The Speaker Cable Guide: Part 1 - Technical Aspects

In this first part of the video we explore the various technical aspects, the physics, related to cables and in particular speaker cables. In the second part we will learn how to make our own high-end high-fidelity audiophile-grade loudspeaker cables!

Complete cable loss calculator:

Quick/advance resistance calculator:

#speakercables #hificables #audiocables

[SarcastSempervirens]

Jesus, man, thank you for this video! Finally all in one with great simple basic-to-intermediate explanations, everything covered! Grazie mille from Croatia!

[Nick-skqp]

Excellent overview of cable basic design considerations. I can’t wait to see the “how to build descent cables” at a reasonable cost. Keep up the good work!

[juanalmada]

Hi I´m from Argentina. I´ve learned a LOT from your videos. Cheers

[TheLtData]

This is excellent! Since the DIY is ready yet i'm going to listen to that one right now! Thanks.

[angelsol]

Grazie per il suono delle campane in background e per tutto il sapere che condividi con noi 😊

[arthurwatts]

Tease :D

Of all the explanations I've seen, yours is closest to Audioholics' no-BS approach. They arent so keen on silver cables and they completely deny that skin effect has ANY impact on cables but otherwise you seem to be on the same page - looking forward to part 2.

[shpater]

Thank you very much for your (one after the other ) very interesting and informative (but not over informative) Videos. Always make me think and check. Thanks A lot!
Best to understand a problem is to quantify it.
Regarding capacitance level, I think the level you have mentioned (2600 PICO Farad) is related to interconnect cables (which is used against a typical 47 KOhm load impedance and up to few hundred ohms of output impedance), and not for speaker cables (which are with the level of few ohms Load impedance and lower than 1 ohm output impedance). I explain why:
Capacitance represent a parallel load impedance which reduces a signal only when its impedance level is closes to the serial system resistance (of the cables+amp output), especially when the power amp has high output impedance (like some tube amps do have) which all are still below 1 ohm level.
If we want to make sure the cable capacitance do not add any additional load to the amplifier then we will require an impedance higher enough comparing to that of the Load (the speaker). For example: If we make sure that the capacitance impedance never goes below 80 ohms at all frequencies below 20 KHz, then we would need the capacitance level would be not higher then 100 Nano Farad (or 100, 000 Pico farad)
From the other side of calculation: 2600 Pico Farad capacitance impedance at 20KHz is 3, 000 ohms (and 1000 ohms at 60KHz), it will reach 8 ohm impedance only at 7.6 MHz.
Another important behavior to understand is: Any 3m length Cable structure which has value of : R = resistance C = Capacitance and L = inductance, will have at 1.5m length these values drop by half to: 1/2R, 1/2C and 1/2L.
Of curse, unrelated to these calculations, I would prefer to have a cable with minimal as possible of these parameters, I don't care if these are overkill from the numbers that are really needed, and I would gladly pay reasonable amount of money for these, Just avoid paying "an arm and a leg" for something that is not really needed.
Thanks again for the very informative information

[ronaldjanmaat]

Nice explanation of the physical properties to consider! A special topic to look into could be the connectors. I had a specific problem when I build DIY speaker cables for my four-way active loudspeakers. In order to not end up with a large footprint, I choose speak-on connectors, which support up to 8 connections. Speak-ons are used in stage equipment and are fast/stable/durable. As the low end part of the loudspeaker contained 2 woofers, and each to those have its own AMP, I ended up with 2 speak-on connections per loudspeaker (8+2). As you explained, the loudspeaker cables for the high frequencies should not have a too big diametre. In an active loudspeaker, you can use different gauges for low and high end driver units. In my case (di-pole loudspeakers) I could not house the AMPs in the loudspeakers and needed cables between the AMPs and speakers. But "normal" active loudspeakers by design have very short (internal) loudspeaker cables, which can be optimized per frequency range (should that have any effect given the very short signal paths).

[samhalsey]

Thank you!!! Great video!!! Perfect timing! I’m just about to upgrade my speaker cables. Before watching your video I was considering going with 12 gauge (check!). OFC (Oxygen-Free Copper)((check)). It is “marine grade” meaning tinned connection points for extra corrosion protection (???) not sure if that is good or bad as I live in a slight marine (San Francisco) environment. I know you mentioned you prefer not mixing metals, not sure how that applies in this case. With a PVC jacket(?). Also was considering gold plated compression banana plugs on the other end gold plated compression pin connectors. Looking forward to watching your next video before I proceed! Thanks again!!!

[johnh]

Interesting video I agree with what you have said but my approach/budget has been entirely different particularly regarding the speaker cables .
All my cables are now Audiophile ones, a fancy USB RF shielded one with silver plated connections of at least decent copper I can't remember from the streamer to DAC, an expensive silver plated cable from DAC to Integrated Amp and finally a set of flat profile Speaker cables that claim a shield of 1.2 .
As it happens just this morning my new set of Silver-plated spade connectors has arrived and to my surprise the four of them that cost me less than £10 weigh slightly more than my zippo.
While all of these cables are good? the reason I say our approach has been different is that I agree with you that resistance is your biggest concern so my focus has always been on the interfaces' / connections between things so I buy Silver -plated Terminals. the weakest point in any plug-in format; The manufacturers take care of anything internally whether that is cables or amps the best we can do is have quality fittings.

