Dueland speaker cable

The choice of speaker cable is not (electrically) a universal panacea, nor can generalisations be drawn universally except where highly reactive cables are concerned. People tend to forget that it's one link in a whole circuit formed by your amps' output stage and the loudspeaker load which is highly reactive in terms of both impedance with frequency and in terms of things like back emf which has an impact on the driving amplifier (and hence why damping factor is important).  Each system may be unique in this respect.

If you ditch the majority of reactive cable designs (ie those which are highly capacitative) then really it's the remaining reactance characteristics and gauge which become important.

Recommending a specific cable for one system where it will work well as it's a perfect match for those system configurations will not mean that it will also be a perfect match for other systems, other than the characteristic of total loop resistance.

I keep a fair few here for comparison purposes, from a £900 3m pair to an inexpensive multistrand. For my own system, whilst there may be minor differences between cables of similar guage, the only time a major change was heard was when experimenting with 2mm2 chinese multistrand which was woven into a braid. It killed dynamics and was rolled off due to capacitance being high. Even in non-braided form it made music sound dull. It was the worst recycled copper rubbish I've ever tested and went into the recycling bin.

I then tested other cables against the most expensive one, and one stood out head and shoulders for me as the best...Fisual S Flex 2.5mm2. Inexpensive, high quality ultra pure OFC made in GB, well made, and with controlled capacitance (being on the low side). It has so far beat most comers.

Speaker cable is one area where more spent does not = better performance. You simply have to match cable with circuit requirements and try and keep loop resistance low.

For those who were unaware, loop resistance starts become critical in terms of things like bass control where you have a passive crossover that already contains relatively high losses of, say, more than 0.5 to 0.75 ohms combined with a relatively low minimum impedance in the bass sections, particularly in the sub 150 Htz regions.

ANY resistance added to the already relatively high crossover losses combine with amplifier output impedance and speaker cable loop resistance to reduce damping factor and control and can lead to poorer sound quality into the lower midrange area.

All you can do is to use a reasonable gauge to minimise losses and avoid reactive cables and it's a safe bet you'll pick a cable that works fine. Avoiding anything braided or containing filters, or flat cables like the flat ribbon back to back stacked cables (I've seen these result in an amp's output stage catching fire!) is good advice.

Bought and collected some yesterday, and an interconnects kits with the duelund dca20ga cable.

Please do Oli.

I have various home brewed creations here too plus Black Rhodium (which I like).

'I then tested other cables against the most expensive one, and one stood out head and shoulders for me as the best...Fisual S Flex 2.5mm2. Inexpensive, high quality ultra pure OFC made in GB, well made, and with controlled capacitance (being on the low side). It has so far beat most comers.'

Ha, my old cable that I have returned to is Fisual Hollywood twist so probably very similar. Good to know the technical reasons, thanks

As long as you're not coughing like a chain smoker or sneezing like a snotty thing, you're most welcome.  

Make sure it's the pointy bit at the end you're plugging in and not your shoelaces LoL!