Speaker Cable Faceoff 2 - Measurements - Part 2
Wire Loop Resistance (mohm/ft.) vs. Gauge (AWG)
Comparison of Audioholics vs Manufacturers Published Cable Measurements
It appears that our measurements of the Axiom Audio, River Cable Starflex and River Cable Flexygy 6, are in agreement with those of the manufacturers. River Cable originally published aggregate gauge of their cables until I pointed it out to them. They have since then included both resistive specifications. Our measurements of the Audience Maestro were in close agreement with the manufacturer for everything except inductance. They specified their cable metrics in per meter length and I note that their inductance spec is 5nH/meter, which is about what I measured per foot. It is possible they made an error in their literature since their resistance and capacitance is in agreement with our measurements after converted to 'per foot' equivalents.
The Empirical Audio Clarity 7 measured about 80% higher than published. However, the measured cable inductance was still among the lowest in this face off and is only an academic concern. Goertz measurements were in disagreement with ours for all metrics. Their claimed cable inductance was about 3.5 times higher than we measured. However this again is an academic concern, especially since their cable was the lowest inductance in the comparison. Their claim to fame is the lowest inductance cable in the business and based on my measurements I would have to say they have achieved that goal. I could only assume the reason for our capacitance measurement disparity was perhaps a result of them measuring the cable with the Zobel termination in place. This is not the proper way to specify a cable since the cable capacitance per foot will vary greatly for different lengths of cables with the same value zobel termination. It is more accurate to measure the cable with no termination, then calculate the cable characterstic impedance and design a Zobel network to properly terminate it (if needed).
Cardas does not specify cable resistance, but they do specify gauge. Thus the DC resistance of their cables is based on our DC resistance curve (derived from the American Wire Gauge (AWG) tables). As you can see, the Cardas 1S measured almost double the resistance indicating it was more likely a 13AWG cable not 10AWG as the manufacturer specified. One can only assume their 10AWG specification is based on aggregate gauge not effective gauge. In other words the parallel equivalent resistance of the conductors (plus and minus) rather than series or loop resistance. In reality the Cardas 1S is more likely a 13AWG speaker cable. Their inductance measurement closely matched ours and their capacitance measurement came in about 44% higher than ours. It's nice to see they conservatively rated the capacitance of their cable. The Cardas SE-9 measured at an equivalent gauge of about 11AWG. Again they likely published aggregate gauge when they stated 9.5AWG. Their inductance measurement came out about 35% lower than ours. This was one of the lowest inductance cables in the comparison, so again the measurement difference was of academic concern. Their published capacitance was about 23% higher than our measurement again indicating their conservative capacitance estimate of the cable. AVIC cable initially had incorrect published specifications for inductance and capacitance, but they have since then corrected (at least capacitance) in their literature. In any event the inductance and capacitance of these cables is still very low and in fact among the best in this comparison.
Note: At the time of the writing of this article. Not all cable manufacturers' pricing was available. We will update the article as more information is made available to us.
Stay tuned for our detailed analysis, conclusions and recommendations...
