How To Chose Speaker Wire

ravaneli

Great article from a great manufacturer (no affiliation). There is really nothing to add to this. Take a quick read if you are choosing wires.
http://www.aperionaudio.com/blog/how-to-choose-speaker-wire

Glen B

That is just one manufacturer's opinion. I prefer to follow the beat of my own drum and judge for myself. My ears have told me that OCC, a.k.a. monocrystal copper delivers a smoother, less grainy sound than cable made of OFC and LGC copper, and the latter sound better than zip cord in my systems over the years.

BlueFox

Still trolling I see.

ravaneli

Glen B wrote: »

My ears have told me that OCC, a.k.a. monocrystal copper delivers a smoother, less grainy sound than cable made of OFC and LGC copper, and the latter sound better than zip cord

this is hilarious, i should add it to my signature but its gona be too long

F1nut

BAN this troll.

BlueFox

Yes. The trolling is not even interesting. In regard to the article, it is fine for what it is. It is simply a seller of inexpensive cables trying to convince potential customers that they will get high-end performance with their low-end cables. Nothing new there, and there are plenty of people happy with mediocre performance. If that is what they want then more power to them.

polrbehr

I will admit that I didn't buy my speaker cables based on how aesthetically pleasing they were to the eyes... *hangs head in shame*

Add that to your sig. Better still, copy and paste MY sig, man I would love to see that! LOL

PSOVLSK

How long until this one gets closed?

And what's the point? To save people from themselves?

pumpkinman

OH NO !! Not again

ravaneli

Just leave it alone. I am not going to argue with anyone on anything and if you think I am trolling, remember the best advice against trolls - don't feed them! I never reply to trolls. So just mind your own business. I am sure this article will be very helpful to many.

halo71

Ravioli....I suggest you buy some Coconut Audio cables.

heiney9

This is a VERY basic article for a novice who has never owned a single piece of audio gear. They never touch on capacitance or inductance which is equally important. They simply regurgitate Ohm's Law formula's like everything is in a vacuum.

It's a meaningless article that doesn't even scratch the surface of cables and why they are important. A waste of time, really.

H9

Speedskater

heiney9 wrote: »

This is a VERY basic article for a novice who has never owned a single piece of audio gear. They never touch on capacitance or inductance which is equally important.
[.......................]
H9

Maybe if you read the article!

quote from article:

"This is because speaker wire has two other electrical properties in addition to resistance – capacitance and inductance - "

WLDock

Aperion Home Theater Gurus wrote:

Other Considerations
For critical applications, it’s a good idea to limit the length of wire runs to 50 ft. This is because speaker wire has two other electrical properties in addition to resistance – capacitance and inductance – that can start to cause trouble with long runs of wire. These are special kinds of resistance that vary with frequency. Speaker wire inductance can slightly attenuate the highest treble while capacitance can make your receiver work harder. However, runs of up to 100 ft are fine for whole-house background audio.
- See more at: http://www.aperionaudio.com/blog/how-to-choose-speaker-wire#sthash.rIPNXjoK.dpuf

Even though the opening of the article goes against the ears and beliefs of others, some of the content is good. Obviously those that have spend serious money on cables won't be asking the question...so the audience it targets is obvious.

We all don't hear the same...

heiney9

Speedskater wrote: »

Maybe if you read the article!

quote from article:

"This is because speaker wire has two other electrical properties in addition to resistance – capacitance and inductance - "

Just mentioning it is not the same as an explanation. Again, for the pre-novice audio person.

CoolJazz

The big question is how the resistance along with the reactive components interact with the wildly varying values shown by the speaker system...the drivers and crossover components. AND....how those play into the typical amplifier output impedance AND the typical feedback loop.

The less you know about these...the simplier it all gets. Yet the more random results you get.

Less complex is good...especial for the simple minded. It's really good for some to just buy cheap wire and tell themselves all there is to it is R, L and C. Then focus on the R cause they don't understand the rest.

