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Does upgrading my center speaker wire make a difference?

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Ok. Well, I don’t clip the amp but wanna help the sound and maybe get more sound volume without cranking up the dB on the center.

I just ordered one and will see how it does and measure.
It won't (Can't) make any difference.

Unless it has cost trivial money I'd cancel that order if I were you.

EDIT:
Let's say your current cable is 14 guage. Then its resistance is (at 8ft x 2) about 0.04 ohm. Your speakers are nominal 8 ohm. Lets say they dip down to 5 ohm at that midrange frequency.

Now let's say your new speaker cables are miraculous unobtainium, and have zero resistance.

The maximum increase in volume that the new cable can give for that dip is an inaudible 0.07dB
 
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"Hey guys, should I buy a new cable?"

Reply 1: No.
Reply 2. No.
Reply 3. No, it won't help.
Reply 4: Heck no, and here's why.
Reply 5: No.
....
Reply 17: No
Reply 18: No, it's a waste of money.


"Thanks guys, I just bought a new cable."



:facepalm:
 
Ok. Well, I don’t clip the amp but wanna help the sound and maybe get more sound volume without cranking up the dB on the center.

I just ordered one and will see how it does and measure.
As somebody else already pointed out, it may be a bad contact. That will change with the cable, maybe. Maybe you can return the by length customized cable later after investigation.

As you mentioned some measurements, did you measure a signal loss from amp to speaker, using Ohm's law (it's in the wiki). Did you measure, in comparison, the signal to center versus signal to L/R speakers? If so does it match expectations, different sensitivities considered?

Lucky us, having a hobby that is based on basic tech and universal logic.
 
Jeez, so much flaming going on here! It's becoming an unusable forum with all the smart a$* comments...

Well, for ALL it's worth, here's my results!

- Changed the wires from what I had to 8TC
- Re-ran the Audyssey, it needed ONE LESS dB of amplification to match R/L!
- The frequency charts are DIFFERENT (see below)

I asked AI to compare these two:
  • The "Old Wire" shows more pronounced peaks and troughs, indicating an uneven frequency response, which could suggest more distortion or interference.
  • The "New Wire" has a flatter response, with smaller variations, implying better performance (e.g., less signal loss or interference across the frequency range).

OLD WIRE:
old wire (cropped).png


NEW WIRE:
new wire (cropped).png




Soooooo, ALL of you super smart ppl, were WRONG! The cable MAKES A DIFFERENCE, Kimber Kable maybe overpriced at MSRP, but I bought it used, so for me it's quite worth it.


This forum is now just a flame throwing exercise, mostly due to Amir attitude of flaming everyone, and any manufacturer (unless Topping), and thinking he/you are the smartest in the world!

Anyhow, maybe my experience here helps someone. I am pretty happy with the result and hope you all enjoy flaming everyone else out there!
 
It won't (Can't) make any difference.

Unless it has cost trivial money I'd cancel that order if I were you.

EDIT:
Let's say your current cable is 14 guage. Then its resistance is (at 8ft x 2) about 0.04 ohm. Your speakers are nominal 8 ohm. Lets say they dip down to 5 ohm at that midrange frequency.

Now let's say your new speaker cables are miraculous unobtainium, and have zero resistance.

The maximum increase in volume that the new cable can give for that dip is an inaudible 0.07dB

I bought it on marketplace locally and results are good, see my last post. I am not 100% sure of my last cable gauge, I will check later if interested.
 
You say you have a dip in the mids, have you checked to make sure that Audyssey's midrange compensation is turned off? Don't worry about Audyssey changing speaker levels by a few db, that's exactly what it is supposed to do.

Thanks, it's BEFORE the dip application.
 
I asked AI to compare these two:
  • The "Old Wire" shows more pronounced peaks and troughs, indicating an uneven frequency response, which could suggest more distortion or interference.
  • The "New Wire" has a flatter response, with smaller variations, implying better performance (e.g., less signal loss or interference across the frequency range).
But actually, none of that seems true. Don't ask AI, just look. To my eye there's nothing that couldn't be expected run-to-run variations.

I made an overlay:
comparison.png

These types of variations are not achievable by switching out your wire in the first place. A wire can't flatten your frequency response, at least not like this. Going from the absolute worst to best case wire will be like removing a very, very slight lowpass filter and attenuator. That's not what we see here.

I'd bet however much money you want it's just from variations inherent in the measurement, i.e. background noise, random acoustic fluctuations, etc.

The 1dB change might be from less oxidation on the new wire. This is known to happen when wires are left in place for a while. The oxidized bit of exposed metal has significantly higher resistance.

Please don't take any of this personally. You asked for advice. The advice you've been given in this thread is scientifically correct. You ignored it. People commented on that. Did you want congratulations on your purchase?

ASR is mostly about fighting nonsense. The claims made by Kimber and others regarding this cable are straight up nonsense.
 
Sorry, there was no advice, was all FLAMING, cables don't matter, you're an idiot, you're a fool, etc... comments.

It sure made a difference, not significant, but for sure there is, contrary to all the HATERS! There is 1dB volume difference, which is audible, and there's less dip in 1K-3K range.

SO MUCH HATE man... OMG!
 
Sorry, there was no advice, was all FLAMING, cables don't matter, you're an idiot, you're a fool, etc... comments.

