We all know that a certain amount of controversy exists about the benefits
or not of vastly expensive oxygen free or whatever special cables to connect
one's amplifier to one's speakers. The LS3/5a, as we all know, is a
famously accurate speaker and much beloved by a certain type of music
listener, I have had my pair for twenty years and have never found any
speakers I like better (that I could afford). This weekend I have had
occasion to remove the baffle plate from my Rogers LS3/5a speakers and what
I found provokes the following question: What is the point of expensive,
fat, super cables from the amplifier when from the banana plug receptacle to
the crossover and the speakers themselves are thin, scrawny little bits of
wire such as I wouldn't use for a 25 watt light bulb? This is what I found
in my speakers and if you doubt me I suggest you take yours apart and see
what is within. Surely if these thin little bits of wire are capable of
providing the superb sound that emanates from the speaker then a decent
piece of lamp flex will be quite suitable to connect the amp to the speaker?
What arguments can be offered to support the need for expensive cables then?

D.

dersu wrote:

We all know that a certain amount of controversy exists about the benefits
or not of vastly expensive oxygen free or whatever special cables to connect
one's amplifier to one's speakers.

No controversy among the cognoscenti.

The LS3/5a, as we all know, is a
famously accurate speaker and much beloved by a certain type of music
listener, I have had my pair for twenty years and have never found any
speakers I like better (that I could afford).

Famously consistent.
Not everyone would agree about the accuracy of the BBC sound.

This weekend I have had
occasion to remove the baffle plate from my Rogers LS3/5a speakers and what
I found provokes the following question: What is the point of expensive,
fat, super cables from the amplifier when from the banana plug receptacle to
the crossover and the speakers themselves are thin, scrawny little bits of
wire such as I wouldn't use for a 25 watt light bulb?

The resistance of a wire is proportional to its length as well as the
reciprocal of its cross sectional area. Your wires are suitable.

Surely if these thin little bits of wire are capable of
providing the superb sound that emanates from the speaker then a decent
piece of lamp flex will be quite suitable to connect the amp to the speaker?

Yes. Just use the Peter Walker 5% rule.:
Cable resistance should be less than 5% of the speaker's impedance.

What arguments can be offered to support the need for expensive cables then?

Conspicuous display of wealth.

--
Eiron.

On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 19:39:40 +1300, dersu wrote:

What arguments can be offered to support the need for expensive cables then?

To impress those of your friends who can't afford them.

--
================================================== ==================
Martin Schöön * * * * * * * * * *"Problems worthy of attack
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * prove their worth by hitting back"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Piet Hein
================================================== ==================

I rewired my 25 yr old Castle Conway 2 speakers (3 way reflex) about 15
years ago with thick Naim cable that I use as my main speaker wire, I also
bypassed the internal fuses and added a few links and cut a couple of tracks
on the crossover PCB so that there was a common ground point. The result
was a cleaner, more 3-D sound, well worth the effort, and I haven't heard
anything affordable that comes close so I still use them.


"dersu" wrote in message
...
We all know that a certain amount of controversy exists about the benefits
or not of vastly expensive oxygen free or whatever special cables to
connect
one's amplifier to one's speakers. The LS3/5a, as we all know, is a
famously accurate speaker and much beloved by a certain type of music
listener, I have had my pair for twenty years and have never found any
speakers I like better (that I could afford). This weekend I have had
occasion to remove the baffle plate from my Rogers LS3/5a speakers and
what
I found provokes the following question: What is the point of expensive,
fat, super cables from the amplifier when from the banana plug receptacle
to
the crossover and the speakers themselves are thin, scrawny little bits of
wire such as I wouldn't use for a 25 watt light bulb? This is what I found
in my speakers and if you doubt me I suggest you take yours apart and see
what is within. Surely if these thin little bits of wire are capable of
providing the superb sound that emanates from the speaker then a decent
piece of lamp flex will be quite suitable to connect the amp to the
speaker?
What arguments can be offered to support the need for expensive cables
then?

D.

In article , Eiron
wrote:
dersu wrote:


The LS3/5a, as we all know, is a famously accurate speaker and much
beloved by a certain type of music listener, I have had my pair for
twenty years and have never found any speakers I like better (that I
could afford).

