Speaker cable, simple question maybe difficult answer

[ear]

Im currently using cheap philips speaker cable wich I find it is bright and doesn't tame the bright sound of the Yamaha AX-397. It is a cable with copper on one wire and the other wire is grey metal (don't now the material,maybe some help here). I´ve changed the cable to a cable that came with a Sony hifi in a box system, ans this cable seems to do the job much well than the Philips cable.this "sony" cable has both wires made of grey metal.So resuming, to tame brightness what is best? copper or grey metal(and somebody teel me the name of the metal wich is grey please lol).Much help aprecciated.

 

[simonlewis]

I could be wrong but i'm guessing steel.

 

[True Blue]

They could have been tin dipped to prevent them fraying if they are to be mounted in the old "spring type" speaker cable connection found on some one box systems

 

[ear]

yes they are spring type. but the Philips cable has one strand made of copper and other grey(maybe iron like suggested). So if it is iron, wich of the two materials would be best to tame brightness?any ideas?and why are two wires on the philips made of different materials? any explanation for that?

 

[Anonymous]

Ditching the lot and buying real el-cheapo 79-strand copper speaker cable on a roll from B&Q would prolly be better than either!

 

[ear]

here in Portugal it is no simple to fnd speaker cable on sale of well known brands. Maybe I'll try to find some silver colored cable to try out.

 

[matthewpiano]

Silver will have the opposite effect to what you want.

Any multi-strand copper speaker cable will do the job perfectly well.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with what's been said, a thick copper cable, not a thin one. This should help improve the bass and swing the tonal balance a little in that direction.

 

[Anonymous]

Unless you believe in magic, changing cables won't change the sound. Any reasonably sized copper wire will do equally good for your speakers. There's lots of myths and claims to the opposite, but none are backed up by science, measurements, or proper listening tests.

The iron coloured wire is probably copper coated with tin. This is sometimes done to prevent oxidizing, which is a problem with copper (and even more so with silver).

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with getting some cheaper copper OFC cables ... try that and also try moving your speakers ....

if that does not give you the desired sound you require, look at getting other speakers

cables make only very slight differences (to me)

 

[bluebrazil]

try a solid core copper ofc, these sorted out my bright treble on an old pair of speakers

 

[Andy H]

bluebrazil: try a solid core copper ofc, these sorted out my bright treble on an old pair of speakers

My Atlas biwire cable uses solid copper for tweeters and multistrand for bass.

To the OP get some copper.

 

[ear]

solid core is what? a fat single wire?

 

[Andy H]

ear:solid core is what? a fat single wire?

Basically yes, it's one single strand instead of multistrand.

 

[JoelSim]

Fahnsen:

Unless you believe in magic, changing cables won't change the sound. Any reasonably sized copper wire will do equally good for your speakers. There's lots of myths and claims to the opposite, but none are backed up by science, measurements, or proper listening tests.

The iron coloured wire is probably copper coated with tin. This is sometimes done to prevent oxidizing, which is a problem with copper (and even more so with silver).

I think you'll find you are in a minority here as all these people have heard differences, you should give it a try sometime and you'd hear how ridiculous you are being.

 

[ear]

now got a philips 16 gauge flat cable all copper...think it sound better less agressive on the treble...maybe my imagination ...maybe not.seems better at low volumes.fuller sound at low volume and less thin sound.

 

[Anonymous]

I think all wires sound the same no matter what there made from...

Honestly, i give up sometimes...

Maybe i should have got a full Acoustic solutions setup and saved a few pounds...

 

[ear]

noe lost some of the agressiveness but also lost detail and separation on instruments..grrrrr

 

[Anonymous]

Whether perceived or actual, the loss of detail when moving from a silver-coated copper cable to an all copper cable seems to be a common observation.

 

[ear]

I still have to have a listening session at loud levels to see If I am really missing something.I sure hear more bass but less detail at moderate levels

 

[ear]

bask to old philips cable,one wire copper other wire silver plated.better definition.wish I could try some 5 star cable.not available here in portugal.