When purchasing speaker wires for an audio system, it is necessary to proceed first of all from budget possibilities. Since the cost of some types of such cables can be quite high. If your acoustics is an inexpensive class device, then you should not really think about the choice of wires, the simplest ones will do. But if you have a serious system, high-quality speakers, a powerful sound amplifier, then you need to pay serious attention to the choice of cable.
Acoustic wire: technical features
The decisive factor for this type of cable is its resistance. That is, the lower the resistance value of the wire, the higher, the better the signal that is transmitted through it. This parameter depends on the material of which the cable is made, on its diameter and, of course, length. The acoustic wire is a pair of insulated metal cores with shells interconnected. The most popular are copper cables, consisting of 20 strands woven together. Each such wire is characterized by low resistance. The cross section is small, and the total resistance is lower than that of a solid wire with the same diameter. Mentioned acoustic wires allow the propagation of the signal to reach a speed close to the value of the speed of light. However, a thick cable is recommended to be used when its length does not exceed three meters. If the length of the core is three meters and the diameter is 2.5 mm, then its resistance will be practically equal to zero. When thin acoustic wires with a diameter of 0.5 mm are used (or they are too long), in this case the cable resistance will be commensurate with the resistance of the amplifier and speakers. As a result , the power of the sound amplifier will be spent on overcoming the resistance of the wire, that is, part of the power does not reach the speakers, which leads to a decrease in sound. In order for the speaker system to work with the least losses, it is recommended to use a cable whose core diameter is not lower than 2.5-4 mm, and as short as possible.
Varieties of speaker wires
1. OFC - high purity oxygen-free copper cable.
2. OSS - a wire from single-crystal copper.
3. Composite (composite) cable - consists of several metals. Such wires are covered with a layer of tin or silver, or both.
4. Combined cable - impurities, such as carbon, are added to the metal.
5. Twisted pair.
How do insulating materials affect the cable?
When choosing acoustic wires, you should pay attention to the material of the insulating coating. Teflon is considered the best. Insulation from such a low density (or foamed) material is especially appreciated. Polypropylene is considered to be slightly worse than Teflon, but much better than polyvinyl chloride, which is most common today. Polyvinyl chloride is the cheapest material used to insulate power and acoustic wires. It has a parasitic effect of accumulation of charge, respectively, this greatly affects the sound quality (makes it inexpressive). The longer the cable, the stronger the effect.