Cable for loudspeaker internal wiring...

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#21
In 2012, I read this thread, plus many more.

My speakers use the Accuton diamond tweeter, with the Accuton C50 ceramic midrange.

I took zygibajt's post seriously.

Over a four month period, we tried all manner of wire.

The following are our final choices based on listening.

Tweeters;
~the smallest guage Litz wire you can get away with. For our use, a 44/40 (44 guage by 40 strands). You can get skin effect charts off the web.

Midrange;
~Litz wire again. Again, info as to guage from the skin effect chart. I can't remember the exact size, but it wasn't much larger than for the tweeter.

Midwoofer;
~This requires a little more umph. We found little to no difference with any of the wires we tried. The trick is letting the current flow. We used the Duelund flat wire. Driver is Acoustic Elegance TD6M

Woofer;
~9.5awg Cardas Litz. We also installed this in our amplifier. This is now what I make my speaker cable with. Acoustic Elegance TD15H+
 
#23
In wall rated jacketed 14AWG from Belden

Belden BL-5100UP 14 Gauge High Flex High Strand Audio Cable - Per Foot

Zip tie to bracing, and wrap with foam tape to make sure nothing buzzes. Crimp all connections, and terminate with crimped ferrules if going into a euroblock terminal. Label under clear adhesive heat shrink on both ends if going from a passive crossover or Speakon to drive units.

There is cheaper stuff that will work just fine, but this Belden is consistent, reasonably flexible, and fairly priced.
 
#24
Im just using a roll of Pudney OFC - probably 16awg I'm guessing? I used some thinner 18awg for the tweeter. The wire cross section is no less than the measily resistor wire running to the tweeter - so there's your choke point if anything.

The cable isn't twisted stranded, but honestly I can't see how this would be audible either. The main speaker wire is the same stuff.

People stress about wire... but I'd be more worried about an inert cabinet, quality drivers operating in their passband and an optimised crossover with low cost parts. that will sound fantastic no matter what basic 16awg or higher wire you use.
 
#26
Dave Bullet said:
People stress about wire... but I'd be more worried about an inert cabinet, quality drivers operating in their passband and an optimised crossover with low cost parts. that will sound fantastic no matter what basic 16awg or higher wire you use.
Click to expand...



The only really important things about wire are:

1) get the signal path right. Miswiring the crossover, or attaching leads to the wrong drivers are audible issues!

2) keep it from buzzing. Better speakers designed by smart engineers often wrap the leads in something soft and secure them so they can’t vibrate. A wire banging against a brace, wall, or driver is often audible.

3) connect it securely. That’s why I like properly crimped disconnects, ferrules on wire in terminals, etc. Soldering, especially in situ, is IMO less reliable than a well executed crimp

But deaf people love to compensate by spending money on dumb stuff, so there will be a market for magical mystery wire, and people who will out themselves by touting it.
 
#30
sianturi said:
So the next question is:
Use crimp connector, or directly solder the cable to the driver terminal?
Click to expand...


You have to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL if you solder tweeters and smaller mids. Use an aluminum clamp on heat sink (designed for soldering delicate parts, usually comes with a soldering accessory kit) if possible. I ruined a tweeter once because the internal wire became un-soldered inside the housing which was impossible for me to fix. To be safe; use a high quality crimp-on connector; especially for the smaller drivers. For heavier woofers; soldering is much easier to accomplish. I place the driver with the magnet down on the table or bench. That way, if you accidentally drip excess solder; it doesn't fall into the woofer parts!

I did a direct comparison of 10 AWG and 14 AWG "speaker" wire. These were longer runs from the amplifier to the speakers. The 10 AWG was OFC and finer strands; the 14 AWG was just the average non-OFC with more coarse strands. The 10 AWG just sounded "cleaner", more detail, better resolution, etc. This is somewhat subtle but to my ears; the 10 AWG was definitely an improvement. I now use this for all internal wiring. Both wire types were purchased from Parts Express; I'll see if I can copy and paste here. The 10 AWG OFC is probably good enough unless you have seriously expensive, high end drivers, electronics, etc. It is a point of diminishing returns how far one may wish to take this; i. e., spending more and more money gets you less and less incremental improvement.

https://www.parts-express.com/pedoc...onics-skrl-10-speaker-wire-specifications.pdf

this is the 10 AWG I normally use


http://www.seminolewire.com/skin/fr.../2450 MMF001 Technical Data Sheet 8.17.15.pdf

budget 14 AWG I have used
 
#31
I have recently using very fine stranded 14ga to 16 ga silicone jacketed power cables meant for high current RC car/helicopter battery-motor connections. I originally used this for flying leads from amps to power MOSFETS/BJTs mounted to heatsinks. I have found they really of carry current better than common 16ga copper wire. The 16 ga has 252 strands of tinned copper. The flexibility helps to relieve mechanical stress on the wire joints/connections.

Available as large as 10ga.

Electrical Wire 16 AWG 16 Gauge Silicone Wire Hook Up wire Cable 20 Feet [10 ft Black And 10 ft Red] - Soft and Flexible 252 Strands 0.08mm of Tinned copper wire High temperature resistance (16AWG) - - Amazon.com
 
#35
I'm using fine stranded copper lamp wire off a 500' roll for my speakers. It sounds just fine. Inside I used 14ga CCA left over from a car project. CCA is garbage, I bought it by accident and will never buy it again. It carries current just fine, it's just very fragile.
 
#36
oldspkrguy said:
longer runs from the amplifier to the speakers.
Click to expand...
When very thin cable is used on dissimilar distances per channel for long runs..

When resistance becomes a significant fraction of an ohm it can have a small but noticeable affect on channel balance and response. When faced with the prospect of equalising one channel differently to the other it's easier to deal with at the source and use different wire.

Consider the distance to the floor, across the room behind the other speaker, down beside the listening position and up to the amp could be the better part of 10m x2.
 
#38
Yes, absolutely true. In the example I gave; I was in the near-field with a desk top system. The total cable runs were only 5 feet per side. There was a definite improvement with the better cable. The resistance and capacitance and inductance are ALL lower here than with the budget cable. It is subtle but still noticeable enough to warrant using the better cable. If the drivers are capable of higher resolution; better cable certainly DOES make a difference. Again; diminishing returns...
 
#39
The quality of joints can have a noticeable effect (after you touch them with your fingers, or they corrode, including RCAs). I recall once coming to the same conclusion as yourself, then later trying to prove it again but failing. (I'm not implying thorough test conditions)

I'm not talking about obvious extremes. For this a person could get a string of 0.1 ohm resistors and find the least they can hear, and could compare it to the thin wire to see whether it is the resistance or something else.
 
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