What speaker cables?

[Dragonblids]

I recently bought 2 Cerwin-Vega SL-15's.
i got a Onkyon TX-SV515PROII.
I'm a "normal" person, not really a HIFI enthousiast.
Will i be able to notice any diffrence between low cost copper cables, and high-end hifi cables?

 

[skit75]

Not very likely. Lamp cord would do just fine.

 

[aldan]

i'll second that emotion.

 

[McHenryB]

Not very likely. Lamp cord would do just fine.

I can certainly notice the difference with my system between lamp cord and decent thick copper speaker cables. The sound is noticeably more detailed and precise. 10 metres of cable cost me £10 (less than $20). Why would you buy expensive speakers and then limit their potential for the cost of a couple of Big Macs?

I'm sure that sort of cable is good enough. But don't be a cheapskate and use lamp flex.

 

[Dragonblids]

Not very likely. Lamp cord would do just fine.

I can certainly notice the difference with my system between lamp cord and decent thick copper speaker cables. The sound is noticeably more detailed and precise. 10 metres of cable cost me £10 (less than $20). Why would you buy expensive speakers and then limit their potential for the cost of a couple of Big Macs?

I'm sure that sort of cable is good enough. But don't be a cheapskate and use lamp flex.

I don't got any problem at all, using money on the cables, i just didn't wanted to throw alot of money in it, if i couldn't notice any diffrence, as a non-expert.

 

[McHenryB]

I was just commenting on the advice to use lamp flex - bad idea. $20 seems a reasonable amount to pay for decent cable and it's worth it to buy something that was designed to convey audio signals rather than to power a lightbulb. If you can't notice the difference then you should sell those speakers and buy a cheap set for $50 or so.

 

[ien2222]

http/www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable

That will give you the gauge of wire that you need for a particular run. Take you longest run that you'll need and get a spool of quality copper wire of that gauge for all your speakers.

Zip cord is fine as long as it's nearly pure, otherwise Monoprice or Blue Jeans Cable is a good place, as is the generic stuff from Amazon or Radio Shack if you can get that for cheaper.

If you are running it inwall, make sure it's rated for that too.

 

[skit75]

I was just commenting on the advice to use lamp flex - bad idea. $20 seems a reasonable amount to pay for decent cable and it's worth it to buy something that was designed to convey audio signals rather than to power a lightbulb. If you can't notice the difference then you should sell those speakers and buy a cheap set for $50 or so.

I didn't know there was some new technology that makes your branded speaker cables better than equivalent gauge lamp cord. Designed for audio signals? An audio signal in this scenario is just an AC electrical signal within the frequency range of human hearing. That Kool-Aid must be sweet.

If the cable is terminated properly and of adequate gauge, there isn't even test equipment that could tell you the difference, especially to a "normal" persons ears.

 

[McHenryB]

If the cable is terminated properly and of adequate gauge

That's the point. Lamp flex will not be "of adequate gauge"; lamp flex, not even decent gauge power cable!. Heck, it's probably not even made of copper - not a new technology, but no less important for that. Apart from that there are other important factors, such as the resistance and capacitance of the cable; all cables are not equal in this respect, just as all amplifiers are not equal. The wrong cable can easily cause an impedance mismatch which will significantly affect the audio quality.

There is a significant difference between the propogation of analog signals and digital signals in cables. If you have a $50 music centre with $30 speakers I concede that you won't notice the difference. (The same is true if you have cloth ears.) Still, I guess that you save maybe $15 by using inadequate cable - when you have already spent nearly $1000 dollars on equipment that saving is important.

 

[americanaudiophile]

On your system a heavier gauge of wire, say 12 ga., will give you tighter bass. The longer the runs the more improvement you will get with a thicker wire. Purer copper will also provide a similar benefit. If you want to do an easy experiment take standard zip cord, which is two parallel conductors. Separate them and twist them in a helix. Tape the ends so they stay in place. Do this with one speaker wire not both. Then compare the sound with the balance control (preferably with a mono recording). I don't want to describe what I think you will hear so as not to prejudice you.
Since your system is not very high in resolution more exotic stuff is probably not worth it but this easy test will let you form your own conclusions.