Solid core vs stranded speaker cables

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

On the even more extreme side, I have heard of copper plumbing used for speaker connections.

[@bigelile07]

I remember years ago when 10 or 15 audiophiles couldn't tell the difference in sound between coat hangers and Monster Cable in a "blind" listening test.

[@jeff666p]

I tried that 2 years ago. The coat hanger was a lot warmer sounding. Lost a lot of the top end hit harder in the low end

[@dank.6942]

I have not noticed a difference between solid core wires of different sizes, but going from stranded, twisted wire to solid core was a big improvement. Particularly the low end.

[@traildoggy]

You're wasting money unless you also buy a supply of artisanal collected and hand sorted virgin electrons. The regular electrons will 'remember' distortion from the previous systems they were used on, and may even carry the smell of coffee or overcooked toast if they were once used in a kitchen. No bueno on that one.

[@bigjay1970]

😅

[@screamnAbdab]

Thank you for the laugh!

[@bradstone2603]

Cables make a difference, you probably aren't listening critically to your system (which is fine) but if you go so far as to treat your room and listen carefully for hours and do a lot of AB comparisons, a difference can be heard.

[@paulb4661]

@@bradstone2603 ... and the fact that there's no study, in which subjects were able to correctly distinguish between two cables of similar gauge and length in a controlled environment is just a coincidence. You can be the first.

[@Bassotronics]

For all you people in the comments remember that they did a blind test where someone connected a $1 metal clothes hanger opened it and used it as wire and then tested a $20,000 cable to compare and they couldn’t tell the difference! Electrons are electrons!

[@DirkJensen]

This could be true, but I have heard that story many times without anyone ever producing any evidence that such an experiment really occurred. Also there is no information about the rest of the test system. If it was a Montgomery Ward boom box then I am less surprised than if it was a Mark Levinson system. Bottom line is you are spreading hearsay.

[@5starmaniac]

Must have been 98 years old great-grandpa's in that listening panel 🤣🤣

[@Bassotronics]

@@5starmaniac Lol

[@AV-MusicMan]

Maybe they used a poor piece of music as a source. Cables make a big difference (5%, but all the percents add up!) on high end systems. Say > 20k for the system. I had a pair of Sansui audiophile speaker cables (PS 107c) that I paid 189.00 in 1978 and when connected to a pair of extremely efficient speakers (EV interface D), you could hear the am radio in the speaker when you put your ear to the midrange. The equipment was off. I then disconnected the cables from the electronics and could still hear the radio! Right now I have an old set of synergistic research worth about 1.5k. I might try the hanger test, some old lamp cord, and 3 x UTP suggestion and report back.

[@standanshout7236]

He was perfectly clear. Cables can have multiple conductors that would be separated within the overall jacket. Each conductor can be made of solid core or stranded copper/other with varying gauges. He prefers the former as he stated. He also said a single solid core conductor is not preferable for the reasons he mentioned and his past experience.

[@tacofortgens3471]

My advice is listen to them, buy single core, and stranded copper and picm the one you like most

[@bradtowne2305]

So my cut up lamp cord from Aunt Ginny’s estate sale is not gonna cut it?

[@Ineedtotakeabreak]

It will be fine 😊

[@jameskanuth4274]

I'm old enough to remember when serious audiophiles used 14ga lamp cord as speaker wire

[@Plastpackad]

Where do you draw the line between a solid core and a strand (in mm). I mean, every strand has a solid core or is it the bundling of strands that is considered to be stranded wire?

[@anthonycyr9657]

Just working on a batch of coffee n paul was on, perfect..

[@LuxAudio389]

👍☕

[@Bassotronics]

Is Paul on TV? This is a KZbin where you have to search and click on the video intentionally to watch.

[@biketech60]

Stranded wire that Does work properly is when each individual strand of solid wire is insulated . When uninsulated , electrons will "jump" from wire to wire , smearing the sound .

