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Thread: High strand speaker cable

  1. #1
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    Dec 2013
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    Default High strand speaker cable

    A lot of people, and even some speaker cable companies, recommend high strand speaker cable. The idea being that high strand cable has more surface area than low strand or solid core and that this reduces resistance.

    From what I gather, they are referring to "skin effect" which causes signals to travel near the surface of the wire. Therefore, more surface area = better signal. There's a couple articles, however, that say that this really only has significance at very high frequencies such as 100khz and above. And that from 20hz to 20khz skin effect doesn't really matter.

    Any thoughts? Would love to hear from any enginerds out there. Maybe Dave, if you aren't too busy?

  2. #2
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    Apr 2020
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    Default Re: High strand speaker cable

    i am not an engineer degree on paper but electronic Technical service (associates degree) for a long time and there is merit to the high stranded concept vs solid with high grade copper, as to it making a noticeable difference debate,? that will still go on.
    As a youngster ,Mom was missing lamp cords and extension cords from the box marked "Christmas" that got repurposed for that same reason(speaker wire). they were the cheapest method of getting high stranded copper wire at the time, sorry mom! LOL (I knew that and used it then)
    Personally, one Christmas my wife and i upgraded all our signal and speaker wire to Monster brand for about $500.00 ish plus. Did we actually hear a difference, YES we both did immediately YMMV?
    Recently we bought a new 4k UHD tv and installed a line conditioner, plugged the equipment into their proper spots for proper grounding and YES it too made a visual difference , so i can assume an audio also.
    Some may say i am full of it but c'est la vie aka...that's life..

    I heard both sides and i vote yes
    Last edited by audiohead; 06-11-2020 at 03:41 AM. Reason: spelling

  3. #3
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    Default Re: High strand speaker cable

    I um, I post over at Audioholics a lot and if there's one thing that group hates it's cable woo woo.

    I say if you wanna try it and you can find some high strand cable cheaply enough there's no harm. I would not spend more for it tho. I don't think there's a difference and don't buy into cable magic.

  4. #4
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    Apr 2020
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    Default Re: High strand speaker cable

    LOL, I knew this was a loaded question.
    I too would like to hear input from the boss, Dave...? after all, the speaker connectors he uses is a bit more than a wire hanging out the back. He could save so much cost and eliminate the gold too!.
    HDMI and Ethernet cables have speed ratings, don't they? I sure would like to know what they do to make them "faster". I have a few guesses like the number of strands and % of copper.
    I also know there is inductance and capacitance in wire strands. Since I am in the Technical field , there should be a technical answer to this also.
    Surely by now there is a better answer than , I spent alot of money on wires ,so i am going to say yes or no way i am spending that kind of money on wires!?

  5. #5
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    Default Re: High strand speaker cable


  6. #6
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    Default Re: High strand speaker cable



    There are plenty more where that came from! lol

  7. #7
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    Default Re: High strand speaker cable


  8. #8
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    Default Re: High strand speaker cable

    Quote Originally Posted by audiohead View Post
    LOL, I knew this was a loaded question.
    I too would like to hear input from the boss, Dave...? after all, the speaker connectors he uses is a bit more than a wire hanging out the back. He could save so much cost and eliminate the gold too!.
    HDMI and Ethernet cables have speed ratings, don't they? I sure would like to know what they do to make them "faster". I have a few guesses like the number of strands and % of copper.
    I also know there is inductance and capacitance in wire strands. Since I am in the Technical field , there should be a technical answer to this also.
    Surely by now there is a better answer than , I spent alot of money on wires ,so i am going to say yes or no way i am spending that kind of money on wires!?
    Well don't forget about all the issues with strand jumping electrons! If you're not using solid core you'll have electrons flying all over the place, degrading the signal!

    Yes, strand jumping is a thing with cable folks...

  9. #9
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    Apr 2020
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    Default Re: High strand speaker cable

    LOL, that's awesome! I understand it all. I'm going to head over to AH and check them out. I was at AVS for a bit getting a touchy feel and screw that! too much advertisement and i was lost.
    Paid for site and opinions.

    "to me", it sounds like using a heavier AKA 10awg wire is solving the problem of RLC in the audio range.

    I also can conclude by me jumping to Monster wire, I was using junk cable for speaker wires, AKA 18gu lamp and extension chords.

    I love :What religion are you using" cryogenic,hanging them off the floor etc....I'm just a sarcasm guy LOL!

    wow, i see you posted 2 more... i just got through the first

  10. #10
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    Apr 2020
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    388

    Default Re: High strand speaker cable

    Quote Originally Posted by audiohead View Post
    LOL, that's awesome! I understand it all. I'm going to head over to AH and check them out. I was at AVS for a bit getting a touchy feel and screw that! too much advertisement and i was lost.
    Paid for site and opinions.

    "to me", it sounds like using a heavier AKA 10awg wire is solving the problem of RLC in the audio range.

    I also can conclude by me jumping to Monster wire, I was using junk cable for speaker wires, AKA 18gu lamp and extension chords.

    I love :What religion are you using" cryogenic,hanging them off the floor etc....I'm just a sarcasm guy LOL!

    wow, i see you posted 2 more... i just got through the first
    Yeah that first video started out pretty tongue in cheek, lol. Gene is an electrical engineer and has some of the best measurement gear for just about every measurable aspect there is when it comes to all things audio. The whole site was founded with an objective no-nonsense, scientific approach to audio.

    He has found some measurable differences between cables, but nothing that has any effect on what we hear. Well, with some exceptions where there was actually degredation with some of the more expensive ones!

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