What cables do you use in your systems?

[Gary_G]

whatever was in my box of extra cables.

 

[fpitas]

68 pages later, and it's obvious no one here has any idea how important high-end cables are.

/

 

[MarcT]

Well, not exactly cables, but what about those terminal jumpers which many manufacturers use? The jumpers that came on my Sonus Faber Lumina V towers are a joke. I can't believe how thin and chintzy these terminal jumpers are. All four jumpers together weigh only 7 grams. Two of them seem to weigh 3 grams. This puts them at around 1.5 grams, each. No wonder my bass had so little impact(I connect my speaker cables to the top terminals in an attempt to get the best high frequency sound).

I've been rather underwhelmed by my Lumina V's from the start. Not that they sound terrible, but I was just getting very little mid-range and bass impact from them. They just sounded rather "blah" and uninvolving, to the point that I was thinking about selling them and getting different speakers. After stumbling across a YT video of a guy who purported that replacing the stock terminal jumpers with quality copper wire terminal jumpers improved the sound quality, I thought, okay, I have some good terminal jumpers on my old Legacy Audio speakers in the other room.

So, I removed the seemingly weightless jumpers from the Lumina's and installed the wire jumpers. Holy impact, Batman, my Lumina's roared to life. No way this much difference is expectation or confirmation bias, as the difference is not subtle. It's obvious that my power amp now has much greater and tighter control over the woofers. Man, the bass lines are so much more enjoyable to listen to.

Thoughts? I know this may run against the gestalt here, but if you have speakers with thin, chintzy jumpers, you might give it a try. I think these are the ones I have, which I got off of Ebay. They're not that expensive. I have no connection to the seller, in case you're wondering.

4 SPEAKER JUMPER CABLES -(2 PAIR), Audiophile Grade 12 Gauge OFC Wire, ~8" | eBay

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[fpitas]

I'm darkly amused their pointless bi-wiring scheme is actually detrimental. No matter how much you want the oil, never follow the snake down its hole!

 

[Julf]

No way this much difference is expectation or confirmation bias, as the difference is not subtle.

I wish I could get $5 every time someone says that, and it turns out it was actually expectation/confirmation bias.

 

[fpitas]

I wish I could get $5 every time someone says that, and it turns out it was actually expectation/confirmation bias.

That could very well be. But having dealt with jumpers like that, they sometimes don't make good contact.

 

[MarcT]

I wish I could get $5 every time someone says that, and it turns out it was actually expectation/confirmation bias.

So, no thoughts or comment on the adequacy, or lack thereof, of the 1.5 gram jumpers?

 

[MarcT]

That could very well be. But having dealt with jumpers like that, they sometimes don't make good contact.

I can't believe how thin these are; it's almost like they are metal foil.

 

[fpitas]

I can't believe how thin these are; it's almost like they are metal foil.

That may not be the big issue, even though it's annoying. Ones I've had developed an oxide layer, and unless you can wrench the speaker terminals and use a copper crush washer and dielectric grease, they'll probably just get flaky again. Most likely they were an afterthought when some marketing guy said they just had to support bi-wiring.

 

[Julf]

So, no thoughts or comment on the adequacy, or lack thereof, of the 1.5 gram jumpers?

If they feed the mid/tweeter, they should be fine.

 

[MarcT]

That may not be the big issue, even though it's annoying. Ones I've had developed an oxide layer, and unless you can wrench the speaker terminals and use a copper crush washer and dielectric grease, they'll probably just get flaky again. Most likely they were an afterthought when some marketing guy said they just had to support bi-wiring.

Well, these are brand new speakers. Yes, and their bean counters may have set a price constraint on the jumpers.

 

[fpitas]

Well, these are brand new speakers. Yes, and their bean counters may have set a price constraint on the jumpers.

Oh, yes. And the engineers copped an attitude.

 

[3125b]

Thoughts?

Yeah, but you won't like them.
The resistance of these tiny jumpers pales in comparison to the resistance of the contacts (amp and speakers externally and internally), the speaker wire, the internal speaker wiring (you don't want to know what that looks like) and so on.

So, no thoughts or comment on the adequacy, or lack thereof, of the 1.5 gram jumpers?

They are either plated copper or aluminium - and carry at most half of the total current to the speaker. The total current is 8.66A (300W, 4R), so let's say 4.5A. 0.5mm² copper (0.75mm² aluminium) would do.
If you measure width and thickness you can see what the actual cross-sectional area is, I bet it's 1.5mm².