[@paulb4661]

😂

[@DirkJensen]

Sound deniers need to get off their measurement high horse and do their own listening instead of regurgitating what others have told them. Cables are probably not the best place to start if you aren’t satisfied with the sound of your system, but they can make a difference if the rest of the system is revealing. It doesn’t matter if you make the cable yourself or buy a cable from a manufacturer, but the construction of a cable absolutely makes a difference. I work for one of the largest independent cable testing laboratories in the world, and I can assure you that the tens of thousands of different cable architectures being manufactured are not made to trick you into thinking there is a difference between them. There is a difference between them. All engineering is a series of compromises. Different cable architectures address solutions to different issues. The cost of a cable or the name printed on it don’t affect the sound at all, but the construction of the cable definitely does. Get together with your friends and have everyone bring a set of speaker cables. Rotate them through the system and see if people hear a difference. You probably won’t all agree on what sounds the “best,” but I bet you will agree that they sound different.

[@kirkaparty4143]

If I remember correctly from physics class... Electron atoms (electric current ) travel only on the surface of the cable , so you would need more surface area, and stranded provides much more surface area. Hope that is correct.

[@robjasper9853]

Travels outside the cable in a EM field

[@johnmcclure4983]

I recall him saying once that high frequencies benefit from stranded and low frequencies do better with solid core, so a hybrid cable is the best.

[@user-od9iz9cv1w]

I believe it is frequency dependent. As the frequency increases the skin depth decreases. So a thick wire will not carry higher frequencies as effectively. But you also want high current low impedance across all the frequencies so he suggests a variety of gauges. I think you can achieve all of it with litz. Lots of smaller wires gives overall low resistance and high current across all the frequencies.

[@paulb4661]

Nope, you do not. Far from it, in fact.

[@elminero49]

Rich people are easily fooled. Spending more money on cables is dumb. At audio frequencies the human ear can not hear the difference. By the way what is inside a high quality coaxial cable used for radio frequencies?: A sold wire. ....duh

[@adrianadrianp5305]

I must admit I've found experimentation is key and like copper only or silver only or tinned copper al stranded. I have used Kimber 8-TC and others but found them a little lean in the midband. I think its more about the whole system from power amp to driver

[@michaelwozniak8860]

Hey Paul, we need a re-do.

[@Paulmcgowanpsaudio]

Why is that?

[@johnmcclure4983]

So could one use Romex for speaker cable?

[@Artemis_Prix]

Yes, but only to satisfy one part of what Paul described. To be complete, you would want to have it combined with a different gauge Romex as well. In other words, use one thick (12, 10, or 8 gauge) and one thin Romex (20, 18, or 16 gauge) per terminal. You could do the same with traditional braided speaker wire as well. Crutchfield actually has some nice copper wire you can buy in bulk, combine the two different strands, and end them with some nice banana plug terminals, and you'll be all set.

[@Jorge-Fernandez-Lopez]

What kind of cables are inside PS Audio speakers or amplifiers? Multi-solid core (another stranded kind) or stranded? Which dielectric material has been used ?

[@danieljones8587]

gracias a mamá por cocinar y a papá por los gritos! 😮

[@spacemissing]

I'm surprised he didn't say that if you use stranded wire the two conductors should be twisted in opposite directions. I agree with Paul on a lot of points, but not in connection with cables.

[@shipsahoy1793]

The purest mentality with regards to speaker cables is completely ludicrous. Any sonic difference that can be measured between say 10 feet of Kimber 8TC and 12 awg of a good stranded copper speaker wire is so insignificant that the hundreds if dollars difference in cost cannot be justified with any practicality, especially if the system doesn't cost as much or more than a car or with old ears. All that expense doesn't do anything below 10kHz, and very little at 15 kHz. By the time you can afford that stuff, you're old enough that you can't hear it, and any talk or claims about it are purely technical, and so imagined by the older listener. Proponents of this nonsense try to throw in other variables to justify their claims, but scientifically, it doesn't actually make any technical sense, unless you believe in the junk science, which is rather common these days.😂 🤔Anything practically insignificant, shouldn't be considered to be so damn significant .. another problem of our times, my friends.🤯😵‍💫

[@magicphred]

I'm afraid he may have had a stroke...that made ZERO sense to me!

