It’s long been an audiophile consideration that stranded wires (in the same sheath) caused smearing by the interference of the multititude of surface effect interactions. I’ve always felt the simpler the cable, the cleaner the sound. It has always shown itself to be true for me from my listening tests over the years.
Solid copper or stranded copper for speaker cables? What is your choice and why?
I had old copper speaker cable made by Audioquest (don't know the model). The cable contains only two solid copper wires, one is thicker than the other. As I recalled, Audioquest claimed back then that thicker wire primarily carries lower frequency signal and the thinner wire is responsible for the rest. I actually have not seen this type of design nowadays, BUT when listening and comparing it with the stranded wire (either 12 or 10 gauge) cable, I found the dynamic range is greater, and the bass is tighter and has more weight. What do you think?
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noromanceI don’t use bare wires touching each other in the same sheath, like lampcord. Both Cat 5 and Cat 8 are small diameter solid, individually insulated, Cat 8 wraps twisted pairs with insulation, thus 4 twisted pairs, next those 4 pairs insulated, then outer sheath.
mitch2 you can get Cat 5 or Cat 8 with pure copper, some 6 nines. (99.9999). originally I thought I was the first person using Cat 5. Then my friend shows me this crazy 'make your own' Cat 5 like you noted. What? Why? maybe I didn't read enough about why, I just found it laughable when Cat 5 was already assembled. |
I have no idea, but I do know this: For the same size, the current carrying capacity of solid wire is more than the stranded wire, This mostly why we use it when wiring homes; it is also cheaper, of course. As for special speaker wire costing lots of money, I have no experience thus no opinion. However, most electrons I have interviewed have their own personal preferences... Cheers! |
All PCs in the world sound similar to JPS and Zentara regardless of cost. No other PC in the world sounds like WTPC. I won’t tell you the performance of my Wavetouch power cord (WTPC). You should judge sounds of them (JPS, Zentara, WTPC). It is like a find hidden object puzzle. Harsh sounds always win to delicate/soft organic sounds at quick sound comparison. A’philes’ ears are trained to be numb and blocking harsh sounds by a brain since a’philes have been hearing the sound similar to JPS and Zentara. It could take an hour to get used to the sound of WTPC. To soften your ears, listen to the original music before hearing each PC’s sound. JPS 5:27 , Zentara 10:28 , Wavetouch 16:13 Alex/Wavetouch |
@elliottbnewcombjr I know what CAT cables are—I've overseen a number of office network and server room builds. Actually tried CAT6 as speaker cable for a while and dumped it for singlecore UP-OCC. |
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