Check out Magnan speaker cables. This company has came out with a concept of multiple wires smaller than a human hair, in a flat-shaped cable. They sound pretty amazing and extremly neutral. For those looking for solid copper speaker cable I would recommend WhyNot speaker cables which are probably the best on the market. Both concepts have advantages and inconveniences and system matching is always an issue. To solve your dilemma, you should test both in your system and decide which one to keep.
Solid copper or stranded copper for speaker cables? What is your choice and why?
I had old copper speaker cable made by Audioquest (don't know the model). The cable contains only two solid copper wires, one is thicker than the other. As I recalled, Audioquest claimed back then that thicker wire primarily carries lower frequency signal and the thinner wire is responsible for the rest. I actually have not seen this type of design nowadays, BUT when listening and comparing it with the stranded wire (either 12 or 10 gauge) cable, I found the dynamic range is greater, and the bass is tighter and has more weight. What do you think?
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I've always made my own: lamp cord; common speaker wire; monster cable; solid strands of thick copper, stiff, hard to bend; cat 5 and now cat 8. It's hard to know what you are convincing yourself about 'better'. So, off to research, something's gotta be real: What made sense, and what I settled on, is multiple individually insulated, small diameter solid core, i.e. Cat 5. Easy to make myself, flexible enough, put high quality connectors on. Small diameter reduces the 'skin effect'. Many say that's a joke at the lengths we use. Believe in Santa or not? Now, CAT 8, Pure Copper, insulation for: each strand; each pair; 2 layers of outer insulation, whoopee. Looks cool, personal involvement is rewarding, Sound better? I've never been willing to spend big money on cables. I've moved my friend's very expensive cables here, listened, better? Even he doesn't hear anything obvious here. Based on all that, I would never use large diameter solid core again. There was definitely a dullness. I do think experiences/results vary based on the efficiency of your speakers. Mine are highly efficient horns, 16 ohms (so amp is using 16 ohm windings). Perhaps I could/would hear real differences with different speakers. I also keep my cables the same length l/r, even though at the lengths involved, many say that's absurd.
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If you want the sonic benefits described by @elliottbnewcombjr (resulting from cables made from multiple strands of individually insulated, solid core wires) then you can either braid CAT wire or check out offerings by Harmonic Technology such as one of the variations of their Pro9 or Pro11 speaker cables (made from OCC). Either option should sound good. |
- 41 posts total