[@shipsahoy1793]

@@magicphred Yep, the funniest part was when he said you have to take solid wires and parallel them together lol

[@KGRICK1]

@@shipsahoy1793 yes, such marketing is used in every consumer good, finding the highest quality that is based on measurable, quantifiable, value is the key.

[@SimonLloydGuitar]

i was surprised he didnt start promoting his own interconnects.

[@ivanterekhov5369]

OCC is Ohno continuous casting method of making individual conductors.

[@whome8192]

Stranded is bad, but multiple solid core is good? Isn’t multiple solid core the definition of stranded? Or are you talking about some weird geometry. It’s weird because parallel wires for RF is the most efficient transmission line all the way up into the 10’s MHZ so why would parallel wires be bad at a near 20khz? I suspect weird cables kill bass or prevents noise from being captured and amplified in the amp by the negative feedback circuits of some amps.

[@SpideyAdam]

Try Tributaries Cable And Clarus. They Are Hand Made In Florida. Tributaries Is Reasonably Priced.

[@johnvillano3024]

Absolutely. Love Trib and Clarus cables. No snake oil. Joe bases all his cables on test with really test equipment. Great build quality and look and sound even better. Best cable for the money

[@nicktube3904]

Yes several different gauges is better, but I still prefer servers gauges of litze wire! To me litze sounds more natural. But for bass solid core might be better..

[@VintageGearMan]

For fun has anyone ever tried coaxial cable being shielded and all? I am guessing the resistance would be way to high.

[@robertwang7825]

I just want to know Cardas wires are ok. They seem to know what they r doing and other manufacturers buy their copper wires.

[@Audiogeek-kf2ez]

This actually makes sense, but this is more about mfg process and what ga of wire.

[@markward4532]

Also, take into account the synergy the cable brings. It depends on how you want to tune the sound in your system. I use naim nac a5 cable. I’ve used cables with silver and they were too bright and enhanced sibilants.

[@anthonycyr9657]

Would solid core have less resistance paul?

[@tristanjones7735]

Resistance will go down when cross sectional area of the wire goes up. Stranded wire has less cross sectional area compared to solid core wire in the same gauge size because of all the small gaps in the wire fill. So stranded wire will always have a slightly higher resistance compared to solid core for the same wire gauge. Where things start to get tricky is when you talk about the skinning effect. Low frequencies use the entire wire for conduction. However, high frequency AC will travel close to the surface of the wire. This phenomena is known as the skin effect. The more wire surface area you have in a given cross section, the less resistance you will have for high frequency. So the best thing to do is to have one large conductor wire to minimize resistance for low frequency and another few conductors in parallel to minimize high frequency resistance.

[@ian-nz-2000]

​@@tristanjones7735the skin effect isn't relevant at audio frequencies.

[@endrizo]

​@@tristanjones7735for low of for high freq?? you contradict youself.. thanks pal.

[@sokrebis]

​@@ian-nz-2000depends how good your hearing is.

[@SparkyTom1]

Why are comments being deleted here? Why isn't anyone using an audio spectrum analyzer to back the claims being made in the video on solid versus stranded wire? Isn't it fair to have actual evidence to back any claim, and isn't the burden off proof upon the person making the claim?

[@DirkJensen]

This isn’t a court of law. He is just answering a letter someone sent him with his opinion.

[@Paulmcgowanpsaudio]

When the comments are mean-spirited or simply dismissive, I do my best to delete them. They are of no value to anyone. If someone disagrees that's just fine. As far as measured results versus sonic evaluation, that's been a hot debate for years. It's easy to see differences on even a scope when you send an impulse terminated properly between an amp and an inductive load (like a speaker). That's not the issue. The issues is what are you seeing and how does that relate to what we're hearing? In all the years I have done this there's never been a clear correlation I can see. Better to trust your ears.

