Amazon Basics Speaker Cable

[chillumphile]

Ok before someone smacks me, can anyone tell me about their experience with Amazon basics 12ft speaker cables?

 

[arj]

Do you need 12 feet ? try to keep it as practically short as possible.

There is nothing bad about it and in the end its a speaker cable made of copper so you cannot go bad with it as even a regular electrical wire works well. How good it is depends on the equipment you are using and your realistic expectations from the cable .Are you using it for HT or music ?

 

[mbhangui]

Do you need 12 feet ? try to keep it as practically short as possible.

This is very important. 12 feet is very long and even if you have a thick wire (lower AWG), by increasing the length you are making it as good as a wire with higher AWG. (higher AWG means worse). Thicker the wire and shorter the wire makes much more difference than the brand of the cable (assuming all are copper).

Recently I have been able to practically demonstrate this by making a speaker switch (as below) to swith between a longer and shorter cable using a DIY approach to quicky switch betweeen (two sets of speakers, two sets of amps or two sets of speaker wires). The length and gauge makes a palpable difference. Just 1-2 meters of 12 AWG or less from the main speakers should be a minimum.

 

[keith_correa]

Cableloss Calculator by Electro-Voice

products.electrovoice.com

 

[chillumphile]

Do you need 12 feet ? try to keep it as practically short as possible.

There is nothing bad about it and in the end its a speaker cable made of copper so you cannot go bad with it as even a regular electrical wire works well. How good it is depends on the equipment you are using and your realistic expectations from the cable .Are you using it for HT or music ?

I already have them, seemed cheap at about INR 550 each as they come with banana caps.

I can shorten the wire, that issue can be resolved.

I was more interested in the quality of wires themselves. Are they actually Cu or some other metal coated with Cu.

 

[arj]

Not sure but no reason they should not be cu. It's the quality of cu that matters.
Make it the shortest you can and reduce that risk .

 

[spirovious]

Are they actually Cu or some other metal coated with Cu.

They are CCA and not pure copper.
Monoprice, DAC, Stackfine are another to be considered if you need pure coper.

 

[arj]

Cableloss Calculator by Electro-Voice

products.electrovoice.com

this is a nice calculator. very interesting as to how the effective damping factor changes with cable gauge/length.

 

[keith_correa]

They are CCA and not pure copper.

Where do you see this stated? https://www.amazon.in/AmazonBasics16AWG-Speaker-Cable-Plated-Banana/dp/B07FDB34ZR/

 

[mbhangui]

I was more interested in the quality of wires themselves. Are they actually Cu or some other metal coated with Cu.

It is copper as per details and diameter is 2mm which translates to 12AWG. The heading says oxygen free so that's another piece of information.

Model	‎CLSW2-M-M-12FT-1P
Product Dimensions	‎365.76 x 2.18 x 1.09 cm; 362.87 Grams
Item model number	‎CLSW2-M-M-12FT-1P
Material	‎Copper

 

[chander]

I was more interested in the quality of wires themselves. Are they actually Cu or some other metal coated with Cu.

These cables are alright I have personally used them too. They say these are 99.9 OFC - which "if we trust them" is probably the best out there you will get as far as OFC is concerned. Beyond that is only complicated terms - imagined or otherwise.
In most cases - I doubt you will be able to tell, as always - I suggest take help of a friend, to do a blind test while changing cables - this is the simplest and most cost effective way to get rid of your biases. If you can tell a difference - well you have your answers.
I now almost always do this when I get swarmed by biases & imaginations & expectations. I take help of friends to check whether I can tell the difference - 99% of the times I can't with 1 or 2 exceptions.

Cheers!

 

[arj]

These cables are alright I have personally used them too. They say these are 99.9 OFC - which "if we trust them" is probably the best out there you will get as far as OFC is concerned. Beyond that is only complicated terms - imagined or otherwise.
In most cases - I doubt you will be able to tell, as always - I suggest take help of a friend, to do a blind test while changing cables - this is the simplest and most cost effective way to get rid of your biases. If you can tell a difference - well you have your answers.
I now almost always do this when I get swarmed by biases & imaginations & expectations. I take help of friends to check whether I can tell the difference - 99% of the times I can't with 1 or 2 exceptions.

