BillFitzmaurice.info

Have you ever lent out some gear only to be returned in worse condition than it was before?
So I lent out some speaker cables to a friend and he always returned them to me wound back up in a way that twisted the cable and looked like a twizzler stick. Doing this enough eventually makes the cable go bad and is a headache to untwist and repair. I lent it out one too many times. So I'm in the market to replace.

I google "best speaker cable" and a slew of options comes up. I mostly get the Monster Cable links. But I researched even more and there are articles out there that state longer cable runs have more resistance and in turn affects Damping Factor, capacitance, etc. And there's that word again (Damping Factor). I used to think that this spec found on almost all amplifier specification sheets made a difference.

So after more reading I'm still unsure. Here's my questions:
1) Does the thickness of the cable (gauge) make a difference in sound quality?
2) The internal wiring of the raw speaker driver to the connector is usually insignificant. Why use a high quality 12ga. speaker cable when there seems to be wimpy internal wiring used?

This is a topic of considerable debate.
Yes it makes a difference, but many will argue that the difference is insignificant and not worth the added expense/weight.

Buy for durability and warranty. You shouldn't have to pay top dollar to meet those two requirements.

realaudioent wrote:So after more reading I'm still unsure. Here's my questions:
1) Does the thickness of the cable (gauge) make a difference in sound quality?

Yes. But...provided you keep the total resistance of the speaker cable to less than 5% of the cabinet impedance....the difference will not be enough to notice or care about. Room modes will be MUCH more important to any audio setup.

The practical side of that guideline is to use the shortest speaker cables possible, in a reasonably large gauge (12ga or 14ga - smaller numbers mean bigger wires...don't ask...it comes from the 19th century... ). I limit my speaker cables to 25ft...but almost all my connections are actually made with 12ft cables. Keep in mind that a speaker cable is a round trip...so a 25ft cable contains 50ft of conductor.

In full disclosure...I do have one pair of 50ft cables, and they are 14ga. BUT...I only use those when I am in low SPL situations - less than 50w per box - and I need the reach.

realaudioent wrote:2) The internal wiring of the raw speaker driver to the connector is usually insignificant. Why use a high quality 12ga. speaker cable when there seems to be wimpy internal wiring used?

The issue inside the speaker has to do with the distance that the current is traveling. The speaker cable might be 25ft long (a 50ft round trip path), the path inside a speaker cabinet is probably less than 5ft. There is just not that much loss that can happen in 5ft, especially compared to the 50ft path the signal takes through the speaker cable.

Use this to determine the gauge you need. Anything larger is a waste of money, as is anything from Monster.
http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/speake ... istant.swf

You guys rock. Thanks!

Go see Kelly at Century Music....he'll sell you 12 ga. cable by the foot and the NL4 speakon connectors. He'll be cheaper than anyone in town and you can make 'em yourself.

Tell him I sent you.

You can also buy spools or ft lengths from Camel Traders. They have some good stuff that also comes in multi-conductor varieties. Secret of good speaker cable? It's basically good quality stranded electrical wiring. You don't necessarily need big jacketting, only adds bulk and weight, though it does increase durability.

I didn't think Century Music was still around. I look them up.

realaudioent wrote:I didn't think Century Music was still around. I look them up.

They are on Rhapsody between 281 and West. They are concentrating more on pro sales and sound systems than the retail storefront. They still have that stuff, but not as much as the old store. No GC guys there - they know their stuff and are locally owned.