On Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:08:37 -0700, Trevor Wilson wrote
(in article ):
"August Karlstrom" wrote in message
...
On 2010-10-17 03:17, Trevor Wilson wrote:
"August wrote in message
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_wire#Wire_gauge
**Like all such cliams, the Wiki article over-simplifies things. They
ignore
the very real effects of inductance, when using long cable runs and
speakers
which exhibit a falling impedance at HF (like ESLs). In those cases, the
inductive effects of cable can become quite significant.
To take my example again, let's say I need a pair of cables, each four
meters long. Is there a system in which a 2x1.5 mm2 (approx.15 AWG) OFC
wire would be insufficient?
**Without knowing the impedance curve (20Hz ~ 20kHz) of your speakers, I
cannot say. In all probability, yes, it would be OK.
Several people in this newsgroup believe that all wire sounds the same
provided it is of the "correct type". What I'm trying to find out here is
what the correct type is. I am not so interested in general claims that
cannot be used in practice to make decisions.
**There are three characteristics of speaker cable that are of interest.
They a
* Resistance. The lower the better.
* Inductance. The lower the better.
* Capacitance. Largely unimportant, when using a competently designed
amplifier.
I practice, none of these things have the slightest effect on the sound.
Resistence/foot is less than a 0.006 Ohm for 14 Ga. zip.
That leaves resistance (R) and inductance (L). The significance of the two
paramaters depends on the impedance of the speaker and the length of the
cable. 4 Metres is a modest cable run and SHOULD present few problems in any
system.
Capacitance is around 12pf/foot or about 144pf for 4 meters of 14 Ga zip
cord. It has been found that capacitive loads of up to 20,000 pf (.02 mfd)
have no audible or visible effect on audio signals. That means that 4 meters
of 14 Ga zip cord would need 100 times more capacitance/foot to have any
effect whatsoever on a an audio signal passing through it. Inductance is
likewise negligible.
One can run 80 ft of 14 Ga zip as speaker cable for 8 Ohm speakers before it
is recommended that one increase the wire size to 12 Ga.
IOW, as long as the zip cord is 14 Ga or larger and your runs are less than
80ft, don't sweat it. just buy what you like and cheap hardware store zip
cord is FINE.