[@SparkyTom1]

@@Paulmcgowanpsaudio ( edited to be less toxic and less disrespectful) Then can you put solid versus stranded wire on the scope/spectrum analyzer and show us? As mentioned in my deleted comment, stranded Litz wire is used in a variety of industries at higher frequencies due to the superior performance. The claim was about higher frequency response.

[@SparkyTom1]

@@DirkJensen A claim was made, claims need to be backed with evidence, and the burden of proof is upon the person making the claim.

[@SparkyTom1]

@@Paulmcgowanpsaudio Also Paul, I don't mean to be disrespectful to you and I do apologize for coming off that way. I should be more diplomatic. Could you show the difference in a video in stranded versus solid? In addition, with the way hearing loos works would anyone over 40 be able to tell the highest frequency response difference?

[@uzyh7622]

Hi Paul. Will a normal electrical cable made of copper be good for a subwoofer and midbass that plays up to 250Hz?

[@jayem1826]

Anyone have a comment on Nordost speaker cables?

[@KGRICK1]

i call bullshit, solid copper wire is what makes up stranded wire, just many smaller gauges of solid wire wrapped in insulation, stranded wire is more flexable and less prone to work hardening , but in my experience trying 14ga romex all the way through some really expensive stranded i've never been able to hear the difference on really highly resolving equipment.

[@ramonchiritoiu6131]

You have to consider wave guide 😊 AF goes beyond hundred GHz!!!😅 You have to know that electrons are on the surface of conductive wire, so it matters only the conductivity of that surface and the size of it related with cross section of a cable.

[@bobr9605]

Ok I am being silly and serious at the same time. but help me out captain obvious, isn't stranded wire the same thing as solid wire braided together? (and that was the suggestion as I understood it) I'm confused.

[@dank.6942]

Stranded wire, twisted is like 30-40 pieces of copper, with nothing between them whereas solid core is only two or four pieces of copper total, which are individually as thick as the stranded wire when it's all together, and they're typically insulated from each other in the main sheath.

[@solarfox024]

Here, We learning more than on some Diy forum... 😊

[@sirsmarty274]

Solid core everything is the only thing I have in my system, solid core is the king of all cables after decades of research, trial and error. Years of wasted time and money only to come to the conclusion that 10 awg single core oxygen free cable is the best in any configuration. The differences are night and day. Unbelievable difference. Good luck.

[@RectifiedMetals]

I’m confused, you don’t like stranded, but multiple solid core? Braided isn’t good but Kimber is? Dude, I get it. You like Audioquest, and Kimber, because they give you their top tier cable for demos. Your demos have lacked because you decided to use that free cable.

[@doylewayne3940]

Thanks Paul, i was worried about my Kimber 8TC for a moment. Was the 8TC a stranded wire or a multiple solid core wire 🤔,

[@PetraKann]

How do electrons or electricity travel through a copper or metal conductor/wire? A complicated question: 1. “There's something called “skin effect.” In smaller wires, household wiring, electricity travels through most of the wire. It's electron transfer. In really big wires, most of the current passes in the outer part of the wire. Never on the outside of the wire.” 2. “Thus the current flow in a wire is concentrated on the surface of the wire, as the current in the middle is repelled more than any other currents. Normally the effect is negligle, but design of high current wires is tricky. The electricity or current travels in the outer surface.” 3. “Speakers are inherently AC (alternating current) devices. While they function on AC signals to produce sound, the electrical current they receive from power sources, including batteries or amplifiers, can be either AC or DC.” 4. “The electrons in an AC circuit don't really move along with the current flow. Instead, they sort of sit and wiggle back and forth. They move one direction for 1/60th of a second, and then turn around and go the other direction for 1/60th of a second (if the frequency is 60 Hz). The net effect is that they don't really go anywhere.” 5. “A twisted pair of conductors provides Common Mode Noise Reduction (CMNR) configuration for excellent noise rejection. This configuration is preferred for lower powered tube/valve amps where high current flow is not an issue. Simple and elegant solution for valve amps and/or speakers with single full-range drivers.” Personally I would focus on expanding my Audio/music Library than worrying about Single Twisted-pair Solid core Teflon/Silver-plated Speaker Cables at: $128.50 for a 2.5m pair……. That’s just me though

[@adrianadrianp5305]

This is very interesting about how current flows, no wonder it's difficult to predict how things really operate. Fluid dynamics anyone ? kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHK7p2dvmamEgNk

[@alferro3149]

The truth is always in the middle. Bad cables (even expensive ones) can really ruin the sound.