[QoraxAudio]

1:10 Speaker cable with spades instead of banana plugs! Wise choice! More firm connection, lower resistance, higher reliability 👍
6:27 Gauge is pronounced similarly to cage, but with a g at the beginning. As a Dutchman I made that mistake as well, I used to pronounce the au of gauge similar to the au in Strauss or Gauss.
10:45 Noise going from one conductor to another by means of capacitive or inductive coupling is called crosstalk.
14:10 Yes, higher frequency audio is useful, because due to intermodulation it has impact on the frequencies that are perceivable by the human ear. But skin effect only kicks in way up into the megahertz frequencies, which are far, far too far, away from audible frequencies to be of any relevance.
15:26 Shielding in speaker cables can be detrimental to the sound quality, because shielding has capacitive properties and possibly rolls off higher frequencies. For that very same reason, shielding in a turntable phono cables can be detrimental to the frequency response of MM cartridges.
19:50 I agree, these different materials in one cable can cause funny things similar to the Seebeck effect.
21:25 Isn't this directly related to the cable capacitance? And can cable capacitance be used as a reliable indication of low dielectric insulation?
22:25 Don't put your PP inside that cable - you'll loose your manhood hahaha (couldn't resist, sorry 😅)
22:33 I used to have a few AudioQuest cables with insulation made of PTFE "foam" which means there's a lot of air in it, so it provides high insulation. Nevertheless, those cables were shit, because they picked up a lot of noise from the environment. So it might be important, but it's certainly not everything.

[TonyNse]

Apprezzo molto i tuoi video, in quanto sono molto chiari e approfonditi, però te lo devo dire: gauge si pronuncia "GHEIG" non "GOGE", per il resto hai una conoscenza ed una pronuncia dell'inglese davvero ottima👍

[johnnyg]

There is also metal alloy conductors as well to consider. The likes of the German Mundorf conductors, 99% silver & 1% gold are incredibly very good sounding conductors. All the detail and presence of solid silver but dampened down with gold. I make DIY interconnects with this material and it's outstanding vs the likes of solid silver from high purity Cardas solid silver. Bare 0.5mm wire inserted into loose fit PTFE tubing, using at least two runs for the hot and cold side then twisted together using no shield. Cover with either silk or cotton tubing for damping vibration and then heat shrink then add decent RCAs. Add even more runs per hot and cold leads for even more transparency. I've tested dozens of cables, materials and I haven't found anything to beat the Mundorfs sound quality. Try it, you will be amazed at what they can do.

[erikjohansson]

Hope the new speakers will be MBL, omni is the most natural and the way to go.

[dimitrispanayides]

Hi there, and thanks for your informative video. What about solid copper cables speaker and inter., are they worst than stranded?, do we find these in occ type? I found furutech solid)(audiophonics) but is ofc. What do you think about furutech alpha s 25, it's 115 euro/meter.

[Dongulus]

Never heard of OCC copper wire before. It seems like pretty cool tech. Though I do find it a little dubious that the only sites I can read any information on or buy OCC cables are audio sites. If this stuff really makes a difference I would expect to get some hits from cable suppliers for super high frequency or high precision applications.

[shannonwilliams]

What would be the max length for a speaker cable before loosing performance, my cables are 10 ft in length 12 guage 4 conductors made by mogami?

[christaylor]

Kimber.they give you tests on there cable.🤗🤗been usesing it for 30 years.🎶🎵🎼

[vincenzocirillo]

Buongiorno Guido, attualmente ho un buon cavo di potenza Audioquest Type 4, mi soddisfa abbastanza, più in là magari ne costruirò una coppia secondo i tuoi dettami :-)
Volevo però chiederti un parere. Ultimamente (dato lo smart-working) sono sempre a casa, con la musica accesa perennemente come sottofondo anche mentre lavoro, il problema è che avendo un ampli valvolare, nel giro di due mesi sono partite due valvole di potenza nuove per usura precoce (del ripo 8-10 ore di uso continuo al giorno)... Per cui ho pensato di prendere uno switch (sempre della Dynavox, come hai consigliato tu quello di segnale, questo per i cavi di potenza), in modo da switchare tra l'ampli valvolare (Fezz Audio Titania) per ascolti "seri", e il mio Sintoampli Yamaha Aventage RX-A 3050, in modo da usare quest'ultimo per l'ascolto continuativo di sottofondo e non mandare in vacca continuamente il valvolare.
Dovrei creare quindi quattro coppie di spezzoni (cortissimi diciamo roba di 30 cm) di cavo di potenza, a tal proposito volevo usare la rimanenza di questo cavo che è stato usato per il collegamento delle casse surround nelle canaline: 
terminato con queste banane:
Pensi che sia come soluzione, che come tipologia di cavo andrei a compromettere molto la qualità del suono (quando ascolto con il valvolare), oppure sarebbe meglio per questi spezzoni di cavo metterci quelli che stai usando tu nel video: avvertirei la differenza? Oppure sarebbe proprio da scartare questa soluzione dello switch perché fa pena e andrebbe a pregiudicare troppo la qualità del suono? Spero in un tuo feedback, mi fido molto dei tuoi suggerimenti e della tua competenza/esperienza. Grazie!!!

[christianabalos]

Thanks for informative videos. Can i ask question and what would be the solution. Everytime, i play music on my home theater, i can hear some crackling sound in the speaker...i am quite worried since my home theater is still new about more than a month. Thanks for your help. It is a great help for me ...