Speaker cables local vs Imported

sudhirbhosale

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Hi
Recently I upgraded my cables from MX cables -18AWG to Chetan cables - 12AWG. I found great difference. Sound is more smooth and natural. As per their website cable are Made in India not just imported and put own stickers.

I was planning to buy imported branded cable but someone suggested that use some Indian brands are equally great.
Cable cost me 1/4 of typical imported brand.

Still I am egger to know if I am missing anything by not going for top brands.
So want to know any thoughts, experiences.

If Any FM from Hyderabad can lend me spare imported cable to experiment then would be great.

Also going to try sam with Murthy cables.

Thanks
 
The measurements for their 12 AWG cable are as follows :-

TECHNICAL DATA SHEET
Item :- 450/42 ( BC/BC) Speaker Wire (TP)
Sample Code :-1379
Date :-09--11--2015
S.No TEST UNIT Specified
1 Type of cable Speaker Wire
2 No of Cores 2
3 Conductor :-----
A Material Flexible Annealed Bare Copper
B No of strands 450
C Size AWG 12
D Diameter of Each Strands MM 0.100 0.005 MM
E Nominal Cross Section Area Sqmm 3.53
5 Insulation :-----
A Material CRISTAL
B Type CRISTAL
C Insulation Thickness MM 1.50 0.05
D Diameter MM 5.50 0.50
6 Electrical Data:-----------
A Conductor Resistance at 200C ?/KM <5.64
B Current Amp 22
C High Voltage Test KV Should withstands with 1.1Kv (rms) voltage


How does this compare with the well known international cables ?
 
As long as they use electrical grade copper ( 99.999 ?) and good insulation, Indian cables should be just as good as similar imported types. Where the differences start is if they use OFC ( more expensive). But does OFC make an audible difference...... I'm not quite so sure !

Going up the scale we have exotic cables which use thin copper conductors ( even graphite conductors!) wound in special ways with or without inner support made of various materials. They are quite complex mechanically and have slightly different electrical properties from ordinary cables. They sometimes alter the sound, some of which some people like and others dislike.

However with some well designed amps that are unconditionally stable , often the cables don't appear to make much of a sonic difference.

You need to test them in 'your system' to know if they are of any use to you. Remember that altering the sound to something that you 'might like' doesn't necessarily mean that it is more accurate !

Tone controls sometimes produce a sound that you might 'prefer' but it was done by altering the original signal. Does that matter ? Not if you want to hear it that way ! But if you want it just like the original recording (with all the recording 'warts' ) then no tone control is best.

So if you want to know if a cable is better than what you have , borrow one and try it out.That is the BEST way of knowing what's good for you.

Possibly most of the details you have posted are of no significance except cross sectional area and the resultant dc resistance. Since the cable is a bundled bunch of small section uninsulated wires the effect of the' skin effect' isn't so readily obvious.
 
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First thanks to all FMs who provided information.
I did some experiment and posing my observations as below:
I built my own speakers with Peerless drivers
Initially I used cable I got with JBL speakers for car. Assumption good brand and quality should be good.
After few months I used 18AWG MX cable (Price 80 / mt) and quality was much better in all freq range.
Looking at difference made by cable change, though of upgrading further.
hence I started this thread as wanted to narrow done local/imported. as price difference of imported and local brands too much.
Then I purchased 12 AWG from Indian manufacture. But for it is made in Taiwas and name is Sumo cable. With this sound was much clearer but bass was little giving booming effect. Price 80 / mt
Then manage to get Traingle cable made in France with tin coated 13 AWG. Sound is more clearer and soft base. Price 115 / mt

Conclusion:
First thanks to all FMs who provided information.
AWG has more effect on quality
Again brand also have some impact due to R&D by them than simply putting copper inside PVC.
Sumo cable started sowing greenish copper oxide coating

Next:
Would try cable comes with copper shielding. OR waiting for thicker Traiangle cable as in branded cable 115/mt looks economical.
 
Hi
Recently I upgraded my cables from MX cables -18AWG to Chetan cables - 12AWG. I found great difference. Sound is more smooth and natural. As per their website cable are Made in India not just imported and put own stickers.

I was planning to buy imported branded cable but someone suggested that use some Indian brands are equally great.
Cable cost me 1/4 of typical imported brand.

Still I am egger to know if I am missing anything by not going for top brands.
So want to know any thoughts, experiences.

If Any FM from Hyderabad can lend me spare imported cable to experiment then would be great.

Also going to try sam with Murthy cables.

Thanks
if you are looking for imported brand of speaker cable with good price then you must go for Gotham speaker cable.
excellent cable which is available at kiran sales corporation, lamington road,mumbai.
 
Cables for speakers should be pure copper with Teflon coat to make them Oxygen free this where the men separates from boys. Most of the Transparent speaker cables sold as OFC are pure crap. Then comes the insulation which i believe is the most important part of cables. A Chord Company Rs 610/mtr Clearway has 4 layers of insulation including Aluminum Foil! And Yes they sound good over my previous generic transparent ( read MX Banbridge DAC Pro FX etc etc) 11 AWG or 4sqmm copper cables albeit for a reason. Theres more detail which i completely missed , theres more background silence more coherent rhythm section making complete sense of the music and treble which has become silky from coarse and brittle with more air in them now. I always thought Cable was snake oil , i still believe it is (Jorma Design) but to some extent and price point it does make a HUGE difference. I use MX gold plated but Non Beryllium banana plugs with them.
 
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Are you saying that the Teflon "coat" makes the Cu Oxygen free? When you say "coat" what exactly are you referring to?
Aren't you mixing up insulation and shielding.
Jorma Design - what exactly do you find snake oilish about their speaker cables that you don't find in the Chord cable you like?
 
Speaker wire is the simplest of cables. Low resistance, low capacitance, low cost, as pure copper as practically possible. That's all there is to it.
For more info about myths and truth please read this wonderful write up by Roger Russell (formerly of McIntosh Labs)
Speaker Wire

Edit: the URL has been posted by FM terrible earlier.
Cheers,
Raghu
 
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