[@paulb4661]

Silver plated stranded copper in PTFE is surprisingly common and quite affordable, unless you buy it per metre from an audiophile oriented proprietor. It has by far the greatest chemical and heat resistance with the dielectric constant close to that of air. It has one huge advantage in wiring of drivers and components- it solders beautifully and the jacket does not contaminate the joint, as is the case with PVC and PE.

[@alferro3149]

I use Naim Nac A5, which is kind of a mix of both worlds. 4mm2, made from 19 thick strands of 0.51mm diameter copper. Wow! I couldn't believe the difference compared to the similarly priced Audioquest rocket22. Naim don't push the marketing on this cables, but they are proper hiden gems.

[@mike_lowndes]

Not that hidden a crapton of us in the UK use them by default. They are neither ‘stranded’ as in 50+ fine strands nor single core but somewhere in between - multi core. They replaced more expensive Audioquest cable in my system years ago and to me they are ‘end game’ because some rabbit holes aren’t worth it.

[@edd2771]

Paul’s a smart guy. I can’t believe he continually walks into this minefield regarding cables. Common sense tells each one of us that two cables of equal total gauge, length, and of the same material (but where one has varying vs the same gauge sizes comprising its construction) cannot be heard as different in a blind compare over multiple trials, where all else in the set up is equal. It’s just not possible and we all know it. Can a difference be measured? Sure? Does that matter if you can’t hear it? No. If you AB them in a non blind fashion after spending significant $ on the exotic version and telling your friends about it are you convinced you hear it? Absolutely-freakin-lutely. The placebo effect is real. Confirmation bias exists. Both are the bane of this hobby.

[@fakeklg]

🙄

[@Hare_deLune]

Yeah, it just goes on and on. I've been reading this kind of "stuff", to put it nicely, for decades. I don't know from "blind tests". I don't know from cable science, or the lack thereof. I don't know you, and I don't know what you've experienced in your lifetime. I most certainly would not presume to tell you what you've experienced, or not experienced. That is a fool's errand. What I 'can' tell you is an experience that I had early on in my audiophile journey. This was before I ever heard about 'blind tests' and 'placebo effects' and 'psycho-acoustics' and 'the illusion of cables brought on by money spent'. I had purchased a modest stereo system, and was hoping to improve the sound with some new interconnect cables. I read no reviews or advertizing of these cables. They were just what happened to be on sale. The price I paid for them was fairly well under a hundred dollars. When I took them home, I had no great expectations. For me, it was more or less an experiment. I wasn't sure if they would work or not, and if so, by how much the sound would improve. They were intended to replace the out-of-the-box cables I had received from the factory. I had no fancy graphs or pie charts to tell me what the cables did or didn't sound like beforehand. I had to play some music and use my ears to judge. Blasphemous, I know! Well, my ears told me that the music I was listening to now suddenly sounded WAY better! Like I had bought a whole new stereo system! Now, it could be that my ears were liars, in which case I'd better be EXTRA careful when crossing the street. However, like a naive child, I trusted my ears, and have enjoyed my music more ever since. Good thing, too. If I had been one of those people who doubted my own senses and thought cables were just a bunch of hooey, I wouldn't be enjoying music more, and would just be miserable.

[@edd2771]

@@fakeklg care to elaborate?

[@edd2771]

@@Hare_deLune wow. Talk about “going on and on…”.

[@fakeklg]

@@edd2771 no, but yea: 🙄 is the action or gesture of turning the eyes upward as an expression of annoyance, exasperation, disbelief, etc. : the rolling of the eyes in response to a KZbin comment that expresses unprompted explanations of supposed expert opinions.

