[SWG255]

Greetings:

I read with interest the "Bound for Sound' review of the RM40s, and noted the reviewer wasn't happy with the RM40s connected to his amplification with Audience speaker wire. unfortunately this is what i just ordered from Nathan at Eighth Nerve for my current loudspeakers and my Carver Pro ZR 1600 Tripath amp. This won't be so bad if Lowe's 9 gauge wire will actually sound great with the RM40s. Has anyone else tried this cheap alternative with the RM40s, and if so, what did you hear? Am I likely to be unhappy with the Audience Conductor speaker wire and the RM40s? What other wire should I consider? Unfortunately, after buying and mod'ing the ZR 1600 and if I buy the RM40s, i won't have any money left to buy speaker wire like Bolder or other brands which seem to be liked around the Circles. I'm still curious which wire folks are using with their VMPS speakers, particularly the RM40s, and with which amplification using that wire.

Thanks very much!

[Tyson]

Make sure to get a bybee'd jumper to take that switch out of the path.  Wayne at Boulder sells them, and they are a very nice improvement regardless of what speaker wire you end up with.

But, for the record, I like the Nitro speaker wire from Bolder cables - very dynamic.

[John Casler]

While I haven't exactly raved about it, the AudioQuest CV-6 (with the battery charged dielectric) has been very good and has offered a very "resolving" abillty that has allowed us to hear differences in components, conditioners, power cords and interconnects, and is not too expensive.

I also have used the Apature Black Beauty, which is very reasonable and maybe just a small notch below the AudioQuest.

But you can spend some dough, and I have heard Brian's Kimber Cable (I think) and I know it is not the cheap stuff.

[Marbles]

What did you think of that Cerro 6 ga from Lowes?

At least it was worth what you paid for it  

[SWG255]

OK, this is probably what I get for asking questions about speakers I haven't even seen yet, but which switch should be removed from the "path" with a Bybee'd jumper?

Thanks.

Make sure to get a bybee'd jumper to take that switch out of the path.  Wayne at Boulder sells them, and they are a very nice improvement regardless of what speaker wire you end up with.

But, for the record, I like the Nitro speaker wire from Bolder cables - very dynamic.

[Tyson]

On the back of the 40's is a switch that acts as an internal jumper - in the up position it does not connect the upper and lower binding posts, and you can bi-wire or bi-amp.  In the lower position it does connect the binding posts internally, and you can run a single wire to each speaker.

I recommend toggling the switch out and using bi-wire jumpers.  And, since you are using jumpers you might as well throw a bybee filter in there.  The 40's benefit from the effects of bybees enormously.

[SWG255]

I didn't buy the cable from Lowe's yet, I don't have the speakers and haven't even finally decided on them. I'm just trying to get my ducks in a row for the probable purchase later this month. I was also amused by the reviewer's comments that the RM40s like fat wire, specifically $20 9 gauge wire from Lowe's. I think it would be a hoot if the wire from Lowe's actually does sound good, or do I have to be an audiophool snob to own RM40s? <grin>

 

What did you think of that Cerro 6 ga from Lowes?

At least it was worth what you paid for it  :lol:

[SWG255]

Tyson, thanks for the explanation. I remember reading about the switch, and bypassing it with jumpers sounds good. Do you know how far apart the upper and lower sets of binding posts are on the RM40? It turns out I'm getting a set of 6 inch bi-wire jumpers for my current speakers  to go with the Audience Conductor I ordered for them, since I won't be bi-wiring them. I suspect I'll have to move up to the Bolder cable and Bybee jumpers, but we'll see.

 

On the back of the 40's is a switch that acts as an internal jumper - in the up position it does not connect the upper and lower binding posts, and you can bi-wire or bi-amp.  In the lower position it does connect the binding posts internally, and you can run a single wire to each speaker.

I recommend toggling the switch out and using bi-wire jumpers.  And, since you are using jumpers you might as well throw a bybee filter in there.  The 40's benefit from the effects of bybees enormously.

[Tyson]

6 inches is not long enough, 18 inches is what you need.

[Juan R]

I did make the 6g lowes,  not expensive and good sound specially for mid and high. but if you want to make speakers cables, try solid pure silver 14g for base, 16g fot mid and high.

[SWG255]

I'll bet silver DYI cable is expensive, probably too rich for my blood.

Thanks.

I did make the 6g lowes,  not expensive and good sound specially for mid and high. but if you want to make speakers cables, try solid pure silver 14g for base, 16g fot mid and high.

[Marbles]

swg255, the question on Lowes wire was for John Casler, whose post was right above mine.

I sent him some Lowes 6 Ga wire.  I was not all that impressed with it, but it was not broken in nor was it twisted very tight.

[rkapadia@ROOP]

SWG255,

There's no need to strain your budget off the bat.  Looks like you've made some significant purchases, and at the very least you should enjoy them to judge the quality of your decisions.  Part of this hobby is learning as we go, and to make each subsequent purchase the perfect match for our system needs / listening preferences / budget.

Also, your components are going to take quite a bit of time to break in; your speakers specifically.   I don't think the 400 hour mark is unreasonable - to this end I think it also makes sense to wait and judge the characteristics of each component before attempting to audition / match cables.  Maybe it's a good thing your budget is preventing you from making a cable purchase right away?

And, of course, your ears are the best proof of all - words and recommendations may lead you in the right direction, but never doubt your own listening.  If you don't hear a difference, it's not worth it.

Kind Regards,

Rup

[John Casler]

What did you think of that Cerro 6 ga from Lowes?

