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1. Cat6 is stable to higher frequencies for data transmission. Basically it's better quality shielding. They are essentially interchangeable, but as I said, cat6 is capable of carrying higher speed...

Ok, so after confirming the speaker wire and connections of that Klipsch set you linked, I can honestly say YES, cat5 speaker wire will make a difference for you.
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Let me check into that speaker combo for you, I'll post a reply ASAP. :)

I dont think you'll see any benefit for a subwoofer, in fact this might even have the opposite effect in a low freq, high power application.

I would say for subs, go with regular 10-12awg speaker...

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/Image020.jpg

Even easier than you thought!

Using the twisted pair method, you would use one tp for the left channel, and one for the right...

I'm just uploading a pic to my photobucket account right now.. I'll post one in a few mins. :)

I should clarify something else also:

- I refer to a piece of cat5 as a "strand"
- I refer to the wire inside of the cat5 as "twisted pairs", and there are 4 "twisted pairs" in each "strand" of...

Yes, thats correct. If we are talking RCA's still though, I would still suggest trying the single strand first, as its much easier, and I felt sounded much nicer, with a bit more mid-low punch than...

:D

The single twisted pair is actually the easiest, since all you are doing is splitting open a cat5, and taking out one pair of twisted wires. (Blue/white for example) Solder ends onto it, and...

I'll make some up for you for free if you want, I have 8000' of cat5 here (reclaimed from building upgrade) so I can spare some. :D You just pay for shipping, and it's yours. :D

Sorry for the slow...

Yes, this method (braiding) will work for RCAs, but dont do it! I tried it, and found that the capacitance was too high, and the sound output was.. strangely affected.

If you want to make RCAs,...

If you do try it, you may find that the wire clips wont accept wire this size. I had to do some serious twisting/crushing with pliers to get the ends of the wire into the clips on the speakers....

Heres the office.. it's cleaner now, I swear!

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p176/lukifer122/IMG_0031.jpg

A bit clearer shot of the desktop..
...

Haha.. fair enough. Pics on the way!

OK, I know that this is a computer forum, but I had to scrap the computer from this setup for playback.

I've replaced the laptop + M-Audio external soundcard with a PSX. Yes, an old school grey...

OK, just made a set of interconnects also from Cat5.

I cut 2 lengths of around 2 ft, and removed the twisted pairs from the casing. I then removed the brown/brown white pairs from each, and...

I chose 6 strands (3 per side) for simplicity. Braiding 3 is easy.. 4 is harder. Plus, with 3 strands (total of 12 pairs of wire) I ended up with a final wire of about 12awg, which is the same as the...

*update*

Missed out on the speakers on Ebay.. dammit.. someone put a proxy bid of $350 USD. I only went to $150 USD, then stopped.. I could probably build those speakers for less than that. :P
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Hands down winners over the Monster Cable (Big-100) speaker wire. :D :D :D

Bass was deeper and louder, highs were clearer, and the whole soundstage was wider.

*update*

After playing these wires for several hours last night, and 2 hours so far today, I'm still in love with them. Apparently, Cat5 speaker wire takes some time to "break in" before it sounds...

I'm gonna put this up against some monster cables tonight, and this weekend I'll try to get it tested against some Kimbers... nothing like beating $500+ speaker wire with old Cat5. :D

Good afternoon everyone!

I'm way too happy for a Thursday afternoon, but I have a good excuse. As I sat in my office today, listening to music while I work (as I often do.. and I'm sure you do...