 

[MarcT]

Yeah, but you won't like them.
The resistance of these tiny jumpers pales in comparison to the resistance of the contacts (amp and speakers externally and internally), the speaker wire, the internal speaker wiring (you don't want to know what that looks like) and so on.


They are either plated copper or aluminium - and carry at most half of the total current to the speaker. The total current is 8.66A (300W, 4R), so let's say 4.5A. 0.5mm² copper (0.75mm² aluminium) would do.
If you measure width and thickness you can see what the actual cross-sectional area is, I bet it's 1.5mm².

Why wouldn't I like your thoughts? You're free to think what you want. And I don't really have a dog in the hunt as to whether your take is right or not; I just want to get the best sound I can. But I am glad you're not designing my audio system because it looks like you would use your mathematical calculations and come up with some chintzy pos jumper that would suck the life out of my system!

If you were local, I'd have you over and we could play stereo and do some blind testing to see if you or I could really hear a difference, or not.

 

[ahofer]

I know this may run against the gestalt here

Yup. Most will assume it is bad contact or imagination.

 

[MarcT]

Yup. Most will assume it is bad contact or imagination.

I'm pretty sure I had the knobs tightened down well. I guess I could try the OE jumpers again and tighten them down with pliers. But the difference after installing the wire jumpers is not imagination. The bass is markedly better and hits harder.

 

[Beave]

I have a pair of bookshelf speakers with bi-wire-capable connectors and really thin binding post straps with some sort of nickel plating on them.

I've had lots of problems with them sounding right using the supplied binding post straps. They just don't make a good connection. I frequently had to get up and reach behind the speaker and 'wiggle' them until the connection improved. The sound change is obvious when it happens. I switched to a little 3" piece of speaker wire instead of the solid binding straps and the connection is much better.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Well, not exactly cables, but what about those terminal jumpers which many manufacturers use? The jumpers that came on my Sonus Faber Lumina V towers are a joke. I can't believe how thin and chintzy these terminal jumpers are. All four jumpers together weigh only 7 grams. Two of them seem to weigh 3 grams. This puts them at around 1.5 grams, each. No wonder my bass had so little impact(I connect my speaker cables to the top terminals in an attempt to get the best high frequency sound).

I've been rather underwhelmed by my Lumina V's from the start. Not that they sound terrible, but I was just getting very little mid-range and bass impact from them. They just sounded rather "blah" and uninvolving, to the point that I was thinking about selling them and getting different speakers. After stumbling across a YT video of a guy who purported that replacing the stock terminal jumpers with quality copper wire terminal jumpers improved the sound quality, I thought, okay, I have some good terminal jumpers on my old Legacy Audio speakers in the other room.

So, I removed the seemingly weightless jumpers from the Lumina's and installed the wire jumpers. Holy impact, Batman, my Lumina's roared to life. No way this much difference is expectation or confirmation bias, as the difference is not subtle. It's obvious that my power amp now has much greater and tighter control over the woofers. Man, the bass lines are so much more enjoyable to listen to.

Thoughts? I know this may run against the gestalt here, but if you have speakers with thin, chintzy jumpers, you might give it a try. I think these are the ones I have, which I got off of Ebay. They're not that expensive. I have no connection to the seller, in case you're wondering.

4 SPEAKER JUMPER CABLES -(2 PAIR), Audiophile Grade 12 Gauge OFC Wire, ~8" | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 4 SPEAKER JUMPER CABLES -(2 PAIR), Audiophile Grade 12 Gauge OFC Wire, ~8" at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

They are fine.
Think of the width as well. They are bridges which means that if you plug your cables to the low binders they will carry the needed current for high/mid only. If you connect the cables to the top the bridges will carry the current needed for bass.

 

[MarcT]

They are fine.
Think of the width as well. They are bridges which means that if you plug your cables to the low binders they will carry the needed current for high/mid only. If you connect the cables to the top the bridges will carry the current needed for bass.

No, they are not, it's not even close. It's a huge difference, not subtle at all.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I've seen those jumpers cause connection problems. They can be cured one of two ways ( at least two). One is to go with wire between the posts. The other is to use washers to ensure a snug connection. Often the jumper don't seem to be shaped perfectly or are thin enough they get bent, and don't contact well.

I've used brass when I've used washers just because they are readily available. Stainless would probably work too. And a good hardware place will have copper crush or sealing washers. You normally will only need washers on the part of the jumper that isn't connected directly to the speaker wire if using spade or ring connectors.