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Hi,
I have been using very thick Monster cable for my Altec "VOT's" for many years and they seem to work fine. My amp is about 100 watts per channel.
What would be the difference if I used normal house wiring (like the wiring inside a house wall) of the same gauge?
The house wiring would have slightly less strands (but still the same overall AWG) - does this matter?
Does anyone know if large one-piece solid wire is better?
Jack
This kind of question will elicit all sorts of opinions. Heavy emphasis on "opinions". Perhaps a better place to approach this would be the Cable Asylum:
Cable Asylum
Good Luck!
I'd suggest having a look at Dr. R.A. Greiner's `Amplifier-Loudspeaker Interfacing' (AES paper presented at the 63rd Convention of the Auedio Engineering Society, May 1979).
This paper can be found in Volume 2 of `Loudspeakers: An Anthology' from the Audio Engineering Society.
To be succinct, you ought to be concerned with cable length vs. DC resistance. In most domestic instances, 14-16AWG zip cord works well.
Now I'll offer an opinion:
I've personally have _yet_ to see any specialty cable company that will submit any product to a double-blind test since I've been involved with the audio industry. They always demur, which is typical of so-called `Golden-Ears' who claim to have superhuman hearing that mere mortals cannot possibly possess.
Double-blind testing is the only statistically-valid means of discerning an audible difference between a specialty `boutique' cable and, say, 16 AWG zip cord (my favourite).
IMHO, specialty cable manufacturers exist only on strange belief systems, total lack of quantitative or qualitative analysis on the part of consumers, deceptive advertising and value systems akin to used car or insurance salesmen.
BobR
It wouldn't be really suited to your 100w amps, but I've been using single strands of Cat6 network wire for speaker wire and interconnects. I would happily submit to a blind test, despite it's inherent faults, as the difference is not subtle. It's definitely more suited to low power applications such as my SET amp and relatively short runs, in my case around 5' per side for the speakers. The added bonus is it's often a good bit cheaper than even zip cord.
Dave
Ok, heres my 2 cents on this subject! Any cable, with good connectors;i.e. switchcraft, neutrik, or whatever, and the proper wire gauge works well.
In fact, I have tried some rather expensive interconnects and heard a difference, yet, never one that was actually better, just different! I have found some expensive cables to sound edgy. Then when I put the regular interconnect back everything is as it is supposed to be!
Believe it or not, Radio Shack Pro Gold,s work well, and are nothing special, but are made decently. I also make my own cables using West Penn 2 conductor, 24awg, and switchcraft connectors, and this works for me!
Also, always remember that the people who buy ridiculously priced wire and cable submit to the belief that if it COSTS more it MUST be better, after all not everyone has these!
So ego and feelings of exclusivity are also at work here!
Monster Cable is nothing but Litz wire. Litz wire has NEVER been proven, as far as I have ever known, to be superior to properly manufactured high-quality strnaded/twisted pair wire of the same guage. It's all verrrrry subjective - just beware people who try to sell you "special sound wire."
They call it "Litz" wire because it was designed by a German. The actual word is "Litzendraht" which means "woven wire."
Generally defined, it is a wire constructed of individual film insulated wires bunched or braided together in a uniform pattern of twists and length of lay.
The multistrand configuration minimizes the power losses otherwise encountered in a solid conductor due to the "skin effect", or the tendency of radio frequency current to be concentrated at the surface of the conductor.
In order to counteract this effect, it is necessary to increase the amount of surface area without appreciably increasing the size of the conductor. It is also essential to position each individual strand in the Litz construction in a uniform pattern moving from the center to the outside and back in a given length.
Even properly constructed Litz wires will exhibit some skin effect due to the limitations of stranding. Wires intended for higher frequency ranges require more strands of a finer gauge size than Litz wires of equal cross sectional area but composed of fewer and larger strands.
Polyurethane is the film most often used for insulating individual strands because of its low electrical losses and its solderability. Other insulations can also be used. Litz wires are generally further insulated with a single or double wrap or serving, of a textile-typically nylon-but are also available unserved.
The biggest problem with Litz wire for audiophile use is that it doesn't really help in the 20Hz - 20kHz band. What DOES help is the larger gauge...
I don't like solid stranded wire for audio use, as it is easier to break, especially at the terminals, but lots of people do.
I'd just keep what I have, if i were you...
<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ June 27, 2004 09:13 PM: Message edited by: Todd W. White ]</font>
The monstercable wire I have is twisted in a pattern that resembles Litz construction, but it is most certainly just bare copper strands. Maybe they have high-end line that uses actual litz construction, I don't know.
Dave
I've read that most of the litz wire makers no in the USA no longer actually braid it like it was designed to be...
I believed that interconnects and speaker cables can affect to the music reproductions if you have a high quality audio system to recognize. Anyway, it depended to the materials employed (High purity silver and copper). Cause those are the best electro conductibility. But I wonder that why some Hi End cables producers would like to use 24K gold or platinum to build their Hi End cable. Many peoples would know pure gold and platinum are also having lower conductibility to the audio signals. So, I believed that the reason is can selling higher price. A best example of ridiculous is MaMa Lab?s model XXXGA 1.0 (a pair of 3 meters speaker cables) price as a BMW. Then its economy version 0.8 has been selling about $10,000. Would you think that if use these cables will better than to pay for a set of real Hi End hardware? http://www.hostboard.com/forums/
Anyway, monster cable is not the best, but I surely that it is not the worst.