Very interesting radio shack vs. audioquest

Read the thread from 4-20 -10, "cheap interconnects from Hong Kong". Interesting.

Hi Rrog

For the guy who used solid core thermostat wire was it the 18-5 or 18-3 wire? Also did they say what they did with the extra wire? Was it just snipped or wrapped around positive wire?

If anyone else has used thermostat wire and want to share their thoughts as well I'm curious.

I tried the White Lighting Moonshade speaker wire from extension cords but had mixed results with it. Depending on the amp or speakers I used with the extension cord wire the music seemed a little more bright.

Hi Jedinite24

About your question regarding solid core thermostat wire; use the 18-5 version. The individual strands of wire are colour coded and insulated and you can buy the stuff for about 50 cents a foot. Make up two ten footers. Select two of the coloured wires (your option) and make them the positive side; use the remaining three strands as the negative side. Double check that the two cables are matched regarding the colour coding of joined strands.

You can terminate them with lugs or bananas or whatever, but to test them out just feed the strands into the amp and the speakers. Be very careful here. The strands are not terribly flexible and it takes some care to feed them in. After tightening the screws on the amp and speakers, double check that they are tight as they often work loose as the strands soften. Turn it on and listen.

I spent one whole winter investigating cables and I can tell you that this simple approach will change your listening life. Of course, you can do better; Audio Note Sogon cable (silver litz) at about $3000 is a shade better. But I use thermostat wire with everything, including my Audio Note Oto SE amp and JM Renaud Bliss speakers. I even make them up and give them to friends.

Clarity, detail and focus are central to me and only solid core delivers that to my ears. The more strands there are in a cable the more tizz there is in the output. Some people like that and think it is exciting and therefore believe it is automatically better. It certainly is one thing; fatiguing.

Try it.