Help me build speaker cables please!


Howdy!
I’m looking for input on some home brewed speaker cables. I’m currently using cables I made from braiding 8 lengths of CAT 5 plenum cable together. They’re terminated in silver plated BFA bananas and set up as a biwire configuration at the speaker end. I love their sound, but think I’m ready to try something made from higher grade metal. I’ve been doing a lot with silver in my system and have loved the change in sound almost every time I’ve gone from Cu to Ag. The only place I like Cu better is in the PCs for my amps. That said, I’m leaning heavily towards making a set of solid silver speaker cables, using .999 silver wire from Rio grande. I’ll insulated them with teflon spaghetti tubing and possibly terminate them with silver plated BFAs.

Where I’d love some input is here: do I do one run of 10awg, or biwire 12awg to the woofers, 14awg to the tweeters and mids? I’m using a dared tube preamp and monoblock Ghent audio class D amps (500w into 4 ohm) which drive floor standing RBH 1266 SE/R speakers. They are 4 ohm and have side firing 12" speakers. They like a lot of juice and sound their best when given what they want, hence my desire for large diameter cables.

Cost wise, it’s only $50 more expensive to biwire. I liked the change in sound when I first biwired, but I also went from blue jeans twisted pair 12 awg to my braided CAT 5, which has a combined 9 awg. So I’m not sure if it was the biwiring or all the other differences that improved the sound.

Also, any other ideas for superb sounding DIY SCs are welcome.

Danke!
128x128toddverrone

Showing 4 responses by alanholvey

I have previously stated my own speaker wire solution.  I take a one foot pair of the top of the line MG Audio Design speaker wires and attach them to my speakers.  Presently the are a pair of Martin/Logan SL-3's.  The MG Audio Design wires are the very same ones that Arnie Nudell and Paul McGowan personally in their own personal audio systems.  A one foot pair of their top of the line speaker wires go for $900.  OK, between the MG Audio Design speaker wires and my amplifier I am using 18 gage Jenna Lab's hook up wires.  They cost $6 a foot.  I am using 3 individual Jenna Lab's hook up wires to each of the individual MG Audio Design wires-that is 12 of them total.  As I have my audio equipment right next to my chair-to the right.  Thus I require long stretches of speaker wires in total.  Thus the lengths of the Jenna Lab's hook up wires are of unequal lengths.  I am using 6, 17 foot lengths of them to my left speaker, and 6, 10 foot lengths on the right speaker.  It averages out to a 14.5 length in total.  Total cost cmes to $1879, with $7 postage added for the Jenna Labs's wires.  OK< the result is a truly top end sound.  That is for sure.  I discovered such a combination of wires by mostly chanch. but generally got the idea well over 30. ears ago when I used to deal with Ken Mavrick, an audio dealer at the time in West Hollywood, California.  Ken used to be a dealer for Bud Fried and learned much about speaker construction from Bud himself.  Then Ken began experimenting with rewiring speakers with Randall Research hookup wires at the time.  Anyway, long ago Ken went thru Randall Research, next Cardas, then Kimber, and finally Purist Audio Design hook up wires.  About 10 years ago I got back in contact with Ken and learned about Jenna Lab's wires.  About 10 years ago I was able to get a one foot pair of Shunyata's own top of the line speaker wires for free.  I then began experimented using them and Jenna Lab hook up wires in different combinations and eventually came up with my present solution.  It really works.  If there is any loss by adding the Jenna Lab's 18 gage hook up wires it is very little.  For myself it is the choice between mediocre audio audio reproduction and audio to die for.  It is as simple as that.  Cost verses performance.  Arnie Nudell, Paul McGowan and many members of the Colorado Audio Society prefer MG Audio Design speaker wires to the latest Nordhost top of the line wires.  The top of the line MG Audio Design interconnects go for $1600 for a one meter pair.  Nordhost cost $16,999 for a .6 meter pair.  I am presently using half meter pairs of MG Audio Design wires-they go for $900.  By the way, Paul McGowan is planning to offer a version of the MG Audio Design interconnect wires himself.  He stated thus last month in his own daily internet post.  Check it out.  Living myself within walking distance of PS Audio in Denver I will have to visit them one of these days.  By the way, my speaker wire combination only took minutes to create.  It is so simple.  And it works.  Something like this can only be tried out to see if it works.  It either works, or it does not.  My wire combination works.  I am retired and home almost always.  If one is in Boulder Colorado, give me a call at (720) 550-6908 and check it out.
toddverrone                                                                                                         give me a call when you get back.  The prices that I quoted are for a long run, necessary as to my audio setup.  A regular speaker wire pair would most likely be between say 6 to a 8 foot pair in total.  Obviously the shoter length of speaker wires, the greater the cost.  When I eventually made my present wire system I had by chanch all the wires that I am presently using so there was no added cost at the time.  As this is a very simple process to actually put it all together, one can figure out beforehand what exactly to order.  The only actuall work is cutting and stripping the 12 Jenna Lab 18 gage hook up wires.  Is very simple and just takes minutes to do.By th way, if using the same mono Baskim King amplifiers as Arnie Nudell and Paul McGowan, possibly the same $900, one foot pair of MG Audio Design speaker wires that I myself am using in my own speaker wire configueration.  That is something to think about.
Todd:                                                                                                                      Actually I am only using the same exact Odyssey Khartago extreme amplifier that Johnathan Vallin wrote about a few years ago.  Supposidly it is the same ampliier that Alan Wolfe of Magico personally used to evaluate his speakers.  Although it is rated at 110 watts, I am using an Audio Research tube LS27 line stage preamplifier at high gain.  On my Martin/Logans they work great.  Still it is the next upgrade I would make if I had the money.  In my personal opinion, a true high quality tube amplifier is the way to go, but it is not practical for my situation.  Anyway, with my speaker wire combination. there should be no problems at all.  Actually right now, depending on the audio source being used as well as the type of music being played, a readout on my LS27 of only 10 to 12 is usually sufficient.  That is very low, although again, that is on it's high gain setting.  One would not believe how "big" a 110 watt per channel amplifier can perform.
Todd:                                                                                                                         I must add that my speaker "solution" is of true refrence quality.  I am not kidding.  It is mainly the MG Audio Design wires themself, but the numerous Jenna Lab's 18 gage hook up wires make possible the essance of the MG Audio Design wires audio reproduction itself.  And, considering what I get out of this wire arrangement, I truly believe that they justify their cost.  Overall if one simply considers attempting to come anywhere close to the performance of say the Speaker wires that say Michael Fremer himself uses and their cost, and my own speaker wire "solution"', and consider the cost difference-well then you would understand where I am coming from.