13 replies to this topic

[alan monro]

Speaker cables . or . put it simpley ,speaker wire . break it down the complexity and we end up with wire . Wire .A speaker cable is just a wire to connect a speaker to an amplifier. thats all .there is nothing special about a wire . one can see wires but , we can not hear wires . all we hear is the speaker flapping in and out . thats all . If we have a very thin speaker wire ran say 300-1000 ft to a speaker due to the resistance to the the speaker it might sound not as loud as the heavyer wire , Amps are designed to run into a resistance .If we run very thick wire to the speaker we risk the amp becoming unstable due to what is called is capacitance . thick wires show capacitance to an amp .Amps hate capacitance . In my tests one could actually see ringing occuring on my techs equiptment . About the best thing one can use is co-ax cable (very small capacitance ) But if dont wish to run co-ax , use 240 lamp cord , its cheap , easy to get , and would be good for up to 50 ft runs . any longer distances use say 20,.2 fig 8 security cable . it also cheap . you can get it at alarm equiptment suppliers on a 100yd roll . You will save a fortune by not using (special)???? wire .If you want to ,listen and compare the lampcord against the dearest cable and you will not be able to hear any differance .Alan .( Technician)

[JimJ]

sparkamp, on 19 January 2010 - 09:44 PM, said:

Speaker cables . or . put it simpley ,speaker wire . break it down the complexity and we end up with wire . Wire .A speaker cable is just a wire to connect a speaker to an amplifier. thats all .there is nothing special about a wire . one can see wires but , we can not hear wires . all we hear is the speaker flapping in and out . thats all . If we have a very thin speaker wire ran say 300-1000 ft to a speaker due to the resistance to the the speaker it might sound not as loud as the heavyer wire , Amps are designed to run into a resistance .If we run very thick wire to the speaker we risk the amp becoming unstable due to what is called is capacitance . thick wires show capacitance to an amp .Amps hate capacitance . In my tests one could actually see ringing occuring on my techs equiptment . About the best thing one can use is co-ax cable (very small capacitance ) But if dont wish to run co-ax , use 240 lamp cord , its cheap , easy to get , and would be good for up to 50 ft runs . any longer distances use say 20,.2 fig 8 security cable . it also cheap . you can get it at alarm equiptment suppliers on a 100yd roll . You will save a fortune by not using (special)???? wire .If you want to ,listen and compare the lampcord against the dearest cable and you will not be able to hear any differance .Alan .( Technician)

I'd be much more worried about cable capacitance in high-impedance paths (interconnects) than in low-impedance ones like the speaker wires.

Inductance is your primary enemy with speaker cables...

[95Honda]

Yes, high frequency roll-off can be a problem due to inductance, especially at the low impedance of most loudspeakers.

I wouldn't use lampcord for anything but a lamp... But that's just me....

The main problem I always see with coax for loudspeakers is the coax always has a higher impedance than interwoven, multi-strand cable (like my favorite inexpensive loudspeaker cables made from 100 pair solid copper phone cabling). This is where Kimber has some good ideas.... Idealy, you want to see a low charactoristic impednace when you are talking loudspeaker cable, but I think that isn't the most important aspect...

[alan monro]

JimJ, on 20 January 2010 - 06:27 AM, said:

sparkamp, on 19 January 2010 - 09:44 PM, said:

Speaker cables . or . put it simpley ,speaker wire . break it down the complexity and we end up with wire . Wire .A speaker cable is just a wire to connect a speaker to an amplifier. thats all .there is nothing special about a wire . one can see wires but , we can not hear wires . all we hear is the speaker flapping in and out . thats all . If we have a very thin speaker wire ran say 300-1000 ft to a speaker due to the resistance to the the speaker it might sound not as loud as the heavyer wire , Amps are designed to run into a resistance .If we run very thick wire to the speaker we risk the amp becoming unstable due to what is called is capacitance . thick wires show capacitance to an amp .Amps hate capacitance . In my tests one could actually see ringing occuring on my techs equiptment . About the best thing one can use is co-ax cable (very small capacitance ) But if dont wish to run co-ax , use 240 lamp cord , its cheap , easy to get , and would be good for up to 50 ft runs . any longer distances use say 20,.2 fig 8 security cable . it also cheap . you can get it at alarm equiptment suppliers on a 100yd roll . You will save a fortune by not using (special)???? wire .If you want to ,listen and compare the lampcord against the dearest cable and you will not be able to hear any differance .Alan .( Technician)

I'd be much more worried about cable capacitance in high-impedance paths (interconnects) than in low-impedance ones like the speaker wires.

