular wire is mostly in magnetic field of neighboring strands only, reducing skin effect.

As for purity of the copper - OFC has thousand of crystals per ft while zero crystal copper has one. Impurities reside between crystals. Zero crystal copper has one crystal not because of perfect purity, but because copper is cooled slowly in hot forms preventing crystal formation.
digiman14's avatar
digiman14
1 posts
 
Solid core here. Tried it 20 years ago, never went back. For clarification iI should mention that my setup consists of -lots of electronics-->a Tact/lyngdorf 300w power amp --> Fostex FE204 fullrange open baffle speakers. The fostex drivers are 25w max/95db/1w drivers. It folllows that these are immensly revealing speakers. Any,even the faintest noise, like hum, switching noise etc are magnified. The "try shouting at your tube amplifier"-phenomena is real indeed.

Anyway, as an old audiophile, i’ve tried them all. The reasonably available anyway. I find that solid core copper cable (2,5mm2) brings a shine, a light in dark areas, a higher resolution, to the sound. Stranded cable sounds grainy, gray, matted etc.  I guess part of the reason that Cardas, Litz etc dont market this kind of cable is that that it's too simple. Nothing fancy can be said or done about a simple solid wire. Did I mention that my cable cost about $1 pr metre, (30c pr ft)? Now I did. Not much profit potential in that.

I see that there are a lot of pseudo-metallurgists in this thread. I have nothing to contribute in that direction, and i dare to say that neither has most of these other contributors as well.
In other forums that i frequently visit, an assertion requires sources. A psysicist would indeed be very interested in the theories about the movement of electrons in and between the crystals of copper mentioned in this thread
gillatgh's avatar
gillatgh OP
381 posts
 
Wow I'm impressed by all the discussion on this subject and with the objective responses. I must say I'm pleased with the education I'm getting. It looks like there is an equal representation of enthusiasts in both camps. Very recently I aquired a new amp and processor and for change of pace went back to stranded cables. Although pleased with the experience I'm now thinking of going back to solid just to see how it interacts with the new equipment. This is a mixed bag of exitement as I am looking forward to audition the solid but dread the effort required to attain it. Solid is really difficult to work with.
Thank you all for keeping this thread alive. Keep your experiences coming as it will help all audio crazies

gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
I can't say I ever used completely solid cable, but I would suppose solid cable is actually *single strand* cable.  Point is, there isn't just two choices of solid and stranded. Cable which is "stranded" is available in many extremely thin and frail strands to few and relatively thicker stands, which in a sense is a compromise between "solid" and "stranded".
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