Unusual Speaker Cable strand identification

[SeriousSeri]

Hey folks.

Long time reader here that thought I was signed up here since long, but apparently that was not the case...

So I tripped over a cable at home I wanted to rewire for Bi-Wiring. In the last configuration is was only used in the classic configuration with all strands soldered into Banana plugs (inkluding the non insulated strand on the black side).

Now I have discovered something I haven't seen before, one of the strands has a air filled hose in the middle, and only litzes surrounding that.
I know those (mostly ptfe) tubes as insulation between strands, but have never seen it in this configuration.

Which cables would you use for what in a bi wiring setup? The speaker is a 2,5 way with 2x 150mm and an AMT tweeter.

My thought would be to use the "special" red cable plus a regular black one for the tweeter, and then two normal black ones plus the "free" strand together with the the regular 3 red ones on the other.

Does anybody recognize this construction? Thoughts on my configuration?

Thanks in advance guys and have a nice day =)

 

[MarkS]

Welcome to the forum!

I think most of us here believe (based on extensive measurements and blind listening tests) that cables do not impact the sound, except in the rare situation that the total resistance is unusually high for some reason (like a very long run). In accord with that, there are no benefits to bi-wiring, so few of us do it.

 

[Doodski]

I wanted to rewire for Bi-Wiring.

Bi-wiring is a 100% waste of wire and time. Bi-wiring does nothing useful for the sound quality. If you want change then bi-amp or run it as a active system with a electronic crossover.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Bi-Wiring and even passive Bi-Amping are all an audio myths, which have been debunked many times over.

Bi-amping 101

This article provides a quick look at how bi-amplification works. The conventional scheme is to split the signal into two frequency bands before the power amplifiers that drive the speakers. The bass (LF) amp sees only LF signals and drives only the LF driver (woofer). The treble (HF) amp sees...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Hipper]

Is there nothing printed on the cables. I assume you don't know their history.

 

[Sokel]

Audioquest probably

 

[SeriousSeri]

Hey guys, thanks for the input so far.
The cables are not audio quests, but on the web you can't find any information on them unfortunately. They are designated "high end" speaker cables though.

The weird red one is btw NOT a coaxial one, it's hollow in the inside and then there is the outer copper layer like you would have on a coaxial cable.

I did not want to discuss Bi+Wiring in itself, although I would love to see measurements on a real speaker loaded cable on an Amp, especially with a precision current clamp and real time measurements, just out of curiosity of course.

The cables I have are partly just already wired up for Bi-Wiring, so I won't cut them to redo them into single wire ones. Some are single wire anyway and I did not bother to go Bi-Wire with them either.

This one I wanted to use for the center speaker, and was mainly curious about this cable.
No matter what the Bi-Wiring debate brought up here, I can only guess that it does no harm at least, and so for the sake of cohesiveness with the other fronts I'll just wanted to hook them up like that, since I have spare jacks lying around anyway.

 

[Doodski]

with a precision current clamp

I don't think current clamp sensors are precision devices. For precision a inline meter is the best method.

 

[DSJR]

Bi-Wiring and even passive Bi-Amping are all an audio myths, which have been debunked many times over.

Bi-amping 101

This article provides a quick look at how bi-amplification works. The conventional scheme is to split the signal into two frequency bands before the power amplifiers that drive the speakers. The bass (LF) amp sees only LF signals and drives only the LF driver (woofer). The treble (HF) amp sees...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I'd disagree on the bi-amping part, as back in my day, some speakers did sound 'bigger and easier' in bi-amped mode. Maybe the driving amps were crap and preferred the slightly easier drive situation, I don't know...

 

[SeriousSeri]

You are right ofc,
but the measurement method aside, It would be interesting to check for any backwards effects, which in my opinion is the whole reason for the Bi-Wiring story.

Then again, I am not stating it is acoustically better or not, this is out of pure academic interest.

But I emphasize, this was not meant to be a Bi-whatever discussion thread

 

[DSJR]

It's ok, but the reason for you carving into the cable is in my opinion an unnecessary one I now feel

 

[SeriousSeri]

The cable was already missing one of the connectors when I got it (I did not buy it!)

That's why I carved the other one open to get matching connectors on it that's when I discovered this.