Better speaker wire=i was a sceptic

[matthewpiano]

My experience is that speaker cables do make a difference. I'm not sure about the usefulness of parting with big sums of cash for them, but I do think different approaches to speaker cable construction and materials result in audible differences.

As Cypher said, if you are pleased with them just carrying on enjoying!

 

[steve_1979]

Digital cables and power cables make no difference to the sound quality. They either work or they don't.

You can hear a difference with some analogue cables though. The good ones don't add any noticable distortion so they all sound the same because they can't make the original signal any better than it already is. Bad cables that do add distortion can make it worse though and I suspect this is what often gets mistaken for an 'improvement' with some of the overpriced audiophile cables.

(I know this comment has been cut and pasted from another cable thread but the point is a valid one and is worth repeating for anyone new reading this. )

If you think that the power will go through a very thin piece of wire, also called the fuse, I agree that under normal circumstances, the kind of power cable used shouldn't make any/much difference. If however you live in an intereference intensive environment and I'm not talking partners, a shielded cable or at the very least some sort of noise supressor close to the power inlet of the unit, can indeed make a difference, at least in my experience. - That goes for pretty much any analogue cables.

regards

I agree that if you have EM interference then shielded cables will help. But in the majority of cases using shielded cables isn't necessary.

 

[TrevC]

Digital cables and power cables make no difference to the sound quality. They either work or they don't.

You can hear a difference with some analogue cables though. The good ones don't add any noticable distortion so they all sound the same because they can't make the original signal any better than it already is. Bad cables that do add distortion can make it worse though and I suspect this is what often gets mistaken for an 'improvement' with some of the overpriced audiophile cables.

(I know this comment has been cut and pasted from another cable thread but the point is a valid one and is worth repeating for anyone new reading this. )

If you think that the power will go through a very thin piece of wire, also called the fuse, I agree that under normal circumstances, the kind of power cable used shouldn't make any/much difference. If however you live in an intereference intensive environment and I'm not talking partners, a shielded cable or at the very least some sort of noise supressor close to the power inlet of the unit, can indeed make a difference, at least in my experience. - That goes for pretty much any analogue cables.

regards

Never had any issues of that kind when using the cables that come with the amp. Even at full volume with nothing playing.

 

[TrevC]

Hi again i think its the older cable that was rubbish heres a pic of the 2 together

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/5766/3mcc.jpg

Yep. Not thick enough.

 

[TrevC]

He is using 2 x 2 mtr. cables. The thickness will make no difference at all.

If that was so his old ones would sound the same as the new.

 

[TrevC]

Nelly, the only thing that's important here is that you're happy with the new speakercables..................

yes you are exactly right im happy not cost me the earth(£12 terminated)and im thrilled even if it is placebo

Not a placebo. A real improvement.

 

[steve_1979]

Hi again i think its the older cable that was rubbish heres a pic of the 2 together

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/5766/3mcc.jpg

Yep. Not thick enough.

+1

That looks too thin to be fit for purpose.

Glad to see you've got a thicker gauge cable now Nelly. I'm also glad that you're happy with the results too.

:cheers:

 

[visionary]

Giving the o/p the benefit of the doubt - of course speaker cables can sound different. The dominant factor in cable performance is resistance. This is a function of the cross sectional area of the conductor. It has nothing to do with the number of strands - strands can be different sizes - one big thick conductor is better than lots of thin strands - size really does matter.

That is, assuming you prefer that as I found my current multistrand better than my now gone AudioQuest Type IV solid core cable. So one big thick conductor might well be better than lots of thin strands, in the same way that some active owners on here remind us frequently of the technical superiority over their passive speaker brethren, or that a stereo amp is supposedly always better than an AV one.

Yet I use an AV amp and multistrand cable. What ought to be doesn't immediately that it always is.

Wasn't that a Zeppelin track? ;-)

 

[steve_1979]

(I know this comment has been cut and pasted from another cable thread but the point is a valid one and is worth repeating for anyone new reading this. )

Hmmm. Is he in contravention of house rule 13?

