Two positive experiences thanks to this forum

[boe]

I tried Blue Jean cables thanks to this forum and was delivered the cables almost two days after I ordered them and they were very well made (all catv type cables). I just received some speaker cables I ordered from Have and they were willing to custom make them to my special request. The connectors are nice, the wrapping is excellent and the delivery was a little over a week.

I'm not going to claim that the video is a million times better or that the speakers sound like some that were twice the price. I will tell you that I am happy with the improvement that the quality cables made and that I didn't have to spend an absurd amount of money on the cables.

I just wanted to say thanks as I probably would have bought much more expensive cables that probably wouldn't have been any better if it weren't for the tips from this forum.

 

[jaxvon]

Glad to hear it. I see you went for the Have Inc. Cables. Personally, I wouldn't have spent as much. HOWEVER, if I remember correctly, your cables are very much out in the open, so the appearance is important to you. But at least now, you know that you got a quality product (one that is PROVEN quality), and still saved a ton of money.

 

[boe]

jaxvon,

You are correct, I did make ask to have the speaker cables wrapped in nylon techflex and they did make them according to my specs even though they normally use the standard techflex. They came out looking great and they are nice and they slide nicely (my old cables had a sticky rubber like coating that made them difficult to deal with in an area packed with cables and not much room to work with).

 

[jaxvon]

Maybe, if you get around to it, it'd be cool if you posted some pics of your nifty new cables.

 

[boe]

Pictures

Sorry about the quality - I'm not a photographer and my camera is quite old.

 

[jaxvon]

Looks darn pretty to me! Glad to hear you're happy with your cables.

 

[warpdrive]

Good work. The cables look good.

A little bit of bling/jewelery for the system is a nice guilty pleasure especially if the stuff is proven quality.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I too am using this forum lots these days to save money. Or spend money as my girlfriend says

My next purchase will be speaker wire. I think I am going with Belden from Westlake electronics. Same cables as Bluejean, much cheaper. I still am unsure of 10 AWG or 12AWG. I don't know how much thicker 10AWG is as it may not fit in my amp, that won't take a banana. Can anyone answer this? I think I will pass on biwiring my centre channel like I am doing now, and my rears and just use 10 AWG all around.

Can someone offer some advice on a sub cable? I now have a 10 foot Monster and want to get 20-25 feet and put it by my couch. I emailed Westlake. They sell Canare.

Speaking about bananas, I am going to try going back to bare wire. I have bananas all around right now and from my research, it makes sense that one more connection between the speaker and the cable doesn't make sense. Convenience is all I can see good about bananas and once I move and get permanently set up, I won't care about that..

 

[warpdrive]

12 gauge is fine. It's the maximum gauge that is still easy to work with for binding posts.

I use bananas to my receiver but bare wire to my speaker terminals, the best of both worlds.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Is 10 guage that much thicker? I know it might be all pychological but I will at least think I am getting better wire using the 10 and it is not much more money from Westlake...

people here say wire is wire, but I can tell especially on my centre channel speaker...thicker wire passes bass better (or doesn't it??) and my centre sounded brighter, crisper with thinner wire. I could hear the dialogue clearer.. I am concerned my Polks are bright already and thicker guage may tame that. or, do i sound like I am out to lunch with my theory ????

 

[Audioholics]

I don't think there is any advantage to wiring up with 10 gauge over 12 gauge. I'm currently wiring up the new Reference System 2 with 12-gauge. Now if you're planning on going over 100 feet I'll need to redo the math to check...

 

[Leprkon]

Is 10 guage that much thicker? I know it might be all pychological but I will at least think I am getting better wire using the 10 and it is not much more money from Westlake...

every 3 gages doubles the wire cross-sectional area. every 6 gages doubles the wire diameter. you're getting roughly 50 - 60 per cent more wire with 10 gage than with 12.

 

[boe]

Here are some slightly less out of focus shots of the techflex wrapping I asked them to apply. I'm not saying this is the way to go for everyone or even a significant portion of cable fanatics. I will say though that if I ever need more speaker cables, I wouldn't hesitate to get these again.

 

[calgarianperson]

I saw a house the other day that had the worst in roof speakers possible, the volume control in the rooms was fan speed controllers. The funny thing was it wasn't 12, 14, or 16 gauge wire. It was the thickest copper speaker wire I have ever seen. I'm not sure what gauge it is but it is at least 2-3 times as thick (and most likely expensive) as 12 gauge. Even funnier is the distances are only about 50 feet from the reciever.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

10 gauge wire allows 30 amps to pass, while 12 gauge allows 20 amps. That's a 33% advantage to the 10 gauge wire. Problem is you can't find that wire at your local hardware store in braided speaker wire. They sell solid copper wire, but it's just not flexible enough to work with. I bought 100 feet of 12/2 speaker wire today at Home Depot for my rear surrounds for $20, or .20 cents a foot. They normally charge .34 cents a foot under a 250 ft spool, but this 100 foot section was already cut, purchased and returned. It is thick stuff and since I only need 27 feet for each speaker from my receiver to the surround dipoles, it's fine. I run 10 gauge wire to my towers and they are only 10 feet from the receiver, but they are very inefficient and require quite a bit of juice to get them going. 10 and 12 gauge wire is extremely thick, and getting it into binding posts twisted bare is quite a challenge. I recommend soldering banana plugs to anything thicker than 14/2 if you don't mind the mechanics of it. It's just a little harder burying it below the floorboards and carpeting.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Buckeyefan

I too have inefficient Polk towers as you know.....for piece of mind, I think the 10 AWG would be better but my NAD amp I have running my lows will not take a banana. The 12 AWG I am using seems to go into the posts fine,but I did however twist, very tight, two 12AWG wires when I was trying biwiring my Polks and it barely fit...From a previous post, the 10 AWG is 1/3 to half as thick again..do you think 10 AWG will fit?.

Has anyone tried barewiring 10AWG into a Denon 3805? Then again, I could use bananas on the receiver end, barewire on the speakers.. I mentioned before I want to go back to barewire. I agree with the theory, and Bluejaeans says it too, barewire is better as it is one less connection...and i don't have a soldering gun.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I was fiddling around with speaker wire today and there is no way, no how the Denon can take 10 AWG bare wire...will need bananas for sure. My speakers won't take 10 AWG bare wire either it looks like. So I have a choice to make:

12 guage bare wire or 10 guage with bananas...

another post mentioned the wire used inside the speaker from the posts to the speaker, is nowhere near 10 AWG...and Clint says there will be no audible difference...might just get better 12 guage now...

 

[zipper]

I am currently using fine-stranded 10 gauge wire (because I had access to a ton of it after tearing out a Lucent switch & it was free) & I found it best to go with the BP's. Not many terminals handle 10 ga wire well. That being said, I doubt you'll need to go that big anyway. I certainly wouldn't have if I had to pay for it.