It sure made a difference, not significant, but for sure there is, contrary to all the HATERS! There is 1dB volume difference, which is audible, and there's less dip in 1K-3K range.

SO MUCH HATE man... OMG!
Maybe avoid the histrionics, and just wonder at what makes the new wire better?
I would suggest maybe doing a dozen measurements with each wire…
 
Are you listening to your speaker wire or are you listening to your movies?
 
  • The "Old Wire" shows more pronounced peaks and troughs, indicating an uneven frequency response, which could suggest more distortion or interference.
  • The "New Wire" has a flatter response, with smaller variations, implying better performance (e.g., less signal loss or interference across the frequency range).
Either of these results could be interpreted as superior because nobody has a reference as per what the perfect example is supposed to be. Just because there is a difference does not indicate one is better than the other. The other thing is that test variations result in all tests and this could be that too.
 
The OP is demonstrating classic value rigidity. If this is deemed as flaming... it confirms, not refutes the claim.

"The old South Indian Monkey Trap, which depends on value rigidity for its effectiveness. The trap consists of a hollowed-out coconut chained to a stake. The coconut has some rice inside which can be grabbed through a small hole. The hole is big enough so that the monkey's hand can go in, but too small for his fist with rice in it to come out. The monkey reaches in and is suddenly trapped...by nothing more than his own value rigidity. He can't revalue the rice. He cannot see that freedom without rice is more valuable than capture with it. The villagers are coming to get him and take him away. They're coming closer -- closer! -- now! What general advice...not specific advice...but what general advice would you give the poor monkey in circumstances like this?

Well, I think you might say exactly what I've been saying about value rigidity, with perhaps a little extra urgency. There is a fact this monkey should know: if he opens his hand he's free. But how is he going to discover this fact? By removing the value rigidity that rates rice above freedom. How is he going to do that? Well, he should somehow try to slow down deliberately and go over ground that he has been over before and see if things he thought were important really were important and, well, stop yanking and just stare at the coconut for a while. Before long he should get a nibble from a little fact wondering if he is interested in it. He should try to understand this fact not so much in terms of his big problem as for its own sake. That problem may not be as big as he thinks it is. That fact may not be as small as he thinks it is either. That's about all the general information you can give him."
 
Good grief the wire didn't make the difference, Audyssey results can vary from one measurement to another nor is using the graphs particularly accurate for such determination. You simply have a different sensitivity of the center speaker vs your L/R speakers and need to adjust channel level to match. You're the one coming here with little experience or understanding....
 
Sorry, there was no advice, was all FLAMING
Eh, I think anyone reading the thread would see that's an exaggeration.

Cables almost never affect sound quality in any meaningful way. Your own graphs actually show that. Most of the thread was trying to convey that.

I'm not going to claim every comment in this thread was super polite, and that's something we can collectively work on. But the goal of most people who have replied here was to save you money and help you achieve better sound.

If you spend some time here you'll come to realize that most posters know what they are talking about, and some of them are just tired of rehashing the same argument over and over. Again, it's nothing personal.
 
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The OP is demonstrating classic value rigidity. If this is deemed as flaming... it confirms, not refutes the claim.

"The old South Indian Monkey Trap, which depends on value rigidity for its effectiveness. The trap consists of a hollowed-out coconut chained to a stake. The coconut has some rice inside which can be grabbed through a small hole. The hole is big enough so that the monkey's hand can go in, but too small for his fist with rice in it to come out. The monkey reaches in and is suddenly trapped...by nothing more than his own value rigidity. He can't revalue the rice. He cannot see that freedom without rice is more valuable than capture with it. The villagers are coming to get him and take him away. They're coming closer -- closer! -- now! What general advice...not specific advice...but what general advice would you give the poor monkey in circumstances like this?

Well, I think you might say exactly what I've been saying about value rigidity, with perhaps a little extra urgency. There is a fact this monkey should know: if he opens his hand he's free. But how is he going to discover this fact? By removing the value rigidity that rates rice above freedom. How is he going to do that? Well, he should somehow try to slow down deliberately and go over ground that he has been over before and see if things he thought were important really were important and, well, stop yanking and just stare at the coconut for a while. Before long he should get a nibble from a little fact wondering if he is interested in it. He should try to understand this fact not so much in terms of his big problem as for its own sake. That problem may not be as big as he thinks it is. That fact may not be as small as he thinks it is either. That's about all the general information you can give him."

WTF you're talking about... all of you claimed I am idiot trying to change cables for better sound of center speaker, I DID, and IT CHANGED, measurably with 1dB difference in volume and a different frequency response, then I AM demonstrating value rigidity?!

YOU ALL ARE.. it's amazing, I come ask, you all FLAME OUT, I try and it works and I prove it... you STILL FLAME OUT! LOL!
 
Eh, I think anyone reading the thread would see that's an exaggeration.

Cables almost never affect sound quality in any meaningful way. Your own graphs actually show that. Most of the thread was trying to convey that.

I'm not going to claim every comment in this thread was super polite, and that's something we can collectively work on. But the goal of most people who have replied here was to save you money and help you achieve better sound.

If you spend some time here you'll come to realize that most posters know what they are talking about, and some of them are just tired of rehashing the same argument over and over. Again, it's nothing personal.

Whatever dude, the 1dB difference and the smoother chart (subtle for sure) says otherwise, so does my ears. Even my wife noted that vocals are more clear when we watched some TV tonight. You go believe whatever you want to.
 
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