[4n6]

I have been reading AudioCircle posts for about one year. I would like to thank all of the members who have helped to educate and enlighten me.  This is my first posting.  I have a Decware  SE34I amplifier,  Omega speakers with  6.5 super Alnico drivers  and an Oppo BDP 105D cd player.  I am using stock power cords and simple speaker wires. My question is "Does anyone have experience  with power cords and speaker wires that are good matches for Decware and Omega?"  I have read that well reviewed and high quality power cords may sound great in one system and poor in another system. My goal is to try to find power cords and speaker wires that will be neutral (if possible) but will improve the sound.  Thank you in advance for any recommendations.

[JerryM]

Welcome to AudioCircle, 4n6. 

[Guy 13]

A warm welcome to AudioCircle Mr. 4n6

Guy 13

[brooklyn]

[rajacat]

Shouldn't this be in the Omega Circle?

[ozoid]

I have a Decware SE84UFO and Omega Alnico monitors and I'm using WE16GA, an old (WE stands for Western Electric) and simple tinned copper strand cable made famous on Positive Feedback writer Jeff Day's block. (jeffsplace@me.com)

Can be hard to find, but it periodically shows up on eBay.

Louis Chochos, the honcho at Omega, told me not to use heavy gauge cable. He thought Blue Jeans cable was OK, but advised against Anti-Cable.

Day also recommends a relatively inexpensive interconnect made from Belden cable usually used for mics. Definitely check out his blog.

I'm still using the stock Decware power cord. Eventually I'll get something better, when I get a power conditioner. Right now, everything sounds quite good.

[JLM]

Power cords act as filters for noise created outside, but mostly inside your home, so question yourself on those points.  Is there old/heavy industry sharing your substation (Deckert has that where he works/lives)?  Old appliances, swimming pool/hot water pumps, ancient refrigerators on your transformer and/or electrical panel?  Does your system sound better at times (random or late night)?  If the answers to all this is no, then a new power cord will do little good.

Speaker cable isn't hard to figure out.  The traditional standard is 12 gauge zip cord (lamp cord you can buy in bulk at hardware stores).  Typical measurements for it are: resistance - Rdc: 3mohm/ft; inductance - Ls: 0.200uH/ft; and capacitance - Cp: 25pf/ft.  Anything you buy should state those specifications and meet or exceed those numbers (lower the better).  The best design is multiple smaller wire pairs running opposite in each pair.  EMI shielding only a concern if you're near a HAM radio or are running parallel runs of speaker cable, if so 2 wire cables should be tightly twisted, multiple pairs should be spaced from each other.  Silver plated connectors are a good choice - they don't oxidize.  The dielectrics (insulation) should have low conductivity (air, loose cotton, air-filled polymers, or teflon).

Walk away from marketing snake oil.  Conduct home auditions because you are the expert of what sounds good in your system.  The Cable Company lends out cables for that very purpose.

[MarkR7]

I have a Decware SE84UFO and Omega Alnico monitors and I'm using WE16GA, an old (WE stands for Western Electric) and simple tinned copper strand cable made famous on Positive Feedback writer Jeff Day's block. (jeffsplace@me.com)

Can be hard to find, but it periodically shows up on eBay.

Louis Chochos, the honcho at Omega, told me not to use heavy gauge cable. He thought Blue Jeans cable was OK, but advised against Anti-Cable.

Day also recommends a relatively inexpensive interconnect made from Belden cable usually used for mics. Definitely check out his blog.

+1 to the WE16ga, and the Belden 8402! Good stuff!

[sugbob21]

I use DNM cables with my Omega Super Alnico monitors....have used them with numerous amps

[nature boy]

I am using Gregg Straley Reality IC's and speaker cables.  PC's are all early generation Kaplan Cable, by our own Paul Kaplan here   I also use a DIY Felix power filter/conditioner on my preamp and sources. Works for me.

NB

[RootScript]

Power cords act as filters for noise created outside, but mostly inside your home, so question yourself on those points.  Is there old/heavy industry sharing your substation (Deckert has that where he works/lives)?  Old appliances, swimming pool/hot water pumps, ancient refrigerators on your transformer and/or electrical panel?  Does your system sound better at times (random or late night)?  If the answers to all this is no, then a new power cord will do little good.

I think this is great clear & practical advice.  You can have the best components & cables, and still suffer from a polluted electricity supply; problems can occur before the supply gets to your house or within your own ring main, so things like light dimmers wal wart switched mode power supplies etc can cause trouble within your home.  Also you may get spikes in power or may be under powering equipment, as the voltage within your home can fluctuate up & down.  Expensive cables are not going to fix the problems.
The only way I know is to isolate your audio equipment from your other appliances, & regulate the voltage to be stable, with clean AC power that is is not contaminated with DC from other equipment in your home.   To fix this problem I use an AC regenerator, a box about the same size as a UPS that I only plug my audio equipment into. Do a google search for 'AC regenerator for audio', you only need to spend hundreds NOT thousands to get what you need.

Speaker cable isn't hard to figure out.  The traditional standard is 12 gauge zip cord (lamp cord you can buy in bulk at hardware stores).  Typical measurements for it are: resistance - Rdc: 3mohm/ft; inductance - Ls: 0.200uH/ft; and capacitance - Cp: 25pf/ft.  Anything you buy should state those specifications and meet or exceed those numbers (lower the better).  The best design is multiple smaller wire pairs running opposite in each pair.  EMI shielding only a concern if you're near a HAM radio or are running parallel runs of speaker cable, if so 2 wire cables should be tightly twisted, multiple pairs should be spaced from each other.  Silver plated connectors are a good choice - they don't oxidize.  The dielectrics (insulation) should have low conductivity (air, loose cotton, air-filled polymers, or teflon).

More good CLEAR advice.  Silver plated or if you want a little better silver clad over copper is all that you need (i guess the reasoning is that the signal travels over the surface area).  The twist will help reduce 'interference', and the advice about 'loose cotton' insulation with some 'air' in there, is good advice too which seems to be trending recently.

[Phil A]

Welcome to AC!