Cat 5 wire / cable Question

[Gary]

I know there are some members here who have DIY speaker cables made out of cat. 5 wire.

What happens if you use the wire "straight" and don't do the horrendous twisting (building)? Does it sound decent and better than lamp cord?

I am thinking of an inexpensive alternative for surround sound speaker cables and don't want to invest too much time or effort at this stage. And the advantage would be that I can take 'em apart and build them "properly" at a later date if I want.

Any comments would be appreciated!

[Dave]

Paging Dr. Sckott. Paging Dr. Sckott. Wire ramifications OR 6, prep for data initialization.:D

[Claviusb]

Gary, you really wouldn't want to use the Cat 5 wire straight. First of all, it's not going to be a decent gauge of wire to get decent bass. Some guys take several runs of the Cat 5 out of the PVC sleeve and twist them together as kind of a lazy man's version, but there are valid reasons for suffering through the twisting. First, the design of the geometry ensures that the + and - are kept equally distanced from each other at all times allowing for consistant rejection of RFI. Straight lengths of wire run to your speakers from your amp serve as large antennas (that's BAD), while a geometry design such as Chis VH's cancels out such noise (that's good).

If I recall, Chris said he felt it bettered the Kimber 8TC cable he had in his system previously.