very noob wire question.

northernwind

Hey guys,I have a serious question that is at the same time embarrassingly noob.When I hook up my speaker wire,I use two different wires for each speaker,for postive and negative.My question is,when I checked out signal cable and blue jean cable,I notice that their speaker wire has 2 banana plugs at each end.Does that mean each single wire can be used for 1 speaker?I'm pretty new to this audio world so I have no clue.

AsSiMiLaTeD

No, each speaker will still take two wires, in your case two banana plugs

northernwind

maybe I'm a bit confuse,you mean each wire I buy from signal cable can be use for 1 speaker per wire right?So I don't have to buy 4 speaker wire just 2 as each single wire can be plug up to a single speaker?

edit-I'm just practically stalking the forum right now as I'm very excited about the cable.

F1nut

I notice that their speaker wire has 2 banana plugs at each end.Does that mean each single wire can be used for 1 speaker?I

Each of those speaker cables will have 2 runs of wire inside, one positive and one negative, so you need only one speaker cable per channel.

northernwind

thank you sir,straight to the point.I figured that is the case when i notice the red/black wires but I just wanted to make sure as these cables can be very expensive.

BlueFox

northernwind wrote: »

..... I just wanted to make sure as these cables can be very expensive.

Yes, a good observation.

northernwind

thank you -).Now I'll have to decide between 70 dollar blue jean or 140 dollar ultra speaker cable.Anyone???

nguyendot

Stick with Blue Jean cables to start, they are very well assembled and should do you well.

F1nut

Might as well go for the best, http://www.mitcables.com/available-in-stores/oracle-ma-x-super-hd-speaker-interface.html

northernwind

lol I would but I like living in a house with a car and a happy family and food...I love that.

On a serious note,ya nguyen I think ill go with blue jeans,not like I have 5k speakers.Modest lsim703(loving them).

Edit-21 dollar speaker cable,22 dollar shipping and handling go canada!!

nguyendot

I ordered like $400 in cables from them with their very impressive locking bananas. Good for the money. There is certainly better but that's pretty much where I choose to top off for cables.

northernwind

did you get them welded?That's dam expensive.

LeftCoast

F1nut wrote: »

Might as well go for the best, http://www.mitcables.com/available-in-stores/oracle-ma-x-super-hd-speaker-interface.html

Yeah, Baby! That's what I'M talkin' about! That's next on my list.

My new soundbar is gonna ROCK!

Bob1947

I have been buying from Blue Jean for the last two years. Very good quality, good variation of choices that would apply to what type of system you have. The welded bananas out what I have been using. Also have upgraded a set of RCA's for my turntable and an upgraded cable for sub. Very satisfied with their product.

mikemokr

F1nut wrote: »

Might as well go for the best, http://www.mitcables.com/available-in-stores/oracle-ma-x-super-hd-speaker-interface.html

I need 10' but only can afford the 8' run of this. I should be able to just splice in a couple feet of Home Depot cable, right? Or maybe Lowe's cable - I've read some bad things about Home Depot cable on the interwebs.

mccarty250

If you splice in a few feet of another cable type it defeats the purpose of spending money on boutique cables in theory.

But then again, what do I know, I run all 12 gauge monoprice cables, perhaps my ears are less than golden but I can't tell the difference between comparable 12 gauge cables in blind A/B testing but then that's me. I prefer to spend my cash on the other portions of my system.

tonyb

mikemokr wrote: »

I need 10' but only can afford the 8' run of this. I should be able to just splice in a couple feet of Home Depot cable, right? .

Absolutely not, don't even think about it.

headrott

mikemokr wrote: »

I need 10' but only can afford the 8' run of this. I should be able to just splice in a couple feet of Home Depot cable, right? Or maybe Lowe's cable - I've read some bad things about Home Depot cable on the interwebs.

tonyb wrote: »

Absolutely not, don't even think about it.

I was thinking he was making a funny? Maybe not??

mccarty250

You never know, he did say he was new and he did ask so I'm not going to clown him. In reality I bet if he did splice in some substandard cable and you put a blindfold on me and A/B'd between his spliced run and a run of boutique cable I personally probably would not know the difference but still it's not a best practice to splice in a run, etc. Better to get a run of cheap cable than something spliced IMO.

mikemokr

headrott wrote: »

I was thinking he was making a funny?

Sorry folks but I long have been emoticon-challenged.

I do think it would be pretty funny to try that A/B test - funny except perhaps for the part about snipping $50,000 (!!!!) cable to do it ...

mccarty250

Wow - I just got it. He was referring to the MIT cable. Man, I'm dense. HAD to be a funny.

mikemokr

mccarty250 wrote: »

But then again, what do I know, I run all 12 gauge monoprice cables, perhaps my ears are less than golden but I can't tell the difference between comparable 12 gauge cables in blind A/B testing but then that's me. I prefer to spend my cash on the other portions of my system.

That's my feeling too. I'm far from an expert on this stuff but the claims I see on some boutique cable sites just set off my BS detector. One site that is, uhh, not too far from this thread boasted of speaker interfaces that deliver anywhere from five to 14 times "better performance." How is the "performance" construct operationalized? It is inconceivable to me that there is anything I can do to my system (power, speakers, connections - anything) that can make it SOUND at least "five times better" than what I have now. And I don't much care what improvement bench testing may yield if my ears can hear little to none of it. (Well, OK, I'd take "little" audible improvement if it doesn't cost a lot more than a "little" money.)

