Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost |
First of all, the thickness of a wire has nothing to do with sound quality. The thin wire inside your speaker may very well sound better than your garden hose speaker cable.
Secondly, you can re-wire inside your speaker, I know many who have. Some have even taken the crossover outside the speaker cabinet and modified it with better caps, etc.
Lastly, speaker cables do make a difference, as do interconnects and power cords. Most cannot understand the logic, but hearing is believing.
Cheers,
John |
The problem is the logic of it though.
I'm not saying there is no difference between cables, but can't anyone explain why? You'd think the millions of $ spent on cables would lead to a scientific explanation, because once the signal reaches the amp or speaker, etc, its a tiny little solid steel wire or a circuit board.
Especially for a speaker: how can it make a difference when in the end it becomes a strand of hair in thickness wrapped around a magnet?
Is it possible that there is no scientific explanation because this is simply a farce and people are spending $10,000 on a meter of cable that a bunch of cat5 wired together would equal?
In the end, I am trying to decide whether to rewire my speakers, but to take all this time and investment in time and money and have it be a waste of energy would suck, I want to know why this would make a difference considering that in the end its a tiny little thin wire. |
The description of the internals of your speaker does not fit all. Many use quality binding posts, soldered internal connections, etc... Maybe it's time for some upgrading.
As for the thickness of voice coil wires...try using that wire from your amp to your speaker terminals or vice versa, replace the voice coil wire with the heavy gauge wire that you're using from your amp to the binding posts...let me know how that works out for you. |
A lot of people use the word theory for their explanation.A
dealer that sold high end audio gear was trying to sell me
large speaker,and power cords that were short and had very
large gauge wire.He told me that the signal was restricted by
passing through a small connection.He said I would be way
better off using a 1 meter 1/2" plus power cord.He said it
works that way in "theory".When I asked him how much I was
loosing since it all was squeezing through the amps little
fuse,he was silent.No theoretical explanation there.Don't
think about the small thin short connections,and enjoy your music. |
This is one of many audio questions that cannot be answered, sorry. As with other questions relating to personal tastes, such as favorite wine, scotch, favorite golf clubs, favorite car, etc. Listening to music is an emotional experience, not a logical one. No computer or calculator will answer your question. If it could, you could just look it up in the archives.
Your only choice is to continue beating your head against the wall, or go on with your life. Is it possible the whole cable thing is a farce? Certainly it's possible. Cables are no more immune from public scrutiny than are cars, movies, vacation resorts, politicians, etc. None of the above have any definitive answers. Whether any of the above are right or wrong is all in the eye (ear) of the beer holder.
Enjoy the music.
Cheers,
John |
While its not as simple as a yes or no thing, Hifitime hit upon it, its just a salesman's theory and nobody seems able to explain how all the cable as thick as your wrist gets bottled thru a tiny wire.
A performant cable shouldn't create any more than 5% of the resistance of the speaker itself.
A very thick speaker cable will create more resistance than a very thin cable, but once you get past about 14 gauge, you need a massive amount of energy moving thru the wire to have it generate enough resistance to make any difference at that gauge.
The longer the cable, the more resistance that gets built up, so the longer the span, the thicker the cable.
In almost all normal scenarios, science says that a 12 or 14 gauge cable is more than sufficient. Wouldn't this explain why the wire inside of speakers and amps is thin and still performant?
So what is the point of all this mega cable? Especially the ones that cost uber money for like 1 meter... a span that small would be fine at 18 gauge. |
There is more to cable construction than just the gauge of the conductor. Some use multi-stand very small conductors, some are larger gauge solid core conductors. Not all conductors are copper, some are silver, gold, platinum, palladium or carbon. Some conductors are a mixture of these materials. Some conductors use higher purity metals, for example: 99.9999% copper vs. 99.99% copper.
Then you have the dielectric, where some cables use helium or vacuum. Some cables even have networks built into them. Just like any other commodity, you are not simply paying for building materials either, you are paying for R&D, Advertising, Sales and Distribution.
I'm not trying to justify the cost of cables, I'm just saying there is more to a cable than the gauge of it's conductor. You are certainly entitled to feel any way you want about it. In the USA, the extreme seems to be the norm.
Cheers,
John |
John,
I'm aware of the different variations out there, and I agree some of the more exotic materials justify the price of the cables, what I question though is how they can really make any difference if within 1 cm of the termination of the $$ cable is a basic wire. Its illogical to me that you can go from 2 extremes of wiring and have it work.
Again, I am not saying these cables are a ripoff on their own, but how much good can they do with a simple wire at the ends of the termination?
As far as the purity of the copper goes, all the .00999% gets you is an incredibly insignificant reduction in resistance. When they eliminate the oxygen they are also eliminating iron and traces of other metals which have more resistive properties.
I doubt my thoughts are extreme, but in the USA you are entitled to label me any way you wish. I'm just a guy trying to make sense of something that doesn't. |
I'm just a guy trying to make sense of something that doesn't.
Idfnl Good luck with that......let me know how you make out. |
The European Union set up a multipartite committee to solve a serious problem with international implications. The members wrangled for hours, trying out different tactics and approaches. Eventually the English member proposed a solution which everyone found quite practical and all agreed that this would be their recommendation. But at the last moment the French participant stood up and said, "This is all very well in practice--but how will it work in theory?" |
Each of the "(thin) wires / spades / metals" you describe has electrical characteristics introduced into the circuit you describe. As you doubtless know, these affect the electrical energy reaching the speaker driver which produces sounds our ears understand...:)
By changing some of the components in the circuit you describe, you (may) change the characteristics of the electrical signal (energy) reaching the driver -- thereby altering the sonic result...
Regards |
Gregm,
Yes, thats exactly my point. When you pass thru these smaller wires and spades, dont you wreck the quality of the signal thru the large cables? |
