garden extension cords

[mocwilson]

garden extension cords can they be used for speakers?

in the artical "break in" science or psychological,

it says. "Interestingly, the New Scientists recently commented on the London Heathrow Hi Fi Show, saying that among the cables selling for up to £30,000 for 6 metres, they found Quad demonstrating their latest speakers to great enthusiasm. The orange cable to the speakers looked oddly familiar. When asked about it, Tony Faulkner, the recording engineer demonstrating them (who'd used the speakers as monitors while recording Saint-Saen's complete works for piano & orchestra, Gramophone's Record of the Year), said of the cables:"

"Yes, they would look familiar if you have a garden. Before the show opened we went over the road to the DIY superstore and bought one of those £20 extension leads that Black & Decker sells for electric hedge-cutters. They are made from good, thick copper wire, look nice and sound good to me. The show's been running for three days and no one in the audience has noticed..."* - New Scientist Magazine


so i was wondering if anybody has had experiance with useing them as speaker wire because it kinda makes sense to me, although i dont know a great deal about this, and it would be cheaper then buying monster cable or something were you can get 50 feet of 10 awg extension cord for $60 cnd at homedepot, so if anyone knows of any reasons for or against this i would be intrested in hearing them.

 

[philcrocetti]

Funny, I have some

Back when I was doing school dances in High School gymnasiums, this was my solution! Yes, I've used them and no one ever complained (except the school administrators!) Admittadly, I was going for volume and durability, not sonic excellence. Kids in gymnasiums aren't that concerned with perfect acoustics. Anyway, I've used them, and I still have them. Give them a try!

 

[mocwilson]

good to know

its good to know that others are expairementing with ways around the super expensive brands out there. but i would be looking for a loop hole, i would want to use them for my system: marantz sr5300 res, psb Bronze, not super high end but i do notice a dffirence when i switch speaker wire.

thanks
matt

 

[mtrycrafts]

i would want to use them for my system: marantz sr5300 res, psb Bronze, not super high end but i do notice a dffirence when i switch speaker wire.thanks
matt

I notice that when I put a stick in water it bends.
Senses can be fooled indeed. No evidence that anyone on the planet can hear audible differences between comparable cables.

 

[mocwilson]

yha well

what i ment was before when i was useing somthing like an 18 awg zip that i had in a drawer and was probably all oxidized when i changed to the 16 awg monster stuff that i did hear a diffrence more bass and what not thats all, and now i keep reading that a 12 or 10 awg is really what i should be useing.

thanks

 

[Martin_S]

For the most part, 12AWG stranded copper wire is 12AWG stranded copper wire. Doesn't matter if it's a speaker cable, extension cord, or whatever. Sure, there are cables that have finer strands and therefore more of them, but the difference will be flexibility far more than fidelity.

The spacing between conductors and the consistency of that spacing does affect inductance and all that, but an extension cord's physical arrangement, whether zip cord type or jacketed, is pretty much the same as the various speaker cables out there.

Back in my sound reinforcement days, all my speaker cables were 14/6 SO (I think) cable with Neutrik Speak-on connectors. Basically multi-conductor extension cords with different ends. They looked all badass and thick, but only because of the conductor count (for tri-amping) and the thickness of the jacketing (for durability/water resistance purposes, which is what SO refers to).

But the house was rockin' with 14 gague extension cords.

 

[philh]

For the most part, 12AWG stranded copper wire is 12AWG stranded copper wire. Doesn't matter if it's a speaker cable, extension cord, or whatever. Sure, there are cables that have finer strands and therefore more of them, but the difference will be flexibility far more than fidelity.

The spacing between conductors and the consistency of that spacing does affect inductance and all that, but an extension cord's physical arrangement, whether zip cord type or jacketed, is pretty much the same as the various speaker cables out there.

Back in my sound reinforcement days, all my speaker cables were 14/6 SO (I think) cable with Neutrik Speak-on connectors. Basically multi-conductor extension cords with different ends. They looked all badass and thick, but only because of the conductor count (for tri-amping) and the thickness of the jacketing (for durability/water resistance purposes, which is what SO refers to).

But the house was rockin' with 14 gague extension cords.

But you can't beat how kewl my braided CAT5 looks Material costs, $0.00 (not quite true, but should have been). Labor costs, $0.00 (watching TV anyway).

 

[mocwilson]

well i did it

i went out today and got 70ft of 12 awg for 30 bucks at homedepot and it deffinitly dosnt sound any worse then the 30 feet of monster 16 awg that also cost 30 bucks, ill have to keep listening but i think its evan better not alot better but maybe just slightly.
i also saw some cat5 cable but i didnt know anything about it so i went with the 12 gage.

thanks for the advice

matt

 

[mtrycrafts]

Labor costs, $0.00 (watching TV anyway).

Dual tasking?? Either 1/2 or you can say free

 

[philh]

Dual tasking?? Either 1/2 or you can say free

I'm not worth much around the house Bring home the check, give it to her, and repair all the crap that I shouldn't have to deal with had I torn the $#%%^^& house down like I should have