New Speaker Cables Now Shipping!

[drewface]

thanks dave, that was a fantastic response. i had no doubt in my mind that the ultralink cable had excellent build quality, especially with your support behind it through selling it on this site. i also didn't mean to imply i thought the cable's marketing was horrible to see on this site, as i figured it was theirs and there was nothing you could do about it with your agreement. i was merely interested in what you and other more knowledgeable posters here had to say on the marketing terms, as well as any insight on where the claims came from, which you covered more than i expected.

with that said, i think the cable is a fantastic looking product, and i am happy to see pre-terminated cable available on your site. knowing that you ran thorough tests with the cable and fully approve of the product makes me much more comfortable seeing it for sale through ascend. once i get settled in a more permanent location and know what length of cable i will need, i will be taking a look at buying some of the ultralink for my system.

once again, thank you to dave and the rest of ascend for your unparalleled customer service and your willingness to share your knowledge with the rest of us.

EDIT: about the contest: how about you make it a roll of that pre-terminated cable instead of a baseball cap (which i already won one from the baby contest)? also, for the time being, you should update the cable listing to fix that "geometery" typo (geometry)

[davef]

about the contest: how about you make it a roll of that pre-terminated cable instead of a baseball cap (which i already won one from the baby contest)? also, for the time being, you should update the cable listing to fix that "geometery" typo (geometry)

Doh! That is a much better idea... OK -- you guys create the marketing copy and in a few weeks when submissions stop, we will call a vote and determine the winner. Winner receives a free 12ft pair, which according to my paperwork, has a retail price of about $90.

Didn't notice that typo Thanks for pointing it out!

[drewface]

Didn't notice that typo Thanks for pointing it out!

no problem! thanks for changing the prize. now i'll actually have to participate...

[davef]

Ok--

in typical Ascend fashion...

here are some numbers to crunch and perhaps use in the new marketing copy.

Speaker cable 1 = 12 foot length of the Ultralink we are discussing

resistance at 1kHz .047
resistance at 120Hz = .038

at 1kHz

L=2.6 uH
C=1.5 mF

at 120Hz

L=2.8uH
C=1.5mF

Speaker cable 2 = 12 foot length of pre-wire similar to what we used to sell

resistance at 1kHz .317
resistance at 120Hz = .252


at 1kHz

L=19.8 uH
C=1.80 mF

at 120Hz

L=20uH
C=1.92uF


Notice that in cable 1, the inductance/capacitance ratio is much less than cable 2. This is really the only important aspect of speaker cable performance. In cable 2, inductance is much higher -- in a long cable run, this cable could sound less detailed than cable # 1. It could sound like it has more bass because there will be some degree of high frequency loss.

I often wonder why cable manufacturers don't publish these numbers

[drewface]

wow. those really are some pretty noticeable numbers. now i gotta go do research about what it all means!

also, as an aside, i just checked out ultralink's homepage and noticed they have bi-wire pre-terminated cable. have you had any experience with that product? i know bi-wiring is a huge headache to talk about and its advantages are often times negligible, but i thought it was interesting to see special cable like that (i had never come across it before).

[BradJudy]

Dave, did you happen to compare the specs of the bulk cable to the pre-made cables? I tend to buy bulk and cut and terminate myself.

I often wonder why cable manufacturers don't publish these numbers

Canare publishes some of these numbers for their speaker cable. Example of 4S11 - http://canare.com/index.cfm?objectid...06286428706042

They don't list L, but they have R and C in there, as well as frequency response graphs.

[BradJudy]

Here's a quick and simple re-working of the existing text:

Extended frequency response, increased dynamic range and greater clarity are achieved through:

• Extremely low capacitance and inductance
• Top quality 12 gauge oxygen free copper
• Advanced internal winding geometry

Physical features for a flexible, durable cable:

• High strand count wire
• Flexible, low-friction dielectric
• Double insulated

Excellent features:

• High quality gold plated banana plugs
• Molded Y boots
• Ultra-cool frisbee carrying case included

I replaced the directional labels with mention of the molded boots. I didn't know what to do with the carrying case, so I went for silly.

BTW: Dielectric was misspelled too.

[muzz]

Dielectric?

Are they referring to the individual coatings on each of the twisted pair wires to be the Dielectric?
I mean, it IS a sort, because of the reactance between the 2, but I deal with coaxial cable all the time(and used to work with air capacitors and such in RF amplifier building), and the term Dielectric is the spacing between the 2 conductors, be it FOAM, or Air.

Seems strange to call it double insulated(UNLESS there are TWO coatings of vinyl/poly/whatever, OVER the twisted pairs).

Are there TWO seperate coatings/jackets OVER the twisted pairs, or are they calling the individual jackets AND the outer coating?

I'm not sure that I'm going to be understood, LMK if there are any questions.

Thx

m

[muzz]

I am very pleased to make this announcement. Many people have been asking us for a high quality - affordable, pre-terminated speaker cable...

Here it is

Through an exclusive arrangement and continuing with our tradition of offering the highest sound quality at affordable prices, we are pleased to announce that we are now offering true audiophile-quality Ultralink speaker cable. Available in pre-terminated lengths or 14 gauge 4 conductor by the foot. This cable is made in Canada and after a thorough performance evaluation; we are using it exclusively throughout our engineering facilities and auditioning systems.

I personally find the cable to be of excellent quality!

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages...atrixspkr.html

Enjoy!

Dave, you said 14g in your post here, AND the announcement, but the PROMO/AD says 12g.
May wanna look into that.

BTW, Is it a typo, or are you meaning that you can order the pre-cut lengths of 12g, OR BUY 14g by the foot?

[CraigT]

Less filling...tastes great.
Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Purtyer than a new set of snow tires.
More fun than a barrel full of monkeys.