[childe]

I know a lot of people think cat5 cable is superior to speaker cable. Is this just subjective or is there some objective reason why this should be so?

In other words is it a fact that for a given price per metre, Cat5 will always be better than speaker cable? How noticeable will the improvement be to an average listener?

I can see that with lots of stripping and braiding, multiple lengths of Cat5 can be used for bi-wiring, but is it useful for single wiring, which is what I will be doing?

Is the benefit more noticable over longer cable runs? My longest will be about 11m. I'm prepared to spend upto around £2 per metre, so my total bill will be less than £100. Will Cat5 be worthwhile for me?

Thanks

[conman]

what is your amp and speakers?
what cable you currently have?

[-Ad-]

Will you enjoy spendng countless hours braiding the cable, with those lengths you had better stock up on supplies

I will try some solid corse eventually, but to be honest I would just buy some van damme stuff from the powerbuy section off this forum and be done, all for less than £2 per metre.

[childe]

Originally Posted by conman

what is your amp and speakers?
what cable you currently have?

My current kit is as in my signature, but I will soon be replacing the speakers, probably with Definitive Technology in wall speakers. I could be spending upto £3k on them, and don't want to lose much of their quality (and waste my money) due to poor cable. However, I am suspicious of the hype around cables, especially digital interconnects, and so don't want to spend lots of money on cable just for the sake of it. I just wondered whether Cat 5 offers any real advantage that would justify the effort.

On the subject of effort, if I were to use just one cat5 cable for the whole run (not 3 as I have seen elsewhere), would it not be relatively simple as I would only have to treat each end of the cable, separating the 4 solids from the 4 coloured cables? Or have I missed the point, and it is not possible or worthwhile using just one cat5 cable?

[MarkTaylor]

There isn't a lot of copper in a single Cat5 cable so you really do need more than one.

[Joe Fernand]

If the argument about all speaker cables 'sounding' true is to be believed then multiple runs of braided CAT5 cable will sound no better or worse than any other design of speaker cable.

Pulling a long braided cable through wall voids/studs will be fun unless you put an outer sleeve over the cable.

As -Ad- suggests VanDamme Blue Series 2x2.5mm or Black Series 4x2.5mm will be ideal, wont cost a fortune and wont have you braiding cables for hours on end.

Joe

[conman]

Originally Posted by MarkTaylor

There isn't a lot of copper in a single Cat5 cable so you really do need more than one.

Yeah i agree with Mark. There isnt enough cross section area of copper, unless you use 3 or 6 length. other alternative to cat5e would be enamel copper with teflon or pvc sleeve.

surely, the easiest option would be the vandam.

[deckingman]

I made some cat5s just to try and I'm still using them. They "sound" great but to be honest, no different than any other 2.5 mm copper to me.

[childe]

Thanks guys - its speaker cable for me

[Mr Incredible]

In case you ever get the call to the dark side, read this post of mine.
More CAT5 questions....

Sure, Van Damme 2.5 sq mm is good value at +/- £1.80 pm + P&P, but you can make the equivalent gauge of cat5 cable for about 55p per meter. (305m roll @ £55 makes 100m of 2.5 sq mm cable which is more easily set up for bi-amping than the VD 2.5 sq mm which is just two core.)

[Rami Tupper]

cw1308 is similar to cat5 but can be had in different numbers of pairs, depending on how much copper you need. i`ve wired my multiroom audio using cw1308 6pair throughout and it does a great job.

[deckingman]

As Mr Incredible says - cat5s are cheap. I actually found them quite fun to make (I know, sad isn't it). They can look really cool if you use the right braid and colour coded (red and black) heat shrink. Stick some gold plated banana plugs on the end and you can have some fun with them. Get all your "audiophile" mates round a do a demo (don't tell them they are home made). If you hint that they are expensive, the'll be convinced they sound awesome.