We recently bought a pair of Klipschorn speakers. The speaker wire connection won't allow us to continue using our 4' Quicksilver pure silver speaker cables, which we really like.
So I made a pair of 6' pure silver speaker cables--2 strands of 20ga for each pos/neg connection in teflon sheathing--and they sound woefully thin. I've heard another system with these cables, and the music sounds quite full. Problem is, it's been so long since we got the Quicksilver that I can't remember if this is normal for new silver cables. Tonight, I hooked up one side with the Quicksilver (only one side is long enough, and just barely), and there is a big difference in the tonal roundness and fullness of the music coming from that speaker. When I swap the cables, the other speaker becomes the better one.
I'm dreading finding replacement cables for the Quicksilver, and I really can't spend $500 right now for a 6' pair from them. With them in the chain, the music is more lively and transparent than with any other cable I've tried. So the question is, do we save our pennies, or do we give my DIY's adequate time to burn-in?
*Also, I hate to have to say it, but if your position concerning cables/burn-in/etc. will not allow you to resolve this dilemma, please don't respond. I'd rather not be the author of yet another mucky cable thread on the fastrack for censorship. In other words, please just answer the question. Thank you. Howard
Thank you all very much for the feedback. Marco, I was afraid I might not have enough. Oddly, I heard a very high end system sound fantastic with just the two, but unless this fills out considerably, it's clearly not the right recipe for our system. We'll have to measure the cost factor and see where to go from here. Unfortunately, it's been an incredibly expensive week, so we might have to listen with crap cables for the time being. Thank you again. This is a big help. Howard
I just doubled up on one side, and with 4 runs for each pos/neg it already sounds MUCH better. If I ended up going with 6-8 strands, do you generally twist the end before terminating it?
Jeffreybehr, Are you suggesting that with the remaining four for each pos/neg, I should use two 16's & two 21's?
Paul, As Marco suggested, http://www.homegrownaudio.com is a good source, though it appears their bulk wire comes no larger than 22ga.
My last purchase was from http://www.percyaudio.com, and I ended up buying 20ga silver and 14ga teflon. Otherwise, you will have great difficulty in threading the wire. That is a definite advantage to the Homegrown, as their wire is already encased in the teflon.
That is the correct web site info for Michael Percy. It appears that the web site is down, or it went on vacation with him. I believe he is gone for a week or two.
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