Cardas Neutral Reference Speaker Cables As Power Cords

[Bernard]

I have a double run of Cardas Neutral Reference speaker cables from my ARC monoblocks to my SL3s, for biwiring. These cables are 8ft in length, from the days before I had monoblocks. As the monoblocks are right next to the speakers, the speaker cables do not have to be that long; they could easily be half that length. I noted that in my SL3s the ground lug from the IEC power connector is not used (i.e. only 2 conductors used in the power cable), so I was considering using one pair of speaker cables as power cords to power the SL3s, and cutting the other pair in half for the double run (yes, I do realize that a solder pot is needed to reterminate the cables). Any thoughts on this ?

Alternately, does biwiring really make a difference? Instead of paying the Cardas distributor to reterminate the cables would I be better off using a single run of cable with high quality jumpers instead of the cheap stamped metal that ML supplies ? I would save the retermination money, and if at a later date I needed longer cables I would still have them.

 

[Kaboomnash]

Good morning Bernard,
The first day I received my Vantages I removed the stamped Jumpers and installed E-ticket Jumpers. Just seemed to be a higher quality upgrade for Vantages.

Lee

 

[ralflar]

Are those speaker cables certified for 120V AC?

Unless you know that for sure you could be playing with fire.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Check with the cable manufacturer

Hi Bernard,

For what its worth, I use Mapleshade power cords, which uses their speaker wire. I suspect other manufacturers do the same. The best advice I can give is to call the manufacturer and see what they say.

Good luck. Sounds like an interesting option that could work well.

GG

 

[Bernard]

The people at Cardas do not recommend its use as a power cord.