Thought it would be good to share this, since it's relevant and someone could also be interested. There's a reputable source that it's actually okay to use litz wire. And another of the manufacturers that thinks skin effect is actually good. QED does have their cheapest speaker cables that is just zip cord, but then again they contradict their own technical documents by using silver-plating in RCA cables and the like?!
"Braided cables utilize multiple individually insulated conductors (usually 22-26AWG) twisted in a pattern that helps to reduce series mutual inductance but usually at the expense of increased capacitance. Remember anytime you bring conductors closer together, the inductance gets reduced but capacitance goes up. I do appreciate these type of cable designs if they aren't overly blown out of proportion with high capacitance needing a zobel network termination to prevent amplifier oscillation for long runs. Braided cables are a fine choice provided that you aren't sacrificing resistance for the design."
We discuss speaker wire gauge and how to choose the best audio cables based on your loudspeaker impedance and distance to your amplifier to achieve best performance.
www.audioholics.com
"The result of skin effect is a rise in cable impedance at very high frequencies, due to the shrinking effective conducting area increasing the total impedance. (Curiously, unlike inductance, skin effect does not introduce phase shift but does give rise to increased power loss in the cable).
"In radio-frequency applications (way above the audio range) skin effect can be a serious problem, overcome by silver plating to reduce resistance at the surface, where the bulk of the high-frequency current flows. In audio cables, the assumption that skin effect is worth tackling has resulted in loudspeaker cables with single strands of diameter equal to or less than twice the effective signal penetration depth (the depth at which current density is reduced to 63% of its normal value) at some high audio frequency. The idea being that the cable will operating at all frequencies in reduced- current-density mode. By doing so, the symptoms of skin effect are swamped (though it has not been beaten) while the overall impedance of the cable has been increased at all frequencies.
"Interestingly, measured values of phase shift are generally lower than the theoretical predictions because skin effect, which is resistive in nature, increases the AC impedance of cable without introducing phase shift of its own. Curiously, skin effect actually reduces phase shift by countering the inductive reactance of the cable. (Those who wish to take this further are referred to text books on AC phasor theory)."
The once humble loudspeaker cable has seen a meteoric rise in importance in recent years. Previously almost an afterthought, cables are now crucial high-technology audio components in their own right, though often cloaked unnecessarily in mystery and intrigue.
www.qed.co.uk