Benefits of running + and - cables separately

[Magic Beans]

Morning,

Now before i start i want to put it out there that this is merely something i've been pondering and don't want to start a cable based flame war

I've just replaced my front speakers, which are now 2 way, as opposed to the 4 way speakers i had previously. As such i now have a spare length of cable from each channel and i've been thinking what's best to do with it. Which brings me on to my thought for the day...

The cable i have is Audioquest Indigo+, which while being pretty old, has served me well. It's comprised of 8 solid cores, which are individually insulated and bundled into a fairly chunky sleeve. What i've thought and i guess what i'm asking is; would there be any benefit in me terminating all 8 cores into a single plug (banana, spade etc) and running one length for the + and one for the - ? I know i'd need some hefty plugs to terminate too and i'd lose all feeling in my fingers for 2 days (again) after doing it. But would there be any possible "improvement" for doing so?

I'm not an electrical engineer, so please excuse me if it's an obvious faux pas. I often think of these things and i'm intrigued to hear if there's any logic to my epiphanies?

Phil

 

[Alan Mac]

would there be any benefit in me terminating all 8 cores into a single plug (banana, spade etc) and running one length for the + and one for the - ?

No, I don’t think that would be a good idea.

Loudspeaker cables rely on the “go” and “return” conductors being physically close together, in order to minimise the loop inductance.

Since the go and return currents are equal and opposite, their associated magnetic fields will tend to cancel, but only if the conductors are closely spaced.


Alan

 

[Magic Beans]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for your thoughts. It did cross my mind that the core layout must have been designed in that way for a purpose. However at the same time, i have to ask myself if the latest wonder design features of cables aren't just used as adding another 50% onto the price of their predecessor...

Phil