nightfishing
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KEF blog post on cables
- Thread starter nightfishing
- Start date
The aftermarket rattle can painted spoiler on my Nissan 350Z makes it faster to me, so it was worth it.
It is mostly a good read. Some strange things in there though like using "bare" wires for his speakers? What does that mean? Uninsulated?
DKT88
Active Member
I think he means he doesn't use banana plugs, etc. on the stripped wire ends and puts a little solder on the ends.
Ah, that makes sense then. 
Hypnotoad
Active Member
I love this part as I see people touting the benefits of quality (expensive) power cables all the time:
A Quick Note On Power Cables
As with everything, quality counts but there are limits as to what a power cable can do for your sound.
Walk outside and look up at the utility pole outside of your house. See those steel cables up on the top? That's where your power comes from before it goes into your house and magically squirts out of the wall. If you think a good insulator and conductor alone is going to clean that power up, I've got some cable I'd like to sell you. Quality components all contain circuits to filter the power inside of the individual components in your system so spend your money on good components that are well-designed on the inside and you won't have to worry about how well your comparatively incredibly short power cable cleans up all of that mess acquired in a potentially thousand-plus mile outdoor cable run.
A Quick Note On Power Cables
As with everything, quality counts but there are limits as to what a power cable can do for your sound.
Walk outside and look up at the utility pole outside of your house. See those steel cables up on the top? That's where your power comes from before it goes into your house and magically squirts out of the wall. If you think a good insulator and conductor alone is going to clean that power up, I've got some cable I'd like to sell you. Quality components all contain circuits to filter the power inside of the individual components in your system so spend your money on good components that are well-designed on the inside and you won't have to worry about how well your comparatively incredibly short power cable cleans up all of that mess acquired in a potentially thousand-plus mile outdoor cable run.
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
Active Member
"What you want is an insulator resilient to everyday wear and tear, and that has been designed to shield your audio signals from electromagnetic pollution like radio waves. RF will not directly affect your audio performance but can possibly affect the performance of circuits within your equipment."
So shielded cables are recommended for speaker cables?
So shielded cables are recommended for speaker cables?
GrimSurfer
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With a drain wire connected to what (safely)?
The insulation on a normal cable (any cable) will accomplish what you need unless you live in an exceptionally electronically noisy location.
Noted but typically speaker cables are unshielded though? KEF is referring to shielded cables in the quote above.
My understanding is that standard insulated cable makes use of a twisted pair to reduce noise. Unless you are in an environment with significant electromagnetic interference, an EMI shielded cable is unlikely to provide much benefit.
Of course, if someone has numbers showing otherwise, happy to review and learn!
DKT88
Active Member
I think he was just sloppy in combining the functions of interconnects and speaker cables and wasn't advocating for shielded speaker cables. His writing would get a B- in my technical writing class.
