Speaker Wire for a non-anal listener

Here's another vote for Canare 4s11. This is the same cable that Blue Jeans
Cables uses and most likely is the same cable River Cable uses in their
speaker cables. River Cables has sheath on theirs, but the specs on their
"Star Flex" just happen to duplicate those of the Canare "
Star Quad." I wouldn't be at all surprised if you found Canare 4s11
inside the sheaths of other expensive cables, too. For less than 70 cents a
foot from Markertek and either bare wired or with connectors, you'll have
excellent cables.

If you look at speltz's "anti-cables," you should be aware that
these are classic "high inductance" cables. The positive and
negative are separate and left to dangle apart from each other. This will
cause high inductance and could result in attenuation and a rolled off high
end. When I say it "could" -- this is because your results will
depend on whether the positive and negative fall in proximity to one another
or not. Unless you are looking to achieve an audible loss of amplitude in your
high frequencies, this cable would not be high on my list. Just depends on
what you are trying to achieve.

>>...and then again, one could just twist the 2 conductors together, as lots
do.<<

You could twist them or tape them together with electrical tape -- but, then
you are changing -- or correcting, depending on how you look at it -- the
design of the cable. One has to wonder why the designer would have made a
design like that and why he doesn't say anything about the inductance in his
literature. I also wonder if the coating on the cables will stand up to
prolonged use after being twisted, since the cables were not designed to be
twisted. In any case, I just think any prospective buyer of the "anti-cables"
should be aware of the issues involved.

No, but it will encourage folks to treat his post in kind ---

>>recommend something that does well in blind testings<<

Which cable would that be? I'd love to see the blind studies to which you
refer.

>>How come so few people know how much a zipcord pair sucks for
inductance?<<

Sucks, as in causes as audible problem -- one that can be heard in blind
studies, since that is your criteria? Maybe because this has never been
established. This seems to be something you either read in a cable ad or
heard and believed. What sucks for inductance are cables with the positive
and negative separated.

>>smaller gauge is better for frequency response?<<

This also must have come directly from a cable ad -- where's the blind tests
or any other kind of scientific back-up for such a notion?

>>Think outside the marketing jargon box....So much misinformation.<<

Yes -- much of it located in your post.

Geesh.

>>Rsbeck, I wasn't referring to any blind testings per se, just surprised that
absolutely no one recommended something that did well in that format,<<

There isn't any body of double blind testing so how could anyone draw from
such evidence in order to recommend cables?

>>Correct me if I'm wrong, but if separate + & - makes for inductance, and
zipcord has separate + & -, then wouldn't that make zipcord bad for
inductance<<

No. In Zip Cord, the positive and negative are attached -- they run in
parallel.

>>(amd possibly anticables too?)?<<

In the anti-cables, the positive and negative are completely unattached and
left to dangle apart from one another -- that's what causes high inductance.

>>As far as smaller wires working better for frequency response, read some
articles on TNT<<

People say all kinds of things about cables and many of them sound really
authoritative, but just because someone mentions something like "skin
effect" for example and just because there *is* such a thing as skin
effect, there is absolutely zero evidence that this causes any audible effect at
audio frequencies. Same with the idea that high frequencies "like"
thinner gauged cable. People say stuff like this and it sounds ominoust, but
there is no evidence that this has any effect.

If you're a blind study guy -- ask anyone who tells you about skin effect or
how high frequencies like to travel on thinner wires to show you the blind
studies to show that anyone can hear such things.

>>or just look at how some high end cables are designed.<<

Yes, many of them are designed poorly.

>>If I don't take your advice, it's my loss, right?<<

I don't care which advice you follow, I just think there ought to be a good
discussion about these things. Otherwise, one would get the false impression
that there is no controversy about things like skin effect or that high
frequencies like to travel on thinner gauged cables.

>>I seriously weighed almost everyone's post, and researched each item
suggested. I just didn't have a starting point. Thanks again :)<<

If you want to research cables, you ought to know that there are at least two
sides to the debate -- there is absolutely no concensus. If you want to get
the skeptic position -- here is a good place to start.

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/cables.htm