"Braided" Speaker Wire (1 Viewer)

[Bill Kane]

I have no brand in mind here, but I've seen a reference that "braided" wire, such as 16gauge, exhibits more robust characteristics, say equivalent to 14 gauge. What gives?

 

[Chu Gai]

define robust and furthermore define braided. if i take it as I 'think' you mean, then one can braid wire such that the net effect is a decrease in inductance albeit at a capacitance increase. For example you could take a 4 x 16 gauge wire, and depending upon how you combined the four conductors to make two, wind up with wire that was electrically (L,C,R) 'identical' to 13 gauge or one with lower L but greater C than 13 gauge.

 

[Bill Kane]

I'm dealing with hearsay at this point. A guy I'm talking to said his "Professional Installer" and "Consultant" proferred braided 16gauge as equivalent to 14 gauge. That's all I know...I'll let it go...

 

[Lee Petty]

i could be wrong here:
but if you took regular speaker wire, and braided all the strands together, wouldnt it shorten the speaker length a bit? so if you had 2 16ga cables, both 10ft long, wouldnt the braided one be a little bit denser?
as for each side of the conductor (positive / negative), "twisting" them would decrease on the interferance like in cat5 cable.