Letting The Sound Out—Omen Hookup
Yes, cable makes a difference, and no, I’m not being clever, later to tell you that cable is necessary… that without cable connecting your speakers to your amp no sound will come out. Playback is full of these clever-dumb axioms, I’ll spare you. But really, a cable’s characteristics can and usually do make a difference in how your Zu Omen loudspeakers sound. Here are some pointers.
If your amplifier is saying “push” you want both speakers to “push,” you don’t want one to push while the other pulls. Always make sure left and right cables are connected so that both speakers operate constructively, you want them playing in-phase. Connect the cable at both amp and speakers sides so that red terminal connects red terminal, and black connects black.
Really. Are your speakers for sure connected in-phase? Double check: red-to-red and black-to-black on the amp and speaker side, on both left and right channels. Make the double-check a habit practiced anytime you fiddle with or hookup loudspeaker cables.
Use the cable you have laying around before you purchase something, especially something exotic. You might have some leftover 14 gauge Romex from a remodel or something, you know, the solid-core stuff, with the bare copper wire between a white and a black. This stuff usually works great, give it a try. Connect the black wire to the black terminals, and the white wire to the red terminals, double check the same color code is followed on both ends and for both channels. Just fold back or cut the center copper wire so it’s out of the way. You might also have some basic 16/2 (16 gauge, 2 wire) lamp cord, give that a listen, or 18/2. Your results will vary because not everyone has the same amp, the same cable length needs, the same taste for music…. And specific to the Omen, gauge size is not necessarily a predictor of sound. Keep that elbow grease in motion, experiment.
Keep the left and right cable the same length to give you the most realistic stereo magic. While the tone of the system really doesn’t change your stereo image will and not for the better. A cable’s capacitive and inductive reactance, as well as resistance, are relative to length.
“It’s not who is right, but what is right, that is of importance.” -Huxley. So, who says cable makes a difference? Electrodynamics! Every aspect of electro-magnetism applied to the cable’s roll in connecting the amp and speaker predict a difference. This topic get’s woowoo faster than greased lighting. Why? Possibly because electrodynamics/QED is the most predictive theory ever developed and yet the least understood concerning mechanism. I was lucky to have the Feynman Lectures drop into my lap at just the right time in my youth, and the chapters on magnostatics and electrodynamics fully captivated, as did that photo of Richard on his bongos. If you have read even just the excerpt of Feynman talking about the straight wire and still say wire and cable makes no difference you are either unwilling or content with ignorance.
Enjoy your music, have fun with you rig and play with your cable.