Cheers!

I am getting theoretical but 99.9 OFC is 3N OFC.. there is also 6N (99.9999), 7N and 8N also available

 

[keith_correa]

 

[chander]

I am getting theoretical but 99.9 OFC is 3N OFC.. there is also 6N (99.9999), 7N and 8N also available

@arj - true that and there would be many more where the 7N would be then restructured at molecular level to change the entire geometry & properties of copper itself - as per the claims.

But seriously - & logically - what are the applications in audio for that minuscule "improvement"? The last run of the cables within the speaker - how often will that be 8N copper? YES - but I stand corrected, you can get a lot better than 99.9% OFC apparently .

**I do not want to start a war - I genuinely am curious - what would the application of 8N copper in Audio be? How much improvement would that be from a 99.9 to 99.999999. considering we are 0.1% short of perfection in the first one - again theoretically?

the perception will be hardly noticeable (except to machines) - unless perhaps - every single piece of wire in the circuit and every copper part sticks to the 8N OFC - & even then those who can perceive are truly blessed.

Also again - purely for understanding - mathematically - if you can perceive 0.1% improvement in the quality of copper that there is a total of 1 or 2 mtr of in the entire chain that consists of multiple capacitors, inductors, various other metals, magnest - (I am not a mathematician) - are we talking about the hearing ability in super ultrasonic realm?

I can still understand that copper vs brass vs aluminium vs glass (this is best for bass BTW) will make a difference but 99.9 vs 99.99

Also please note - this is healthy discussion - so

 

[arj]

@arj - true that and there would be many more where the 7N would be then restructured at molecular level to change the entire geometry & properties of copper itself - as per the claims.

But seriously - & logically - what are the applications in audio for that minuscule "improvement"? The last run of the cables within the speaker - how often will that be 8N copper? YES - but I stand corrected, you can get a lot better than 99.9% OFC apparently .

**I do not want to start a war - I genuinely am curious - what would the application of 8N copper in Audio be? How much improvement would that be from a 99.9 to 99.999999. considering we are 0.1% short of perfection in the first one - again theoretically?

the perception will be hardly noticeable (except to machines) - unless perhaps - every single piece of wire in the circuit and every copper part sticks to the 8N OFC - & even then those who can perceive are truly blessed.

Also again - purely for understanding - mathematically - if you can perceive 0.1% improvement in the quality of copper that there is a total of 1 or 2 mtr of in the entire chain that consists of multiple capacitors, inductors, various other metals, magnest - (I am not a mathematician) - are we talking about the hearing ability in super ultrasonic realm?

I can still understand that copper vs brass vs aluminium vs glass (this is best for bass BTW) will make a difference but 99.9 vs 99.99

Also please note - this is healthy discussion - so

Ha ha..good question and I dont think anyone knows. maybe there is a difference when you are talking of extremely low signals over long distances !
Maybe those with great ears and very revealing systems can make out a difference in audio but again cables are so much more complex than jsut the copper, their winding topology, dielectrics etc also do make a difference and not to mention the connectors. I would look at it as a whole package to evaluate than just purity of the copper.

 

[chillumphile]

It is copper as per details and diameter is 2mm which translates to 12AWG. The heading says oxygen free so that's another piece of information.

Model	‎CLSW2-M-M-12FT-1P
Product Dimensions	‎365.76 x 2.18 x 1.09 cm; 362.87 Grams
Item model number	‎CLSW2-M-M-12FT-1P
Material	‎Copper

Thanks, this was very helpful.

I have shortened them to about 3ft each, will stick with them for the time being.


