Second Round of Questions on Speaker Cables


Following up on a post of a couple months ago. Running Audience AU24SE cables but looking for something with more "body" if such a thing exists. But I do love the open, airy and even frequency balance of the Audience. A buddy runs Cardas cables and loves them but Audience not so much. So I was asking what else besides my Audience. Two answers were in the majority:

Stick with what you like, Audience, but go up in the range. Or, try Cardas. 

So went for with AU24SX and really like them. Better than the SEs, maybe a bit more body.

Then tried the Cardas Clear Reflections. What I find is an emphasis with the mids and upper bass. Great for music with an emphasis on vocals maybe, but for my wide-ranging likes of rock, jazz, and occasional vocal-centric music, just not right with that lower-end emphasis.

FWIW, Bryston amp, Spatial Audio and Rogue pres, Sopras.

So still looking but not sure where to go next. I realize I'm being a little vague, but there's so many other options out there and it's impossible to try them all. Open to suggestions.

Thanks.

 

jaybe

@jaybe I will look forward to you thoughts once you are able to audition these in your system. I currently have Atmosphere X Euphoria speaker cables and power cables.  My Integrated reduced the need for interconnects.  The ability to do some changes to the external grounding and shield behaviors with the tuning bullets makes for an interesting exercise.  Enjoy. 

Hi. I’m not a cable nerd but when I upgraded my Parasound Halo amp to a Bryston 4b3 my stereo guy recommended upgrading the single run of Analysis plus chocolate oval to bi-wired Analysis Plus Black mesh oval 9. I changed the cable after installing the amp and the change was noticeable and positive.  You may be looking for a more expensive or rarified solution; I’m mainly responding as we both have Bryston amps.

Dude, get some cables and get it over with already (facepalm)... If you are too much in the weeds with cables, it implies that something else In your chain is very lackluster,,,most probably the speakers and the room..  "The magic cable fix for everything" quest starts shortly thereafter.

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Ohm's law is very simple. The Power driving your speaker equals to (Voltage power two) divided by Resistance (speaker plus connecting wire).
Simply put, if your speaker wire adds more resistance to the circuit - it is bad.
Pick a 10-12 gauge speaker wire and you will be absolutely fine. 
Measure wire resistance with multi-meter, you will find it equals or very close to zero, even for 100 ft length.

"Oxygen-free copper is best" - nonsense. All copper wires are oxygen free.
"Speaker wire affects sound frequency" - not for an audible frequency range. or twice as wide (10Hz - 40kHz)
"Wire affects signal loss" - It either conducts without loss or not. See resistance above.
"Wire affects sound distortion" - another nonsense. 
"Wire affects sound stage" - this is silly. Find a good placement for your speakers based on your room size, geometry and surroundings.
Some wise folks even talk about speed of a sound signal propagation. I do not even want to comment.

If something does not sound nice in your system, no wire will fix it, look at you components (speakers, first of all) instead. Period. 

Same with connectors. Either they provide good electical contact or not. Just make sure you connections are not loose. It really does not matter what kind you use, banana plugs, pins, binding posts, or simply screwing bold stripped wire to your speaker terminals. 
Gold plated connectors' only advantage is that gold does not oxidize. Otherwise, gold conductivity is 25% lower compared to copper (surprised?).

Now, spend 50 bucks on 100 ft 10-12 gauge speaker wire, plus another 20 on connectors and enjoy.
Or, spend hundreds or even thousands on the "king of wires" and lull yourself how it improved a sound of your system. Amaze your friends.

I have a degree in Electrical Engineering specializing in acoustics, in case.