speaker cable

[Grog]

i'd suggest 79 strand, or mains cable with 1.25mm+ would be fine for surround speakers,
if you go much above this price point for 30m, it might actually be cheaper to have a separate power amp for rear channels and run long interconnects!

[Chivvyp]

Hi,

In the end I invested in 2 x 15m cat5 cables (red ), one for each rear channel. For rear surrounds they seem to be perfectly adequate and are very neat, doesn't seem to be any overheating issues.

I was able to shorten them both by 2 m so I have some leftovers that I might try on the main speakers to get a better assessment of quality when I get some time.

Regards

Pete

[Black Stuart]

I decided to try the Ubite 11 using Cat 5 for flexible leads.

Sounds far more detailed and the soundstage is completely stable and much more 3-dimensional compared to the twisted Twins.

But here's the thing - air is the best dialectric - one of only 2 pieces of 'received wisdom' that for me have held good over time.

Problem is that copper and air don't like each other - one oxidising the other to the extreme detriment of copper.

I say this because I always like to take the positive from the negative. Whilst experiencing just how good the French health system is and having an oxygen feed to my nose I realised the tubing was FEP.

It's umistakable because it is much clearer and with a blueish tinge, whereas Teflon has a milky white colour.

At least in France these oxygen feeds have a 3 metre length of a good diameter before the small gauge yoke comes into play. This is perfect for creating an air dialectric speaker cable. Of course it will mean having to use silver/plated copper, preferably OFHC.

1-1.5mm solid core would be ideal especially using 4 x 4 signal/return design.

The good news is that when a patient leaves this wonderful material is discarded - what a waste when this could be used to make some excellent speaker cables.

BTW - FEP is way better than Teflon - forget the theory that says one is better than the other - believe your ears, I always do, since these are the actual conduit I use to listen to music.

Visit your local hospital and see if you can hussle some.