[@Expedition18]

Is skin effect a factor for solid core?

[@Evil_Peter]

No, skin effect won't be relevant at audio frequencies.

[@slerched]

All that really matters is resistance. Blue Jeans Cable for the win.

[@DirkJensen]

Yes Blue Jeans has some nice cables, but I think they might tell you that capacitance and inductance also matter.

[@sirsmarty274]

Clarification, OCC cable is the purest copper on the planet.

[@PetraKann]

There are no pure coppers

[@davefreeh2892]

Cables might make a psychological difference to a discerning audiophile with a very high end systems. But very high end should sound great no matter the cables. Use cables commensurate with the system. I use Linn K20. Linn makes high end audio and yet their cables, by audiophiles standards, are nothing special and very affordable.

[@davefreeh2892]

And another thing, why don’t cables makers publish specifications for their their products; resistance or impedance, etc., which might very well make a difference to your amp and speakers. I once contacted Audioquest and asked for specs. Their answer was, we can’t provide that”.

[@gotham61]

PCOCC. Pure Copper Ohno Continuous Casting.

[@mrpositronia]

I use both, well power cable versions anyway, but i use them as speaker cable. Stranded gives better highs and solid core gives better lows, so i just combine them and it works.

[@elminero49]

Rich people including Paul are easily fooled. Spending more money on cables is dumb. At audio frequencies the human ear can not hear the difference. By the way what is inside a high quality coaxial cable used for radio frequencies?: A single sold wire. ....duh. A sensitive spectrum analyzer would maybe show some difference at audio frequencies. You could cut the ends off an old extension cord and use it to hook up your speakers and it would work the same as if you bought the most expensive speaker cable.

[@DirkJensen]

It is more likely that someone who is uneducated is easily fooled instead of someone who is rich or poor. You are fortunate that you are happy with a repurposed extension cord for speaker cables. I’m guessing you have not compared a well built cable (I did not say expensive) to an extension cord.

[@elminero49]

@@DirkJensen Educated people are also easily fooled. 81% of Americans are "Covid Vaccinated" with a substance that doesn't prevent COVID and doesn't stop the transmission of COVID. 81% of Americans are fools. Even when told to "Follow the Science", most did not follow science.

[@esthernastia]

So many naysayer experts (audio gurus) here contesting /challenging that cables make no difference. If you don't hear a difference, good for you as you'll avoid being dragged into the rabbit hole. Any Home Depot bell wires should suffice, no ??

[@loganofnorth880]

Thanks!!!

[@magicphred]

WHAT????? This video makes no sense - you contradicted yourself

[@tacofortgens3471]

Its a little vague, its either or.. even audioquest make single core OR stranded copper. Tyere is no and and

[@mike_lowndes]

I don’t think he articulated it very well but essentially he’s advocating multicore (e.g. Naim cables) - not massively stranded thin wire. The interesting nuance for me that he was recommending multicore with different wire diameters. Not sure if many manufacturers do that, maybe some ‘high end’ ones?

[@pablovilchez7501]

He said different diameter solid gauge in parallel.

[@mike_lowndes]

@@pablovilchez7501 exactly - what I’d define as multicore

[@johnmcclure4983]

How so?

[@bloodindark]

hello to you too!

[@waxmonkeys3841]

From an electrical engineering perspective you should get better performance from a high count stranded cable, 300+ strands. Make sure it's pure copper and the largest gauge suitable for your system. Aside from that you will not be able to tell a difference between a multi-thousand dollar cable and a $1 coat hanger. In fact a double blind test was done in which there was actually a slight preference but still not enough to be conclusive for the coat hanger.

[@RickMahoney2013]

I use 8 gauge hose wire.

[@SinusPrimus]

😎👍

[@michaelwright1602]

I use Mogami W3082 coaxial cable, the speakers sing!

[@tobeforgottenisworsethande8995]

You know some stuff

[@MangoZen]

Confused

[@googoo-gjoob]

CARDAS

[@davewin1792]

Kimber! Well made and priced reasonably.

