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Will better speaker wire improve sound of Klpisch Promedia?

macuserx86

macuserx86

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 12, 2006
622
3
I've seen things both ways: some say, don't waste your money, others say best purchase ever.
A bloke on ebay offers custom made 16ga wires for the Promedia GMX 2.1 system for around $20 (after shipping) so it's not terribly expensive.
I just want to know:
Will it improve the sound of my speakers
and
will it help shield from the annoying GSM buzz?

Thanks in advance! :D
 
macuserx86 said:
I've seen things both ways: some say, don't waste your money, others say best purchase ever.
A bloke on ebay offers custom made 16ga wires for the Promedia GMX 2.1 system for around $20 (after shipping) so it's not terribly expensive.
I just want to know:
Will it improve the sound of my speakers
and
will it help shield from the annoying GSM buzz?

Thanks in advance! :D
Click to expand...
With no specifics, convienience seems about it, particularly if the ends are pre-terminated. :)

Just make sure you use the correct gauge for the length of each run. There's wire charts to be found, if you need help (say a particularly long run). ;)
 
Thanks mate! I don't really know anything about sound so your help is appreciated!
 
Jack Flash said:
Definitely can't hurt. The 22 awg the speakers ship with is pretty sonically pathetic. I'd upgrade.
Click to expand...
22 awg is truly sad, but even 16 is likely more than is necessary. The amp in it isn't an arc welder. ;) :p

That said, welding cable makes wonderful speaker cable. :D
 
nanofrog said:
22 awg is truly sad, but even 16 is likely more than is necessary. The amp in it isn't an arc welder. ;) :p

That said, welding cable makes wonderful speaker cable. :D
Click to expand...

lol, don't give me ideas like that, I've been known to get extreme with my engineering... or lack thereof ;)
 
In all of the blind tests I have read, there was no noticeable improvement. Fancy cables will thin down your wallet, saving you trips to the chiropractor for a misaligned spine from setting on a too fat wallet. :D
 
Buying shielded wires could make a definite difference. Also, if there is a hiss, make sure your wires are not running parallel to any power cords.
 
Well, considering most of the evidence now points to it being a waste of money, I won't upgrade my speaker wire. I listen to music with headphones mostly anyway.:cool:
 
You can buy an external sound card. It'll improve the sound if you have a good system / headphones.
 
If the wires are carrying the actual signals out of the power amp to the speakers (as opposed to carrying line level audio to powered speakers), shielding will not make any difference. Speaker wires do not pick up noise. When you run the kind of power required to drive speakers into such a low impedance load, you just don't pick up noise.

The cables that require shielding are any that carry line level signals, such as RCA cables used to connect a CD player to a receiver. If these cables are cheap (or too long), you can pick up noise.

With speaker cables, the most important thing is to make sure that the gauge is heavy enough for the distance you're running them. There are some people who feel that braided copper wire (such as used in lamp cord) can adversely affect your sound quality. I've never found that to be the case and just buy 16 gauge lamp cord for my speaker wire.
 
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