Goertz Bi-wire or something else

Thanks for your feedback! I think I'll stick with the Goertz and do the bi-wire, plus I should have enough left to make an 8 foot spare pair for sale. I have the silver spades and they are quite nice. I'll be certain to get them on the rest of the terminations. I'm hoping to get a little more bass extension and low midrange with the biwire/shorter set up. It would be nice to terminate them myself and not have to send them back, but I guess I can live with my old cables for a few days if I do send them back to AlphaCore.

There is no doubt that the MI-2's are a great way to go for the money.

Thanks Scott. If you get a chance, pop me an e-mail with what you are doing. I know Sean likes these cables so there must be a "Sound" reason.
From your post, am I correct in assuming Alpha Core has 2 sizes of the silver spades?
I sure like the price, that's for sure!

Sean, I hate to go off on a tangent, but you raised some good points about long cable runs for speakers. Is there any general consensus (assume a well behaved SS system) for using long IC runs versus long speaker cable runs? Assume RCAs for the IC. When I say long it's on the same order of 20-30 feet.

Hi, Bigtee:

Yes, I've still got my Vandy 3A Sig's, which are bi-wired with Alpha-Core Goertz MI-2 cables and driven by a Bryston 4B-ST amp. The MI-2 cables are terminated with 5/16" silver spades at the amp end, and the standard 1/4" silver spades at the speaker end. (The Bryston amp's binding posts require the larger spade.) I strongly advise anyone that is buying Goertz cables directly from Alpha-Core to spend the extra few dollars for the silver spades -- they are (as Sean notes above) much superior to their other connectors.

Based on several threads that Sean posted last year, I made a pair of Zobel networks from parts ordered from Parts Express. I'm not sure that the Bryston amp is one that has a problem interfacing with the Goertz cables, but installing the Zobel network seemed like a good precaution. If you are interested in the values for the capacitor and resistor for the Zobel network, I'll be glad to send the info to you.

Best regards,

Scott C-

Sdcampbell, I was thinking about trying a biwire of these cables. I assume you are still using Vandersteen's. Does the silver spades fit the connectors? And do you use any type of network?

It's hard to say if you hear an audible improvement with shorter cables. The Goertz cables are pretty neutral in character, and while they have very low resistance, they are relatively high in capacitance which comes more into play with long runs (such as your 20' lengths).

Bi-wiring often improves the sound of speakers. Lowering the capacitance of your cables by shortening them probably won't be audible to you, but it will probably present an easier load for your amplifier.

If you send the cables back to Alpha-Core to be cut and reterminated, invest in their silver spades lugs. They're worth the extra money if your amp accepts spades.

Based on my own listening experiences, my opinion is that you will have to spend substantially more money than the cost of the Goertz cables to do better (probably 3x or more). The Goertz cables offer excellent value for the money, and are fine products in absolute terms.

At a 20' length, any speaker cable is going to start to play with what your hearing to a greater extent. Given the superior electrical characteristics of the Goertz geometry, this cable will be less of a detriment than other cables at that length.

Having said that, that long of a cable may present somewhat of a task for some amps due to the high capacitance. I sure hope that you're using a Zobel network with them. Cutting that length in half but then using twice as many runs ends up producing the same appr amount of total capacitance. Where it will differ electrically is that series resistance will be cut in half, which may / may not be beneficial in your specific system combo. Given that these cables are already quite low in series resistance to begin with, the differences may be negigible.

As you probably know, i'm a big fan of these cables for many reasons as i've explained many times over in great depth. If you already liked what you had, it will only get better by going to a more reasonable length. I would expect an increase in midrange liquidity and focus with slightly cleaner highs and improved bass definition and impact. I would still recommend using the Zobel's with the shorter length, as they don't hurt anything and may actually help sonically.

As a side note, i would not go too short with these or any other cables. Should you ever want to sell them at a later date, they may be harder to move. I don't know what lengths you need, but from what you stated, it sounded like you had enough to make three sets of cables from your 20' runs. If you can get by with it, i would say to stick with 7.5' - 8' pairs for your own use. This will leave you with either a 4' or 5' pair to sell. Four footers work reasonably well with monoblocks driving stand mounted speakers and five footers work reasonably well with speakers that are mounted relatively close together with the amp centrally located. This would leave you with enough cable to move your speakers about ( if need be ) and leave you with a more marketable product in the future.

With all of that in mind, i would recommend using Goertz silver spades if you have them re-terminated. I hate their banana plugs, Rhodium spades and pin connectors. How they ended up with such nice silver spades compared to the rest of their connectors is beyond me. Sean
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If you like the Goertz to begin with, I think it is a hell of a cable and would bi wire it myself. You have to spend quite a bit to get appreciably better IMO. Goertz is one of the cables I wished I had kept as it had better tone and presence than most cables.