Speaker cables for superior performance

Q. Would it be okay for me to use single conductor wire as speaker cables running through the attic or under the house? Does stranded wire provide some sonic benefit? It would be far cheaper and easier for me to run 12-gauge wire to a plate with banana receptacles and then use specialty cable at each end to patch to the amplifier and speakers.” from Jon Schwendig, Santa Clara, CA

A. “There are a lot of myths about speaker wires, but in the end it's thickness that counts, and 12 gauge should be heavy enough for any reasonable domestic application. I've taken several comparative listening sessions over the years, and the sort of wire you want to use involves no sonic degradation that I (or anybody else in the tests) could hear. You could even wire the whole distance from amp to speakers using 12-gauge, but it would probably be more convenient to use something more flexible for the actual connection to components. Specialty audiophile cables would serve that purpose nicely, although more modest cables would work just as well.” “Questions and Answers” by Ian Masters, page 36, Sound & Vision, May 2001 issue.

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These have been the subject over the years of debate, announced public bets and publications. Some cable manufacturers have claimed over the years that their product is a major player in the sound quality of high-fidelity audio systems; those who never bought this are out to prove lamp cords can do as much.

Anyway, the cables do indeed affect that signal since the audio signal is transmitted through cables on its way from the source to the amplifier, or from the amplifier to the speakers. All cable designers and myth-buster advocates focus on basic system frequency responses computed from the electrical characteristics of the cables, and components on either side of the cables. Some of these properties include resistance, capacitance, and inductance. High-end cables targeting the audiophile market are known to employ complex architecture and blend of materials like silver and oxygen-free, high-purity copper.

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