[@tacofortgens3471]

1600 for sub entry level 🤦‍♂️

[@paulroscelli2545]

Anti cable

[@connorduke4619]

Tellurium Q - the masters of analogue cables, especially their Black II series.

[@tacofortgens3471]

Morrow Aidio males excellent cables as well for a feaction of thwnprices other companies charge

[@Hot_Cold_Blue]

Don’t buy the BS Twin core solid copper bell wire sounds fine.

[@rudolfglaser9664]

The - I'll call it - voodoo component is also important with many cables! Only with the right faith can you immediately hear the essential differences. Before that, however, you hear - and that 100% - your wallet.

[@endrizo]

go to your town hardware store o ferreteria and buy standard electric single copper cable not twin. 4 or 6 mm quite thick some banana plugs if you want and build your own. better than 600 buck brand cables. guaranteed. fuck marketing, fancy exotic materials and good old snake oil. trust me.

[@alferro3149]

I find it funny when people try to explain why they believe cables make no difference. I believe to my ears🐭 After many years of passionate listening and music enjoyment i can confidently say that if you don't admit cables influence sound, you didn't even try 🙉

[@xaviermontalban717]

So lets setup a blind test and do a livestream

[@endrizo]

yes. absolutely.. the cables i built myself from standard electric cables from my local hardware store 6mm sounds the very same or better than fancy $$ cables. do that and see.

[@AV-MusicMan]

In order to hear the small difference (5%), You need equipment that is worthy of the difference. I suggest system starting at 20k, then ensure your source music material is up to spec in terms of the original master, mixing engineers, proper microphones and placement. Preferably a live version of a recording in a studio instead of 16 - 24 layers. That makes a difference of easily 10 - 20 %. Also, cable from dac to amp should be upgraded for another 5% difference. Now you have a 30 % difference. Also, you get another 2 - 3 percent by placing speakers in reverse phase. I know it sounds crazy, but reversing the + to negative on both speakers provides better sound stage. 2-3% I estimate.

[@paulb4661]

@@AV-MusicMan Oh Dear, what do you recommend then in terms of polarity reversal for speakers with the tweeter, or the midrange already in reversed polarity? What about inverting amplifiers? Should they be inverted or left alone, because they're already inverting? Is there an incremental improvement to be had from every reversal, as is the case in multi-stage amplifiers, or is it not additive?

[@marcse7en]

I've been a Hi-Fi enthusiast for 45 years, so what do I know? ... In almost half-a-century, I've NEVER used solid core speaker cable (does it even exist?), I've only ever used stranded. Inflexible solid core cable belongs inside a wall, or under floorboards. You may as well wire up your speakers with iron bars! 👎🤣

[@NoEgg4u]

For those who can afford it... ...go with silver cables. They are more revealing, and they just sound better. But silver is expensive.

[@AV-MusicMan]

I agree, silver can nicely augment a system. I have used silver (Onda) and they did add some sparkle.

[@DAT240Z72]

Solid Core: * Increased risk of conductor fracture. * Decreased Flexibility Stranded: * More Flexible * Decreased risk of conductor fracture. Absolutely ZERO different in Audio quality when comparing Gauge and Impedance rating. Everything else is complete BULL SHIT!

[@gogo-fk1lu]

Eh, those cables... there are differences, but minor ones. It all depends on whether you're willing to pay hundreds of dollars more for...maybe five percent better sound.

[@KarlHamilton]

Eh?

[@sidesup8286]

Cables carry the signal from one component to another, or to the speakers. Hard to believe that some people think they aren't that important. Even the best cables lose some sound quality. The best you can do is limit the damage by using really good cables. It might be a case of having to buy really expensive cables to hear a good deal of improvement. If really good coffee started at $600, almost no one would believe there is a better cup of coffee; when something is beyond their budget. Trying to find improvements among cheap cables, besides not being scientific, is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. I do think that a great cable could be made for not a whole lot of money. Most cheap cables seem to be doing a decent job. It takes hearing a great cable to hear their failings. OCC is good cable usually. OFC can often sound dry or lacking tone colors.