@chander Thanks for your validation. It's been not even been a week since I have got my first HiFi setup so there are limitations on the number of permutations and combinations I can do. And I doubt I will be able to discern any difference at this stage, so was just looking for some validation

I am more focused on getting my room acoustics right for now, because the current Elac b6.2 and Marantz pm8006 are not sounding exceptional to me compared to the edifier r1280dbs I had, which I absolutely loved.

 

[chander]

because the current Elac b6.2 and Marantz pm8006 are not sounding exceptional to me compared to the edifier r1280dbs I had, which I absolutely loved.

The biggest jump - strictly in my opinion - that anything ever makes when moving from one audio gear to another, is the change in sound that you aren't accustomed to. That could be for better or worse. It takes a while to settle to a new sound, specially with songs well known.

Then there is the burn in - which I believe works - atleast in case of speakers. So give your speakers some time and give them a fair chance. Do not shuffle components right away - it is a hole. Most important is that your ears have to burn in to the new sound .

A piece of friendly advice - Put on something that you are not familiar with in the background (spotify song radio works fantastic for this), let those speakers work. There will possibly come a moment that a part of a new song suddenly catches your attention, that for me is always a hook for the new sound, where you start appreciating it as there you have no Biases.

Biases (In my opinion) sir is the most difficult thing to get rid of . You can get an anechoic chamber, but that little seed of doubt in your head takes a lot of logical thinking to get rid of!!!

Elac b6.2 and Marantz pm8006 - This is pretty fantastic setup BTW. Congratulations!

 

[Subbu68]

I already have them, seemed cheap at about INR 550 each as they come with banana caps.

I can shorten the wire, that issue can be resolved.

I was more interested in the quality of wires themselves. Are they actually Cu or some other metal coated with Cu.

That may be. there is Copper Clad Aluminium in the market. The core is aluminium with a cladding of few microns of copper. Aluminium conductivity is 60% of copper and would affect for long distance. Being lighter it is easier to handle especially in long runs used in PA systems.

Otherwise flowing electrons are same and electricity travels in waves at speed of light. A couple of meters does not matter for 'c".

Then there is the burn in - which I believe works - atleast in case of speakers. So give your speakers some time and give them a fair chance. Do not shuffle components right away - it is a hole. Most important is that your ears have to burn in to the new sound .

Agree.. speakers being mechanical devices do need to loosen up - suspension spider, cone folds...etc. Wires, amps, transistors, ICs, capacitor, inductor, transformer etc. would definitely burn when overloaded.

 

[Subbu68]

Then there is the burn in - which I believe works - atleast in case of speakers. So give your speakers some time and give them a fair chance. Do not shuffle components right away - it is a hole. Most important is that your ears have to burn in to the new sound .

Agree.. speakers being mechanical devices do need to loosen up - suspension spider, cone folds...etc. Wires, amps, transistors, ICs, capacitor, inductor, transformer etc. would definitely burn when overloaded

 

[chillumphile]

Biases (In my opinion) sir is the most difficult thing to get rid of . You can get an anechoic chamber, but that little seed of doubt in your head takes a lot of logical thinking to get rid of!!!

True, I am well versed with the pitfalls of our own mind's thinking. Fortunately, this time around the mist cleared pretty soon and with a simple fix.

I got Apple music on my Lg V40 and streamed from that instead of Spotify. And the difference was of night and day.

Spotify stream was very muddy and very very limited soundstage. While Apple's lossless stream was way clearer and detailed, solid vocals and tunes, tight punchy bass and with expansive and deep soundstage.

Elac b6.2 and Marantz pm8006 - This is pretty fantastic setup BTW. Congratulations!

Thankyou. And I couldn't agree more. And now the R1280dbs simply pale in comparison and I can now never go back.


I didn't imagine hifi to sound this good and exceptional.

Then there is the burn in - which I believe works - atleast in case of speakers. So give your speakers some time and give them a fair chance. Do not shuffle components right away - it is a hole. Most important is that your ears have to burn in to the new sound .

I am looking forward to the post burn-in magic.