How are your speakers connected to your amplifier?

[RetroHacker]

While surfing the 'net I have come across several different types of speaker cables, and information about said cables - some of which can cost hundreds of dollars. Just thought I'd see what other AK'ers had to say about that.

 

[Tonedeaf]

I started with Monster cable. But then I found pretty much the same stuff rebranded at Home Depot for about 30% cheaper.

 

[OvenMaster]

Tonedeaf, are you talking about that clear 12 gauge speaker cable on the spool?? I used that too but after 2 years it turned GREEN beneath the insulation, and after 6 years, I chucked it and got 12 gauge outdoor landscaping wire. Yesterday, as a matter of fact... how timely! (I was way too lazy to move all the furniture to replace it before now.) Since it's not as obviously porous as the old stuff, I think I should be safe here. Immediate improvement in treble, even playing CD's of MP3-to-.wav conversions!

Not bad for 37 cents a foot. :thmbsp:

Tom

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

My speakers are high effiency and I use short 6' runs, so I've found that 16 gauge from Ace Hdwe. works okey-dokey for moi.

 

[Army]

I use 14 gauge wire from Home Depot.

Its as big as I can get crammed into the terminals :yes:

Don't see a need to go with huge wires, if you look at most crossovers and internal wiring. They don't use anything near that heavy. Least not from what I've seen on most of the vintage speakers, I have

my .02 cents

Regards
Army

 

[Thatch_Ear]

I made my own out of 50+ year old Western Electric wire in a Litz braid. I didn't pay more than $300 for them but I wouldn't make any for sale for less than that and voted that way.

 

[WhiteSE]

I bought mine used, for less than 100 bucks, but I think they would cost 2x at least that new...

They are from Grover Huffman,,He sells some cables thru Steve Hoffman's web site, and Hoffman, who is a DCC remaster guru has the cables in his studio....I like em, and they didnt kill the bank/

 

[AudioGeek]

On my JBL 4412's I'm using 8' of XLO Ultra 6. Sounds great, looks great and didn't cost a bank.

Less filling too.

 

[devoid]

I don't care what it looks like. I use Belden 8477 12 AWG wire from my job. Works like wire should.

 

[darthm00by]

i'm using some Liberty Cable 14AWG that i had made at the local stereo shop.

 

[Andyman]

I used Monster Cable because it came attached to a set of speakers I picked up somewhere along the way and it was hyped to be "better" than the length of 14 gauge wire that I had been using previously. All my interconnects too have been obtained with items I bought and replaced the standard patch cords. One set was made by cutting down a longer cable and adding gold ends, but none of this stuff was bought new.

 

[kcollins4]

I'm with Ovenmaster. 12 gauge landscape light cable. Works great and relatively cheap. :thmbsp:

 

[Wireworm5]

I find it difficult to hook 12 gauge wire up to speaker terminals. So I use 14 gauge with banana plugs. And if I feel energetic I even soder the wire to the plugs.

 

[tx1488]

I use 16 gauge wire that is sold by the foot at my local hardware store, 'cause I think over-priced copper is just plain old...

 

[rgrjit8]

I use 14 gauge wire from Home Depot.

Its as big as I can get crammed into the terminals :yes:

Don't see a need to go with huge wires, if you look at most crossovers and internal wiring. They don't use anything near that heavy. Least not from what I've seen on most of the vintage speakers, I have

my .02 cents

Regards
Army

I'm with you Army.
Because most of us are into vintage stuff, the gear simply can't accommodate those huge wires.
Cramming all those wires into little holes is just begging for trouble. They splay out and can short your amp.
I don't plan on inviting any damned self-rigteous golden ear into my home anyway!

 

[Haoleb]

Some AudioQuest Type 4, terminated by audioadvisor so i dont have the fancy box or sheathing over it but its also cheaper that way Ive used other stuff in the past like the regular mega cable etc but im sticking with the AQ now. No need to upgrade. All i really wanted was a quality cable that isint going to corrode on me and looks good. Hey it sounds good too wouldnt ya know.

 

[ginovino]

Solution to cramming....

I'm with you Army.
Because most of us are into vintage stuff, the gear simply can't accommodate those huge wires.
Cramming all those wires into little holes is just begging for trouble. They splay out and can short your amp.
I don't plan on inviting any damned self-rigteous golden ear into my home anyway!

Just a note... On my high end system I use 8ft bi-wire pairs of Kimber 8TC with WBT spade lugs on both ends. Expensive, yes, but ooooohhhh the soundstage!

I read a review in Absolute sound about a year ago where Home Depot(hd-14) 50ft, yellow and black stripe exterior power extension cord was used as part of the high end cable review. The result was the Home depot cable rated quite high relative to many of the mega $ cables. (Kimber not one). I went out and bought me 50ft spool ($30) and wired it up both in Bi-wire and single wire. Ultimately, single proved to sound the best on my gear.
For the speaker side, I used very large spade lugs, but changed to gold plated bananas, on the other side to get into the "Spring binding clamps" on my vintage receivers, I went to Rat Shack and got "pin" connectors which worked fine to get in those little spring binding holes. Of course I soldered all of the connections and made sure, there were no cold solder joints.

I can recommend the Home Depot stuff emphatically!!! For vintage gear it works quite nicely. Especially the big boys such as I have. Kill the lamp cord and the cat-5e crapola... The HD stuff is as close to "audio level" cable as you can get without setting foot in a "salon/showroom" as parking would be tough for many Ak'rs flatbed Fords.

 

[tentoze]

I've harnessed the forces of the cosmos, and have dedicated plasma fields from the Udderio-modified terminals of my Yorx all-in-one classic to purpose-built transducers of secret design.

...as you can get without setting foot in a "salon/showroom" as parking would be tough for many Ak'rs flatbed Fords.

And for the record, this was a snarky-ass comment devoid of any fact that insults AK members.

 

[AudioGeek]

All's I can say is the less expensive XLO stuff, from Ultra on down, is pretty darned good sounding cable - depending on your set-up, of course. Well-built and terminated too. You can get pins, spades, bananas, whatever.

 

[rgrjit8]

"but changed to gold plated bananas, on the other side to get into the "Spring binding clamps" on my vintage receivers, I went to Rat Shack and got "pin" connectors which worked fine to get in those little spring binding holes."

OOooooh yeah, that sounds high-end. I'd better fire up the flatbed to go see a city slickers' system.
Now think about this a minute, you're taking a rigid round connector and sticking it into a spring clip. You have only two very small contact points on the circumference of the pin as it is "bitten down" upon by the flat "jaws" of the spring clip.
A bundle of bare wires would flatten itself and conform to the shape of the spring clip's jaws, providing a much greater surface area contact to pass an electrical signal.

I really don't see the advatage of massive wire if you have the signal littered with these bottlenecks.
It's all or none.

P.S. Aside from antenna connections and stray pieces of random gear cluttering my closets and garage, I don't even own any gear with spring clip connectors. Preach to me some more about high end.