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Another speaker cable question?

I have recently started a DIY speaker cable project, while discussing my project with a friend I explained that I intended to shield the cables. He in turn suggested that the shield is most likely not necessary and it will add to the inductance of the cable. as a result of this conversation, I started to research about shields, inductance, capacitance and resistance of various cable designs and geometries as well as their impact on the speaker amplifier system.

My research has led me to ask the question, can I predictably design my speaker cables to be optimal for my speakers and amp or am I wasting my time and I should stick to a trial and error approach?

My design variables are, wire gauge, braided or not, shielding or not, and length. Others that I am not considering but could be are, material copper vs. silver, and insulation materials.

My speakers are Monitor Audio RS6 that according to stereofile range between 4.5 (@ 165hz) to 18 ohms. My amps are quick silver mid mono driven by kt-88 tubes and speakers are connected to the 4ohm taps.

My feeling is should design two cables each at the extremes of the inductance spectrum. What do you think?
nick_sr

Showing 2 responses by nick_sr

nick_sr OP
263 posts
 
Al, thanks for the response as usual it is extremely helpful.

I started my trial an error testing last night with two pairs of cables i had lying around. The pair i am currently using (18awg 3ft long, with each wire indipendent from the other)and an old pair i made (12awg, 8 ft lg, solid core wire with both wires snugly bound in a tech flex sleeve)

Based on a calculator i found online for capicitance and inductance capacitance calculator and based the geometries here are the relative readings

18awg: higher resistance, lower inductance, much lower capacitance (each wire, signal and return, is far from the the other)

Listening results are that 12awg presents a vailed sound with more pronounced but slightly muddier bass. The 18 awg is much more enjoyable.
nick_sr OP
263 posts
 
Bombaywalla, Learning is what it is all about. So far so good. It is funny you mention Virtual Dynamics, their cables were the inspiration for construction of the 12awg solid core cables or at least for the use of solid core conductors. I chose 12 awg, because I figured bigger is better.

Unfortunately, this design is not compatible with my system, and all the vibration dampening in world is not going to change it. My guess regarding the reason for my dislike of the 12awg solid core cables is that the cables are 8ft long and I have mono-blocks placed right next to my speakers. The large coil of cable looks pretty ugly...

I re-checked the values of capacitance and inductance using the calculators from my post above and all though there are signficant differences, especially in capacitance between the two cable designs the order of magnitude is neglible, that is 3 and 30 picofarrads. Moreover, if I am not mistaken high capacitance should make the sound brighter not muddier.

I'm still trying to learn, and most of all I am having fun doing it.
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