At least it was worth what you paid for it  

Hey Ribbons,   Is that your new name?

I regret that I haven't had time to "twist it up" and terminate it yet. and yes the price was "extremely" right.

I did get some 6ga spades to do the job and as soon as I get a spare moment, I'll cut, twist, crimp and tin and then after a burn in, I'll try and report and see if my ears and current "reference cables" are up for the challenge.

[Sedona Sky Sound]

I personally do not care for the 6 AWG or 8 AWG THHN wire by itself. However, I am a huge fan of the design originated by Stan Warren. Tightly helixed quad 12 AWG THHN wire with a heat-shrink cover works extremely well. Using it in a normal single wire configuration it will sound somewhat layed back but give great bass. Where this design really shines is when it is used for the bass portion in a bi-wire configuration. For the mid/treble on the RM40 you can use a smaller guage copper or silver cable to get the best possible resolution (I use Teflon covered copper helix in my demo room). I have had a couple of folks bring over their much more expensive cables (Tara Labs bi-wire, MIT, Cardas, etc.) and so-far everyone has prefered mine (difference is most pronounced when switching from my bi-wire to a singe run of something else so I admit this is not always a fair fight). Based upon my experience, bi-wire is definitely the way to go with the RM40s (slightly better than using a single run with jumper).      

Also, Cerro is technically not the correct wire to use. You want Southwire brand THHN which uses a combination uni-lay configuration. I am not certain, but I think the Cerro uses a slightly different configuration that still meets THHN spec but does not have the same sonic benefit.

Overall, IMHO you should not have to spend more than $200 for speaker cables (less than $50 if you are into DIY) with the RM40s. One "click" on the treble pot will likely make more difference to the sound than spending twice as much for a slightly "brighter/layed-back/netutral/etc) cable  (assuming your cable is not attenuation the high frequencies). That is one of the greatest benefits of Brian's design.  

Julian
www.sedonaskysound.com

[tkp]

I think I am one of a few that prefer the Lowes 6 gauge wire over any thing else for the RM40s.  I built a set of a bout 3 ft long biwiring, tightly twisted (but not tight enough to bend the wire), and tied the wire together with cable tie to prevent movement.  In addtion, the cable is elevated in the air.  So far, I have been very happy with the result.

I also built one set of IC using the Belden 8422 with correct shielding connection and once again I prefer this cable over both the Boulder M-80 (Cryo and non-Cryo) and the nOrh silver wires.  The best of all is that these cables are dirt cheap and provided excellent results.  

If money is no object, I would like to build some silver foil speaker cables and I might still do that some day.

[Juan R]

I do not remember exactly but was like less than $100.00 for each set of 7ft., the wire was around $2.00ft, plus the teflon cover like $7.00, spades around $20.00, tex flex maybe around $5.00.

[JoshK]

Overall, IMHO you should not have to spend more than $200 for speaker cables (less than $50 if you are into DIY) with the RM40s. One "click" on the treble pot will likely make more difference to the sound than spending twice as much for a slightly "brighter/layed-back/netutral/etc) cable (assuming your cable is not attenuation the high frequencies). That is one of the greatest benefits of Brian's design.

This is the crowning statement!  In my limited experience playing with cables on these speakers this is exactly right.   Getting a cable that provides you the most extended frequency response that you want and then adjusting the pots to give you a flat tonal response is worth more than spending mega $$$ on expensive cables.  Many of the cables I tried were nothing more than an EQ that I would have to readjust my speakers to compensate for.

[PLMONROE]

Lowes 6AWG wire-----.  I searched long and hard to  find this, twisted two 15 foot pairs tightly, cyro treated them, and let them break in for well over 100 hours, and hopefully did everything exactly right. You know the old addage that you get what you pay for? Not so! This would not be a good deal, IMHO, even if it were for free. At that time I was driving my RM-40's with monoblock VTL MB-250's (250 watts of triode tube power) and the wire made everything sound "muddy". Look at the threads on this and you will page after page after page on how to do it but virtually no reports on "how things turned out" which I find very intresting.

Paul

[LAL]

I built the 6awg wire using the same brand and wire type of the Stan Warren design on  RM40's. I used this in place of a set of Mapleshade Golden Helix Plus cables. After a few weeks I substituted the Mapleshades back in for 6awg again. They were OK but not as good as the Mapleshades
I later converted part of them to jumpers which worked fairly well. More recently after looking at Julien's very nice bi-wires I decided to try the Stan Warren design, being fortunate to have access to the correct  General Cable wire(its not necessarily easy find).  I tried the Warren cables on the bass and the Mapleshades on the mid/highs. It worked very well. Although I never had problem with bass using the Mapleshades  to my ear the bass was even better biwired with the Warrens. After a few weeks of break in I switched cables using the Mapleshades for bass and the Warrens for mid/highs.  Initially I thought the Warrens were slightly harsh compared to the Mapleshades while the Mapleshades were obviously not up to the Warrens in reproducing the bass. In every other area I thought the Warrens were as good as or better than the Mapleshades for the mid/highs. Over time the Warrens smoothed out and started losing the slightly hard edge. After a couple more weeks I again switched the cables with the Warrens on the bass and the Mapleshades on the mid/highs. It didn't take me long to find that I preferred the Warrens on both the mid/highs and the bass over the  Mapleshades. I am now in the process of making a second set so I can have the Warrens all the way around. If Julien's bass cable is as good as the Stan Warren cable I made(the wire apparently comes from different companies)and his mid/high cables are even better then his biwire cable must be a great bargain. I would like to see a review of it here especially compared to the Bolder cables.