All that said, when I recently hooked up some new gear I noticed my very old 12-gauge Monster Cable to my mains had taken on a lovely turquoise color from end to end inside the clear insulation. I figure that cannot be a positive, though I have not noticed degraded sound. So at some point before long I will get replacement wire something along the lines of Monoprice and take the opportunity to blind A/B test it against the vintage turquoise Monster.

F1nut

mccarty250 wrote: »

But then again, what do I know, I run all 12 gauge monoprice cables, perhaps my ears are less than golden but I can't tell the difference between comparable 12 gauge cables in blind A/B testing but then that's me.

If the gauge is your only criteria you are selling yourself short.

F1nut

It is inconceivable to me that there is anything I can do to my system (power, speakers, connections - anything) that can make it SOUND at least "five times better" than what I have now. And I don't much care what improvement bench testing may yield if my ears can hear little to none of it.

But your ears haven't heard these cables you speak of.

BTW, that Monoprice cable is infamous for turning green just like your Monster stuff.

tonyb

mikemokr wrote: »

So at some point before long I will get replacement wire something along the lines of Monoprice and take the opportunity to blind A/B test it against the vintage turquoise Monster.

Not to be picky here my friend, but two entry level cables do not make a test.

mccarty250

No, they don't but those weren't the only cables I've heard either, just the cables mentioned in a discrete example. Again, I prefer to spend money on preamps, amps, and speakers where the bang for the buck isn't debatable but is palpable. I could spend hundreds or thousands on cables and perhaps get a perceived difference or spend that same money on other gear and get a guaranteed difference. Just one man's choice and one man's opinion on where his greenbacks go.

As far as the cable turning green I'll be curious to see if you hear a difference trying a different cable type. There have been a lot of blind A/B tests regarding audible differences between cables, in fact there are a lot of PDF's out there showing the result of such testing. I won't start the flame war by saying what the results in most of these tests have been, people can easily google these on their own or make their own determinations. I'll say that for analog cables there is room for argument. For digital cables there is not.

mccarty250

Green cable is decorative, the price should be higher for green cable!

F1nut wrote: »

But your ears haven't heard these cables you speak of.

BTW, that Monoprice cable is infamous for turning green just like your Monster stuff.

northernwind

mccarty250 wrote: »

No, they don't but those weren't the only cables I've heard either, just the cables mentioned in a discrete example. Again, I prefer to spend money on preamps, amps, and speakers where the bang for the buck isn't debatable but is palpable. I could spend hundreds or thousands on cables and perhaps get a perceived difference or spend that same money on other gear and get a guaranteed difference. Just one man's choice and one man's opinion on where his greenbacks go.

As far as the cable turning green I'll be curious to see if you hear a difference trying a different cable type. There have been a lot of blind A/B tests regarding audible differences between cables, in fact there are a lot of PDF's out there showing the result of such testing. I won't start the flame war by saying what the results in most of these tests have been, people can easily google these on their own or make their own determinations. I'll say that for analog cables there is room for argument. For digital cables there is not.

I also agree with this.The only reason I'm going with blue jeans is for the reliability and good build so at least I know my cables will be 100 percent.Almost went for signal but only because they look so much nicer.If my 10k speaker,10k room treatment,10 k amp doesn't make a difference doubt a little cable is going to do much if anything at all><.I think there was a blind test somewhere in which a mit cable employee couldn't tell the difference between his cable and a no name brand.When the lights are off it's hard to tell...lol

BTW-I'm just giving a examples,no way do I own all that lol.

mccarty250

I have used some blue jeans cable in various areas of my home, I like it's build a lot more than the monoprice cable but for the volume of cable I use in my home the price difference made me go with monoprice in most areas. One of my rooms was all BJC. I also like that +/- is clearly labelled on the BJC. I concur with everything you're saying. I think there was a big debacle with Pear Anjui cables and the Amazing Randy i.e. they wouldn't take his bet on people being able to A/B test and tell which one was theirs but there are tons of things like that out there.

I just concur and say that if it's debatable to my ears, and my ears are what I'm buying the gear for, then my dollars are going to go towards what makes a difference for me and my opinion will be shaped by that.

mikemokr

mccarty250 wrote: »

Green cable is decorative, the price should be higher for green cable!

Green Monster should be a hit with Red Sox fans!

mikemokr

F1nut wrote: »

But your ears haven't heard these cables you speak of.

This is true. At one point some years ago I did a bunch of reading about speaker cabling and came to the opinion I still hold now. (I admit it doesn't hurt that the WAF is strong on this one.) I keep an open mind though and will look up blind A/B test results. But bang/buck is what attracted me to Polk in the first place 25+ years ago, it's why I've chosen the A/V gear I run now and I'd have to be convinced - like in blind A/B testing in my own system - that there's sufficient return on investment in boutique cable. Of course the problem is how to test cable at home without buying it ...

tonyb wrote: »

Not to be picky here my friend, but two entry level cables do not make a test.

Sure they do - a test of oxidized vs non-oxidized entry-level wire ;-). ... A separate test, without oxidation as a potential confound, would be non-oxidized generic 12-ga vs boutique 12-ga.

Anyway, having started to do some more research on my green Monster I'm actually curious whether the oxidation has any audible effect. The contact points are not green and I detect nothing indicating the insulation is grossly breaking down (no flaking, stickiness or greasiness - a few symptoms I've seen reported).