I think that drummerman might be in contravention of house rule 3.

"Members must not post any pornographic or otherwise offensive images or text that could be distressing to any other member. This includes the picture chosen as your Avatar."

 

[Cypher]

To be honest, I still think it was a placebo effect. Thickness is not important when the cables are only 2 metres long. Those 2 cables shown will sound exactly the same. When you're going over 10 metres of length thickness will become important.

 

[Nelly]

Nelly, the only thing that's important here is that you're happy with the new speakercables..................

yes you are exactly right im happy not cost me the earth(£12 terminated)and im thrilled even if it is placebo

Not a placebo. A real improvement.

Yes thats what i meant i can hear the difference 100% it has smoothed out whole frequecy range without losing detail.my misses has now started asking me to play some songs she likes as she said its not just noise coming out the speakers now she says it sounds softer because the sssssssssssssss as she calls it(highs lol)dont sound snakey.although i love my partner too bits im sorry but westlife is not going anywhere near my system

 

[Cypher]

I'll stop now and just let you enjoy your new cables man...............sorry.............. :cheers:

 

[MUSICRAFT]

i recieved 2x2meter lengths of 326 strand ofc speaker cables terminated with banana plugs today.Well everything sounds so much clearer no harshness to the treble mid has opened up and bass is alot tighter.Now as a sceptic i thought its got to be a placebo affect(im expecting better so it must be).But the thing that has 100% convinced me now is my partner bless her has no idea about good music but as she walked into the room with my music playing she stopped and said why is the sound clearer coming from your speakers.i nearly choked on my coffee.cant wait now for my nad c316bee arriving monday

Hi Nelly

Nice one You should also try standard 500 strand OFC speakers cables which I feel are the finest speaker cables regardless of price.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[andyjm]

i recieved 2x2meter lengths of 326 strand ofc speaker cables terminated with banana plugs today.Well everything sounds so much clearer no harshness to the treble mid has opened up and bass is alot tighter.Now as a sceptic i thought its got to be a placebo affect(im expecting better so it must be).But the thing that has 100% convinced me now is my partner bless her has no idea about good music but as she walked into the room with my music playing she stopped and said why is the sound clearer coming from your speakers.i nearly choked on my coffee.cant wait now for my nad c316bee arriving monday

Hi Nelly

Nice one You should also try standard 500 strand OFC speakers cables which I feel are the finest speaker cables regardless of price.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Rick,

Much as I agree with a lot of your posts, I think this is misleading. Strands can be different thicknesses. 500 thin strands can have less cross sectional area (copper) than one very thick strand. Either quote the cross sectional area of the the cable (2.5mm^2, 4mm^2 etc) or quote the number of strands and their diameter.

All of the following are nominally 2.5mm^2 cross sectional area and will have the same properties:

322 strands / 0.1mm

147 strands / 0.15mm

79 strands / 0.2mm

50 strands / 0.25mm

1 strand / 1.8mm

More strands means more flexible cable, it may or may not mean more conductive area of copper depending on the strand diameter. Overall sIze matters, not the number of strands.

 

[Nelly]

thanks for posting that info i started looking at 500 strand 2.5mm then saw 3 strand triple twist at 4mm thank you for clarifing as long as the diameter is quite high that is the main factor i suppose ?

 

[TrevC]

thanks for posting that info i started looking at 500 strand 2.5mm then saw 3 strand triple twist at 4mm thank you for clarifing as long as the diameter is quite high that is the main factor i suppose ?

Indeed. You are looking for a low resistance cable, which means a thick one.

 

[Singslinger]

Nelly, the only thing that's important here is that you're happy with the new speakercables..................

yes you are exactly right im happy not cost me the earth(£12 terminated)and im thrilled even if it is placebo

Excellent! :cheers:

PS FWIW, I don't believe it's due to the placebo effect!