Solid core Versus Stranded Speaker cables

I have not done any experiments/testing with speaker cable, but I will say that solid core has won every test I have done for both interconnects and power cords. I hand-build all of my power cords and interconnects. Test with both stranded and solid core. Shielded/non shielded. Braided. What I have found with stranded is that the sound becomes a little messier/muddier. What I believe is happening is that the outer strands of a bundle are first to be charged by an incoming signal/waveform. It take a little time for the charge on the outside strands to reach the innermost strand (which are charged by contact). By this point, the outer strands have already discharged, so the innermost strands have somewhat of a delay on the charge/discharge. This creates a sort of delay or echo on the original waveform. This can make the high frequencies brighter or harsher.

When handling solid core, the gauge of the wire is critical. There is a fine line on a balance. I have found that 20awg is the best overall to use in any situation (either power cord or interconnect). As you increase the size of the wire awg, the bass waveforms becomes punchier and push harder. At the same time, the high frequencies start to roll off and you get a very lo-fi type of sound. If you go smaller than 20awg (such as 22awg), you start to lose bass/midbass body and the higher frequencies become too overstated. I have experienced this both on power cords and interconnects.

Power cords with 18awg or 16 awg will not have enough high frequency detail. I tried a power cord using 22awg solid core and I got extreme amounts of high frequency detail, but there was not enough bass/body. It made the audio sound very thin. In interconnects, 18awg rolls off too much highs. I have tried combining a 20awg with a 22awg for interconnect and it did give more high detail, but it ended up pushing too much high frequencies and it just did not have enough punch/bass.

Finally, braiding seems to be the best way to arrange the wires. I have tried twisting and it doesn’t do anything. There’s a somewhat unexplainable characteristics that happens with braiding. It calms down the upper mid/high frequencies so that they are not so bright. It also seems to reveal a bit more midbass body. Shielding (like braided copper shielding) will achieve somewhat the same thing, but it tends to want to roll off the high frequencies instead of just calming them down.

On my interconnects (which are all XLR), I use 2 braids of 20awg to give a total 17awg interconnect. For power cords, I use 6 braids of 20awg to get a final 12awg cord. All using Neotech 20awg OCC copper Teflon coated solid-core hookup wire. (Yes, OCC is better than OFC).

The Kimber stuff is probably the best equivalent that is on the market. It is stranded, but each varistrand bundle is only 7 strands, so there really is only one inner strand. The braiding also helps.

Right now, I’m using 12awg stranded OFC copper (basic monster cable) for speaker wire, but I have been curious about trying the Neotech NES-3002 speaker wire. It uses all OCC solid core wire that is individually insulated. Based on the number of wires in the pictures, it seems to use 21awg solid core. Shown at the bottom of this page:

http://www.vhaudio.com/wire.html

You can click on the picture to see wire detail.

Sorry, I have not tried out the NES-3002 yet.  It might be a while (maybe next year) before I get time/money to try it.  I'm working through some room acoustic experiments right now (diffusion panels, membrane bass traps, etc.).

The NES-3002 is a 9AWG cable.  You can definitely split half of the wires out for a bi-wire speaker - giving you a 12awg connection to each bi-wire point.  Since I haven't worked with the NES-3002, I can't comment on the stiffnes.  You should email Chris as VH Audio if you have any questions.  He's happy to answer anything you need.

@stringreen - sorry, I am still using double-runs of 12awg stranded OFC copper for speaker wire (basic monster cable or stuff from Monoprice - or any equivalent source). I find this excellent and neutral speaker wire. It is actually much better than some lower end exotics (like some Nordost Blue Heavens and other "under $1k" cables). It’s also much better than silver-plated, in my opinion. In fact, I avoid anything silver. Just one tiny element like putting in a silver-plated fuse clip or a silver based fuse will change the sound -- silver will push the upper mids/highs and make the sound more artificial. The ultra-high frequencies will be smoothed out and everything else is smoother too. Not neutral, in my opinion.

I have put all my R&D in power cable and interconnect for the last few years. I have just converted everything I have over to Rhodium plated Furutech (all power cord connectors, fuses, and XLR connectors). My 20awg solid-core braided interconnects used to have gold-plated XLR connectors. Moving these to Rhodium made them the best interconnects I have ever heard. These are absolutely amazing!!!

Speaker cable R&D is on my list, but I won’t get to it for a while. However, I will start with the Neotech NES-3002. It will probably be raw copper wire at the amp end and I will probably use Furutech Rhdium spades at the speaker end (they are all bi-wire and some of my speakers do not have a "wire hole" for raw wire).

I have also noticed that the terminations that some of these manufacturers put on speaker cable really degrade the sound. I have found that, on some cable, chopping off the termination and stripping to bare wire improved the sound tremendously!!!. Not that I am telling you to chop off the ends of several-hundred dollar cables (resale value), but it may make a difference if you choose to.

Took a quick look at the Jenving stuff.  They are just using tinned copper (which can actually be cheaper than OFC copper).  It's a plated coating on the copper to prevent oxidation.  It's true that tin is not as conductive as copper, but it is still conductive.  Look at the following:

http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/sitefiles/15/2/2/152201/On%20the%20Conductivity%20of%20Selected%20Metals.pdf

Copper conductivity is 59,77.  Many products (such as terminations) using different types of plating to affect the sound. They may be less conductive, but they still work well.  For example, Gold plating (at 42,55) gives you  more of a laid back sound.  While Rhodium (at 22,17) which is much less conductive will actually give you faster more detailed sound.  Brass at a very low 14,94 will transfer a lot of current and be very strong/forward.  You'll also see Nickel plating used in a lot of industrial connectors. 

I still think there is some cross-conductivity in the Jenving tin-plated strands. It's my opinion that they are just giving you a marketing statement to get you to buy their cheap tinned copper cable.

If you really want true coated strands, look at Cardas Litz wire.  Each Cardas strand is actually coated with enamel, which completely prevents any conductivity between the strands.  This is good and does exactly the same thing as solid-core.  The strands are typically much thinner at 26awg or smaller.