Speaker cable suggestions (cheap please)

[BlueMax]

Issac Sibson's speaker cable with silver-plated copper wire with teflon dielectric seems a good project.

I haven't tried platting 4 cables only 3; but should be possible I suppose.

 

[I-S]

Yes, braiding 4 wires is possible, but it requires more concentration than three to keep the order correct. Yes, it looks a bit thin, but the wire is rated for 1000V, 11A (15A for the thicker version), and it's heftier than chord rumour.

It's not the greatest cable ever but it does the job and for the money it's pretty darn good.

 

[Lt Cdr Data]

I have just ordered some van damme 2.5 mil from craplins, so will keep you posted, I am not now too keen on the instrument cable for i/c's
its nice to use, but some other stuff sounds better, and I am tempted with that silver plate teflon hi-tech stuff in farnell, too.

try solid twin and earth, its really cheap, nothing to lose...one for me to do, too.

 

[sideshowbob]

When I'm not using the ATCs, which don't require speaker cable, I generally use this:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=040512214826685&moduleno=17717

Does the job. If you've got too much bass, it's probably positioning, however, as Penance suggested. What are your speakers? Do they have a rear port? Like you, I have to have the speakers relatively close to the wall, nothing rear-ported has ever sounded any good in this room as a result.

-- Ian

 

[PBirkett]

Sideshowbob,

The speakers are Mission M51's and are rear ported, and (speculation) probably designed for big bass anyway. The speakers are approximately 40-50cm away from the back wall (as far out as they can realistically go) and the left speaker is again about 50 cm from the side wall.

To think I bought these speakers because I thought they would be less bassy than the Wharfedales I had before, and they look small and didnt sound too bad in the shop (on Mission stands ina big room), but even though they look small and have relatively small drivers, they are deep, and have long throw drivers. Ultimate extension aint too great, but what bass it does have comes out VERY forcefully sometimes.

 

[I-S]

I run mine about 40cm from the wall behind, and the end of the transmission line is on the back (you can see it above the binding posts in the pic above). I used to have them further away when I was running the tara and omiga speaker cables. It's a question of tuning for room effects and the cables in use. I found that room layout had more impact that speaker cable changes.

 

[zanash]

Ok well you didn't tell me how much .....so how long do you need them?

I've a diy design you may be intrested in .......Pure[4n] silver four cores of solid core silver loosly plaited, the ground uses 1mm, and the positive 0.5mm.
Max single run of around 3m longer if you don't mind a clear heat shrink sheath. The ptfe sleeve only comes in set lengths. Cost should work out arround £25/m.

I've been running this for the best part of six months now, replaced Ubyte -2 , cat5 [ffrc] , shark solid silver, Qed aniversery, Missing links slingshot. It's far ahead of these cables in clarity and imagery as to be unbelivable. Simply the speakers have disappeared , bass is fast and accurate though not as overblown as in copper cables.

If your intrested give me a email.

 

[BlueMax]

You could try my more recent DIY effort.

It uses 4 pieces (per channel) of silver-plated copper wire with teflon dielectric, which is basically the same constituents as Chord Rumour 4 (£20/m). I've braided them in a kimber-style weave (which is annoying to do, but you don't have to sort the ends like FFRC. You don't HAVE to weave it though... wire twisting pliers could be used to twist the whole lot together). Total cost £3.20/m, although you have to buy the wire in 25m lots (which would make 6.25m of cable, and would only give you one colour... best to use two). Sound... not harsh as you might expect of silver. Bright... yes, the balance is to the mid and high frequencies. Bass is reasonable. Not as much nor as punchy as the Tara RSC, but the overall balance fits in with my room/system better.

Farnell 322-2251 (black, 25m)
Farnell 322-2263 (red, 25m)
£19.31 per 25m reel.

Like I said, the balance favours the mid and treble, so in that sense it is bright. Harshness isn't really a problem with it in my system, but that will be system dependant.

I've just been looking on farnell, and they actually offer a variety of gauges. There's a thicker version at slightly lower voltage (600V vs 1000V), which is barely more expensive at £20.55 per 25m reel:
Black FEC 322-1830
Red FEC 322-1842

I am thinking of giving this design by Isaac a go. Found these specs at Farnell:
Farnell 322-2251 and 322-2263, 20 AWG, 11 Amp
Farnell FEC 322-1830 and 322-1842, 18AWG, 15 Amp

which is much less than for:-
Chord Rumour 2 and 4, 16AWG
Odyssey 2 and 4, 12AWG

I wonder if bass response could be improved by using 4 off Farnell 15 Amp cables per channel!
Same as Issacs pic but 2 sets. One set of 4 cables per channel.

 

[I-S]

I've used chord rumour in the past, and I can assure you that even the smaller of these wires from farnell is heftier. Perhaps you could improve on it in this way, feel free to experiment. I didn't have enough wire for that.