Fast forward to this point in time and we now know much more...
- solid strands of wire is able to carry more current than stranded wire
- insulation (i.e. the dielectric constant) is responsible for a lot more distortions within the wire itself than previously thought - the lower the D.C. the better
- higher quality copper (or silver) in wire provides better conduction of the signal, both in dynamics and clarity
So if you look at the current carrying ability of a generic 18 gauge solid strand copper wire you will see it can carry far more current than the same gauge of stranded wire - see this link...
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html
READERS PLEASE NOTE: The values cited in the table and the example below, should only be used as an "approximation", because there are many other factors to consider with AC signals of varying frequencies.
But for the sake of simplicity - to get a "rough approximation" of the power handling capabilities of an 18 gauge solid core wire - the chart shows it can "handle" 9.5 amps
so if we were to use this 18 gauge wire for mains purposes i.e. in a 120 v circuit
- we know that V x A = (Watts),
- so 120 x 9.5 = 1,140 (Watts)
So it looks like 18 gauge would handle significantly higher capacities than a large percentage of amps on the market would require?
- However, with an audio signal there are very large dynamic transient peaks that have to be considered AND also varying frequencies - which complicates matters
So for most speaker cable applications I recommend using at least two strands of the 18 gauge solid copper wire from VH Audio, gently twisted together - effectively, 15 gauge..
NOTE: If you are using an amp > 600 watts output, with a 4 ohm (or lower) speaker load, I would recommend 3 strands. Otherwise, using more strands will probably not achieve much in the way of noticeable improvements when used in the cables that use the Helix geometry..
You could use strands of 18 gauge Solid Silver, for ultimate performance, but I think you will be entering the world of "diminishing returns".
My focus is on "Bang for the Buck", so I tend to select wire combinations that perform very well, but keep the cables on the "more affordable" side of crazy..
I have conducted tests comparing an identical 16 gauge stranded signal wire to a 12 gauge stranded signal wire and there were no perceivable improvements observed in my system using the thicker gauge wire.
Also - For many years I used a high quality 10 gauge speaker cable, until I auditioned a 16 gauge speaker cable with a larger gauge neutral.
- The 16 gauge outperformed the 10 gauge in every aspect we tend to use to evaluate sound quality, including bass fullness, bass depth and bass speed - i.e. the metrics often cited as being noticeably improved when using a larger gauge cable.
FYI: My amp is a 135 watt per channel high current design and my speakers are full range 6 ohm towers.
Ultimately, the choice is yours - and whatever your budget will allow :-)
Hope that helps - regards - Steve