Famously consistent. Not everyone would agree about the accuracy of the
BBC sound.

I'm listening to a pair of LS3/5A's at the moment. I'd say the results
sound OK, but I would not call them particularly 'accurate'. As you say,
the main point of the LS3/5A was that they should give consistent results,
so that those in the BBC who used them could rely upon what they heard for
the purposes of engineering the broadcast results.


Surely if these thin little bits of wire are capable of providing the
superb sound that emanates from the speaker then a decent piece of
lamp flex will be quite suitable to connect the amp to the speaker?

Yes. Just use the Peter Walker 5% rule.: Cable resistance should be less
than 5% of the speaker's impedance.

I would be inclined to add series inductance into that equation as well.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

In article , Eiron
writes
dersu wrote:

We all know that a certain amount of controversy exists about the benefits
or not of vastly expensive oxygen free or whatever special cables to connect
one's amplifier to one's speakers.

No controversy among the cognoscenti.

The LS3/5a, as we all know, is a
famously accurate speaker and much beloved by a certain type of music
listener, I have had my pair for twenty years and have never found any
speakers I like better (that I could afford).

Famously consistent.
Not everyone would agree about the accuracy of the BBC sound.

Yes, I wonder what they use as a test "reference"?....
--
Tony Sayer

tony sayer wrote:

The LS3/5a, as we all know, is a
famously accurate speaker and much beloved by a certain type of music
listener, I have had my pair for twenty years and have never found any
speakers I like better (that I could afford).

Famously consistent.
Not everyone would agree about the accuracy of the BBC sound.


Yes, I wonder what they use as a test "reference"?....

Presumably the BBC presenter in the studio.

In article ,
dersu wrote:
We all know that a certain amount of controversy exists about the
benefits or not of vastly expensive oxygen free or whatever special
cables to connect one's amplifier to one's speakers. The LS3/5a, as we
all know, is a famously accurate speaker and much beloved by a certain
type of music listener, I have had my pair for twenty years and have
never found any speakers I like better (that I could afford).

They were designed to be consistent as monitoring speakers in a wide
variety of applications where space was tight. I like them, but wouldn't
go quite so far as you in their praise. ;-)

This weekend I have had occasion to remove the baffle plate from my
Rogers LS3/5a speakers and what I found provokes the following question:
What is the point of expensive, fat, super cables from the amplifier
when from the banana plug receptacle to the crossover and the speakers
themselves are thin, scrawny little bits of wire such as I wouldn't use
for a 25 watt light bulb? This is what I found in my speakers and if you
doubt me I suggest you take yours apart and see what is within. Surely
if these thin little bits of wire are capable of providing the superb
sound that emanates from the speaker then a decent piece of lamp flex
will be quite suitable to connect the amp to the speaker? What arguments
can be offered to support the need for expensive cables then?

Think of the size of the fuse wire compared to the cable size in a
domestic mains power installation. Its resistance per length will be far
greater than the cable it protects, but the actual resistance tiny, so may
be disregarded in practice.
Same argument applies to internal speaker wiring. But use the same gauge
for long runs between amp and speaker, and you might well hear the effect.

--
*A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article , Eiron
writes
tony sayer wrote:

The LS3/5a, as we all know, is a
famously accurate speaker and much beloved by a certain type of music
listener, I have had my pair for twenty years and have never found any
speakers I like better (that I could afford).

Famously consistent.
Not everyone would agree about the accuracy of the BBC sound.


Yes, I wonder what they use as a test "reference"?....

Presumably the BBC presenter in the studio.

Yes quite. Wonder how many speaker manufacturers have the facilities
they enjoy?.
--
Tony Sayer

In article ,
tony sayer wrote:
Famously consistent.
Not everyone would agree about the accuracy of the BBC sound.

Yes, I wonder what they use as a test "reference"?....

Research Department at Kingswood Warren certainly had Quad ELS available.
And of course a decent anechoic chamber.

One reason ELS types weren't used is that they are too easily destroyed by
overloads. A VTR spooling, as the tape stayed on the head, for example.
BBC speakers had to be a compromise for all sorts of reasons. Specialist
areas like their recording studios for pop music often made use of
commercial designs.

--
*Never test the depth of the water with both feet.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.