CJ

txcoastal1

Capri, I do audio shows. I have had cable vendors come in and do a complete swap of cables right in front of everyone in the middle of everyone talking and BS'ing not paying no attention and then hit the play button and have a whole room say WTF

Sometimes it's been positive other times not so much, but you would have to be deaf not to have heard it...trust me it's a trip

Some people weren't even audio guys and they're the 1st ones to ask "What just happened"

So until you have EXPERIENCED THOSE TYPES of SCENARIOS (yes I yelled that) you can preach white paper all you want and YOUR statements don't hold water here

BlueFox

I sure am glad I don't listen to "The Stupid People" regarding cables, but, instead, listen to my ears. If I didn't listen to my ears I would have never raised the level of my gear to its present state by not buying better quality cables. I just added a new digital IC this week, and as it burns in I am being amazed by the improvement I am hearing. Fricking stellar is the term.

teekay0007

BlueFox wrote: »

I sure am glad I don't listen to "The Stupid People" regarding cables, but, instead, listen to my ears. If I didn't listen to my ears I would have never raised the level of my gear to its present state by not buying better quality cables. I just added a new digital IC this week, and as it burns in I am being amazed by the improvement I am hearing. Fricking stellar is the term.

Shunyata? ;-)

F1nut

xcapri79 wrote: »

Blah, blah, blah......

Trying cables in your rig is the ONLY way to know the truth. Anything else is completely and utterly useless.

So, are you going to sign up for the MIT cable demo program or are you going to continue living in your skepical pile of poo?

Devlon

Paul McGowan of PS Audio comments:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue30/psaudio.htm

BlueFox

Devlon wrote: »

Paul McGowan of PS Audio comments:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue30/psaudio.htm

Thanks. That was interesting, especially when he was talking at the atomic level.

headrott

xcapri79 wrote: »

Understanding the basics gets you a lot closer to the truth and that is what the article accomplishes.

Have you considered: understanding the basics gets you a lot closer to the truth, but you ONLY have a BASIC understanding of the truth and not a complete picture of what is happening. Also, understanding theory is one thing. Actually experiencing what is theorthetical determines whether it is fact and not just theory. Have you actually experienced it? Or, are you still going by what BASIC THEORY dictates? By your answers, I would argue the latter. It's time to expand your horizons...........

ravaneli

This is a great article for anybody who doesn't know what cables to go with.

If this argument is taken to court and examined with engineers and scientists there is no doubt what the verdict would be. While there are pitty fights here in the polk forums there is NO DISAGREEMENT IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY! Because, you see, scientist can only use science theory and blindfold tests. Personal experience testimonies are irrelevant. I know people who swear God actually talks to them, and most americans believe in some god and some bible. But there is no doubt in the scientific community about that.

Note what all the snake oil fans say in their posts -- its the personal experience that counts! Thats important. If science and double blindfold tests count you will never sell a single exotic cable. It has got to be the personal experience, there is just no other way.

But here is the thing about the great personal experience - you can only experience it IF YOU SEE THE LABELS FIRST. Tie their eyes and swap the cables a few times and they can't hear nothing any more. Funny people those audiophilles, they seem to hear not with the ears, but the eyes!

halo71

hehe...I was just thinking the other day that it has been a while since the cable trolls stirred the pot around here. <<yawn>>

F1nut

ravioli wrote:

more blah....

How about you challenge your misguided beliefs, sign up for the cable demo and test them in your own rig. Have engineers and scientists help you, have them or anyone else help you do a double blindfold test.....whatever. Until you do, you've got nothing but your skepical pile of poo.