Inductance is your primary enemy with speaker cables...

Gooday Jim . You will find speaker wire has low inductance ,speakers high inductance . there fore should we regard speakers as our primary enemy? Alan

[JimJ]

It certainly affects crossover design, but I'm not really sure I'm following your logic.

[alan monro]

JimJ, on 20 January 2010 - 06:47 PM, said:

It certainly affects crossover design, but I'm not really sure I'm following your logic.

Jim crossovers inductance of a coil is another subject . I dont realy see what you are at . Alan

[Impious]

JimJ, on 20 January 2010 - 06:47 PM, said:

It certainly affects crossover design, but I'm not really sure I'm following your logic.

English is poor.....but I think the point he was getting at was that since the speaker's inductance swamps the cable's we should be concerned about the inductance of the speaker rather than the cable. The speaker's inductance is the primary enemy for high frequency rolloff.....

Not sure if that helps or not....this is a difficult conversation to follow

[alan monro]

Impious, on 20 January 2010 - 09:00 PM, said:

JimJ, on 20 January 2010 - 06:47 PM, said:

It certainly affects crossover design, but I'm not really sure I'm following your logic.

English is poor.....but I think the point he was getting at was that since the speaker's inductance swamps the cable's we should be concerned about the inductance of the speaker rather than the cable. The speaker's inductance is the primary enemy for high frequency rolloff.....

Not sure if that helps or not....this is a difficult conversation to follow

Spot on , it helps a lot that you can understand Aussie English and translate it into American English I find American logic hard to follow . I suppose that happens when we are situated 50000 km away . :eek5wavey:Alan

[Duran]

sparkamp, on 21 January 2010 - 03:04 AM, said:

Impious, on 20 January 2010 - 09:00 PM, said:

JimJ, on 20 January 2010 - 06:47 PM, said:

It certainly affects crossover design, but I'm not really sure I'm following your logic.

English is poor.....but I think the point he was getting at was that since the speaker's inductance swamps the cable's we should be concerned about the inductance of the speaker rather than the cable. The speaker's inductance is the primary enemy for high frequency rolloff.....

Not sure if that helps or not....this is a difficult conversation to follow

Spot on , it helps a lot that you can understand Aussie English and translate it into American English I find American logic hard to follow . I suppose that happens when we are situated 50000 km away . :eek5wavey:Alan

Impious was raised my Kangaroos

[Aaron Clinton]

A dingo ate his baby!

[alan monro]

Aaron, on 21 January 2010 - 12:18 PM, said:

A dingo ate his baby!

Aaron your adress is HAF HQ East what country do you reside , is it USA ? . I can not find it on my atlas . cheers Alan

[Duran]

sparkamp, on 21 January 2010 - 05:29 PM, said:

Aaron, on 21 January 2010 - 12:18 PM, said:

A dingo ate his baby!

Aaron your adress is HAF HQ East what country do you reside , is it USA ? . I can not find it on my atlas . cheers Alan

We have HAF HQ west and east, west is in Arizona, US. east is in Maryland, US

[Impious]

Duran, on 21 January 2010 - 04:43 AM, said:

sparkamp, on 21 January 2010 - 03:04 AM, said:

Impious, on 20 January 2010 - 09:00 PM, said:

JimJ, on 20 January 2010 - 06:47 PM, said:

It certainly affects crossover design, but I'm not really sure I'm following your logic.

English is poor.....but I think the point he was getting at was that since the speaker's inductance swamps the cable's we should be concerned about the inductance of the speaker rather than the cable. The speaker's inductance is the primary enemy for high frequency rolloff.....

Not sure if that helps or not....this is a difficult conversation to follow

Spot on , it helps a lot that you can understand Aussie English and translate it into American English I find American logic hard to follow . I suppose that happens when we are situated 50000 km away . :eek5wavey:Alan

Impious was raised my Kangaroos

I do have the same name as a famous crocodile hunter

[Aaron Clinton]

Duran, on 21 January 2010 - 07:13 PM, said:

sparkamp, on 21 January 2010 - 05:29 PM, said:

Aaron, on 21 January 2010 - 12:18 PM, said:

A dingo ate his baby!

Aaron your adress is HAF HQ East what country do you reside , is it USA ? . I can not find it on my atlas . cheers Alan

We have HAF HQ west and east, west is in Arizona, US. east is in Maryland, US

Yes, thank you.