2. cables
  3. 175014-144185

Twisting 4 pairs of Belden 9497 per channel?

I'm experimenting with making my own speaker cables for my small living room system: Rega ElexR, Bel Canto Dac, Legacy Studio HD speakers and mostly streaming.
A friend gave me few dozen feet of Belden 9497 speaker wire: tinned 16 awg each conductor (I believe?), unsheilded.  He uses it with his vintage tube  and vinyl system to his Devore speakers, and loved them.  Thought I would try out.

I  wanted to use a pair per bi-wire post on the Legacy Studio speakers.  So 4 runs of the Belden wire two wire 9497.

The two conductor wire is already very tightly twisted, but I am wondering as a bundle of 2, or all 4 in one sleeve, would it be best to also twist them all around each other for EMI/RF/Magnetic field interference or issues?
Or should each one be run independent?
Does twisting or not twisting alter sound character of the music>

Does it matter?

Thank you!

amtprod

Showing 2 responses by holmz

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

Does twisting or not twisting alter sound character of the music>

Yeah it lowers the inductance, and provides less magnetically induced current and coupling.

 

I would be looking at either:

  • A Kimber 4TC or 8TC as they are already woven.
    • 0.225 uH / meter
    • 136 pF / meter
  • Or the Mogami w3102 or w3104 as they are 12/13 ga.
    • 0.7 uH/m
    • ~100 pF / meter (1kHz)

The Beldon:

  • Beldon 9497
    • 0.19 µH/ft (~0.6 µH/m)
    • I did not see the capacitance listed

Both cables (Mogami and Kimber) have capacitance and inductance specs on their web sites.
And the Beldon shows the inductance.

Maybe one could do a single twisted set of those 9497 to the tweeters, and 1 or 2 pairs to the woofers ? (As you already have them.)

The Mogami gives you lower gauge and less resistance. And the Kimber a lower inductance. But the speakers likely overwhelm the total inductance… so it is not likely that the angels will be singing better.

I have some Mogami coming in the mail, and I have also been looking at getting the 4TC and 8TC. I’ll replace the lamp cord with one or them, or trying both… but I’m also not expecting a great deal of improvement… if any.

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

I am not a cable snob, so I mainly like hard specs over flowery words.

The 4TC and 8TC are available as bulk to add your favourite ends to. That is what I will do. Mostly because it is easier to lock them into the bananas on the speakers. But all amps and speakers have their own deal, so sometime wire needs no ends.

While many may say it is mid fi, I think most cables are bit overpriced. But all are overpriced compared to my temporary cables. And most of the “hiFi” ones have no solid specs.

I think one is generally better off with dual monoblocks or vertical bi-amping, and using short cables. But I have heard nice systems running all sort of long cables.

In your case it is likely hard to make too bad of a decision, as the cables you have are sufficient, and the ones you are considering are good, as well as not being overpriced.

Would you have any insight on the impact of using 8' of twisted speaker wire on sound 

No…
It would have lower inductance that non-twisted, and less magnetically inducted signal into anything near them… So they should sound more neutral as the inductance values are lower. (But brighter than a high inductance cable, or a. High capacitance cable)

More to discover