Sunday, November 9, 2014

Facts About High End Speaker Cables

By Etta Bowen


It is not strange walking into a store dealing in audio devices and finding a speaker cable with a five figure price tag. Even the simpler components such as connectors could cost several hundred dollars. With the right speakers in the house, an old collection of music is able to sound vibrant and interesting. The sound quality is to a large extent influenced by the speakers used and the cables connecting them. There are many benefits one can derive from high end speaker cables.

Even before one thinks of doing a purchase of any cable, they should know the speaker type that they are sourcing the cables for. Speakers come in varying sizes and shapes. Some of them include those designed for walls and floor-standing models. The latter are known to have high quality sounds. When it comes to choosing speakers with quality as the consideration, the size should not be used as a parameter to help in making the right decision. Size has no effect on quality.

To choose the right cable, one will benefit from some prior research so that they know what they are going for. There are many ways of doing this. There is the option of asking for recommendations from people who may be knowledgeable. In addition to that, online reviews and magazines are very important when it comes to choosing wisely. Doing prior research means one is able to compare different qualities and prices.

When a cable is properly designed, it will have less phase shift during high frequency operation. The result is a clearer and very focused stereo sound-stage image. It is possible for humans to understand small phase shifts or even frequency modulation that occurs in the sweet spot. This happens only in two stereo systems. It will be more clearly defined in stereo since the two speakers are bound to recreate one sound source.

With surround sound, it is possible to place audible cues with ease because of the presence of more speakers. This however does not mean precise imaging ceases to be important. In the event that one needs front-to-back or left-to-right pans to produce natural sound, it is necessary to have an exact image. With high end cables, it is possible to add the precise image and therefore increase music realness and excitement. Precise image formation is also a requirement for the central channel to disappear when playing surround program material.

The best cables make use of large conductor gauge or several litz wires that are representative of a large gauge. With such an arrangement, there will be less inductance and resistance. This will bring about improved dynamics. It will however be dependent on capacity of the amp to deliver current whenever there is need as well as efficiency of the loudspeaker.

For a cable to serve its purpose effectively there must be a high quality source, preamp and amplification equipment. Failure of these aspects to be qualitative and the system performance will be limited. To the contrary, top quality cables are able to enhance sound in virtually any system.

Insulation is also an important factor. It determines speaker performance. Teflon is among the best insulators. It is costly, which is why polyethylene may be used as a compromise.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment