Hail,
I will be replacing all of my amp to loudspeaker wire soon. Since i have a lot of systems to work with, I can not afford TOTL, however, would like something that will so a significant improvement at a cost that I can afford.

I have looking around and found Acoustic Research Speaker Wire as a possibilty. Does anyone have any input that you wish to provide about these and/or alternative suggestions at a similar price range. They are looking for $15.00 for a six foot length. I am willing to pay more for better ones if yall have suggestions, doubling or tripling the price for example if you have better suggestions. I am replacing 14 gauge common speaker wire for reference. Many thanks,
Vito

The common 14 gage wire - is it commonly called "lamp cord"?

Most of the stuff I like usually costs $10.00 a foot so I guess $120.00 is too much for your budget.

Did you check the classifieds on this forum?

The common 14 gage wire - is it commonly called "lamp cord"?

It may be called "lamp cord" by folks more knowledgeable than me, however, when purchased it was packaged as "speaker wire". Marketing folks will tag it with whatever will sell it. It is 14 gauge copper stranded wire.

Most of the stuff I like usually costs $10.00 a foot so I guess $120.00 is too much for your budget.

Not really, if there are audible or "health of the equipment" differences that make it reallyworth it.

Did you check the classifieds on this forum?

On my view of this site, there are no posts in the classifieds to view.


Vito

The Acoustic Research AP031 appears to be an interconnect, not speaker wire... Am I looking at the wrong thing? You definately do not want to use interconnects for speaker wire, they have all the wrong properties.

If you are looking for an 'upgrade' from lamp cord, I'm a fan of heavy duty Canare speaker wire. Its star quad, like their microphone wire. Compared to zip cord it is higher capacitance, and lower inductance (which seems to be more important for speaker wire, since inductance is directly related to rise time). Plus, it has very good noise isolation because it forms a completely enclosed magnetic field, instead of a big old dipole field. The 4 conductors are stranded OFC, and when the two pairs are tied together, create the equivalent of 13 gauge wire. Plus, you can drive over it with a truck and it won't break. ;)

Its a modest 44pf per foot, which isn't that high, and its DCR is a satisfying .0045 ohms per foot.

Now... Does that mean diddly squat for sonics? I don't know, but the engineering behind it makes sense. Plus, its 0.48$ a foot at markertek. Comes in any color you want, as long as its black (or grey, now!): http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?item=4S8&off=2&sort=prod

The other thing I like to do when upgrading cables it to make sure they have solid terminations. Big solid terminations make for good connections, and limit the effect of corrosion on the terminals. Pick some nice fatty spades, banana connectors, or whatever you like best, crimp them solidly onto the wire, and then solder over the crimped connection to prevent corrosion. It'll help, and you won't have to worry about the quality of your connection anymore.

peace,
sam

Sam,
Many thanks for the recommendation and yes, I had the wrong AR model number. I just called up the site, looked at the product that you recommended and that is exactly what I am looking for. I appreciate it.
Vito