BTW, you do realize that engineers and scientists are the ones designing all these cables you rail against, right? I ask because that fact seems to have escaped you, which is not really any surprise where you're concerned.

mantis

Whats been said in both the article and Videos posted above do have some truth to them. Believe it or not there is a ton of Snake Oil cables out there that do nothing to improve the overall audio quality of the original signal.
There is also a law of Diminishing returns. I've been preaching this for many years in here and I think I'll restate some real hard truth into this subject.
And I Quote " Once the goal has been achieved, nothing more can be done to improve the signal". So understanding the goal is first and foremost before you buy any cable.
Example:
Speaker Cable. You have a pair of speakers that need to be connected to a amp so you can hear sound. The Speakers live such distance from the amp, the speakers have a resistance that is stated on the spec's of just about all speakers made. You need to know the amps abilities to push signal and the speakers abilities to except the signal. Once all the factors are calculated , you now have the very basic knowledge of understanding of what needs to be done.
So you can figure out gauge with these factors. This doesn't change except when your comparing Copper to Silver. Silver can transmit the same amount of signal with a smaller gauge. Most companies use Copper , some will use Silver plating and some solid silver. In any case, you need to know what gauge you need to achieve this goal.
Now you have to learn about honest problems that occur to a cable. The biggest one is interference. So given speaker cable designer has to be wary of such issue and make cables that can transmit this given signal from amp to speaker without picking up anything along the way.
Same goes for loss, the given speaker wire need to be able to send the signal from amp to speaker without any loss.

In this going slightly deeper, the original signal needs not be changed. It needs to be fully intact when it leaves the amp to the point of entering the speaker. This was as a end user listener if you will, you will be able to hear everything given speaker can play of given signal.

So what quality of said speaker wire does it take to get this job done? I don't care what speakers and amps you own , if they can send and receive the entire signal , the speaker wire needs to be able to transmit it.
So what does it take to get this job done? Forget money for a minute. I want to fully understand what it takes. I don't care about fancy jackets, pretty looking connectors , just raw ability to pass the signal properly.

Once this is achieved , nothing more can be done to make it any better. The only thing a wire needs to do is do it's job properly.

Most of you know I'm in the business, I have also met , trained and been to many of these wire companies factories. I have met with hundreds of Engineers from these companies and I've learned a ton. I also get to meet speaker engineers and Amp designers.
What I have learned from all of them is my Quote.

Now understand, I love wire, I always been fascinated by it. I love the way it looks and feels. I enjoy connecting it, managing it and it makes me feel wonderful when I have a rack full of beautiful looking wire. But I don't want is cables in my systems that can't do the basic thing and that is send the signal properly.

So to take this thread to a different level, we should all understand the goal. If adding fancy wire to your system is your goal, I'm not hear to tell you not to. I'm not hear to hate on anyone who doesn't believe in high quality wire or ones who will stop at nothing to own the highest end cables possible. It's not about that , it's about understanding the fundamentals of what these cables are suppossed to do and thats all. After that your on your own to make up your own mind on what cables you want in your system. As long as you understand , I find no reason to judge.

headrott

halo71 wrote: »

hehe...I was just thinking the other day that it has been a while since the cable trolls stirred the pot around here. <<yawn>>

Hey, the pot has to be stirred when you boil ravioli............

treitz3

ravaneli wrote: »

I am sure this article will be very helpful to many.

Only those that can appreciate not getting the truth. If you can appreciate the lies, then this article is for you.

Tom

F1nut

Like I've been saying for a long time, there's a lot more to cables than the gauge.

tonyb

Not to jump on the "dump on Dan" bandwagon, but I also have a problem with this.

"Once the goal has been achieved, nothing more can be done to improve the signal"

The problem with that Dan, is your equating the purity of the signal to sound quality, more so...coloration. Which lets be honest here, cables color the sound...some more than others. But that's not bad if a certain coloration is to your liking. Also, different metallurgy has different properties...obviously, which also can enhance or take away from the sound. Then you have design, a whole other basket of variables able to sway sound signatures.

Your ears, in your home, with your gear is the best answer to find out if one cable is better than another. If the soundstage widens or shrinks, if the notes linger on decay or simply stop on a dime, if the tone is a more natural sound, or like fingers on a chalk board. Just a few examples of what your ears can tell you that graphs and charts can't.

Look around at the people here and see what they use with what gear to get an idea of what to look for. Certain budget cables punch well above their price points and certain more expensive stuff isn't really all it's cracked up to be either. There's a legitimate cable for any size wallet and set of ears.