Hello. The information contained in this review should help you get the most life from your speaker cables, cables, extension cables and help you avoid buying cables that the potential for problems has already begun.  There is a proper way to keep, maintain and roll electrical cables of all kinds, types and sizes.  

The main purpose of this is directed to Pro Audio cables but will and does apply to virtually all types of copper cables.  This information is directed to those bidding, buying and wanting to purchase electrical cables, especially for Pro Sound Systems.  It is not a major issue which type of electrical cable you are wanting or currently own because this information is a general rule for all electrical cables.  The two cable shown here are in the natural circle and have the least amount of stress on the copper inside.  Looks good huh?

All electrical cable has a natural curve because of the way it was first placed on the spool before you bought it.  When you buy a Pro cable from a Pro shop, it is rolled into a circle, not jumbled up.  Occassionally you can buy them and they have an oval shape (below) but they are still rolled in a smooth circular pattern.  There are a couple reasons for this.  Primarily it is the natural shape of the copper besides the fact it just looks a lot better or more organized, period. And a few more are its' far easier to unroll without the increased chance of a nasty tangled mess sometimes called a "birdnest".  Storage and carry are easier and more organized as well.  

A major reason they are pre-rolled from the factory in a circle shape is it's the original natural circular curve and to ship/sale it this way will prolong the life of the cable.  You will bring in less cables for a FREE replacement if you keep it like you got it.  (Hint Hint from the manufacturer)  It makes for a neater appearance and the first time it is used, it will almost always be tangle free.   As the cable is unrolled and rolled back up, pressure has been placed on the copper wire that can cause it to weaken and eventually break.  If the cable is rolled up, in the same general circle shape it came in, it will undergo far less stress and give you far more life.

I suspect some manufacturers will sell their cables rolled in any shape because they expect the cables life to be more than the warranty and the cheap prices increase sales.  So if the cables goes bad after a year or three and the warranty has ended, you'll come back and buy another one.  If you come back and buy more, they can make more money.  After you bought a pair or so of the cheap, poorly crafted cables, you could have bought a far better cable that you would be using for a longer period of time and in fact spent less money in the long run.  My theory is this, a cheap cable properly cared for will most likely last as long as a top quality one that's been handled poorly.

It's pretty simple, ever tried to bend and break a Coat-Hanger?  Bind it back and forth enough and it gets hot, then it breaks.  If you look at the bend, you'll see small cracks developing just bofore it breaks.  A coat-hanger is a lot stronger and far less flexible than the majority of electrical cables and a lot harder to break.  The smaller wires or cables then are easier to break but becase of the rubber coating, you can not see the damage.  The copper in cables is softer and can develop tiny cracks much faster. 

If you roll your cables back into the natural circle they came in you will put far less wear and tear on your expensive cables by bending them less in a direction they have not been bent before.  It takes a few more minutes to do that but it can be well worth your time.  If you drop some serious money on your quality cables and want or need the most life you can get, wrap them in the natural circle.

Helpful Hint!  Stop by a major shopping store or hardware store.  Head over to the extension cords section and look around.  You should find a cable carrier that will make rolling the cables back up far easier.  I bought one at a department store because I had three 100 foot extension cords and rolling them up every weekend had become tedious but unrolling them was much worse.  You will find at least two types of cable carriers.  One does the wrist-elbow thing like the oval and the other should be a round roller up device.  I would strongly suggest the round one to prolong the cables life.  If you roll and unroll a lot of cables this will help a ton.  You might grab a couple ground lifts while there to have as spares, just in case.

Besides getting the most life from your cable, you will look more like a Pro as you set up and break down your sound system.  Have you ever watched a newbie trying to unroll a cable that looks like a twisted mess?  One day I watched a young guy trying to unroll a 100 foot extension cord that had not been rolled up in the natural circle it had originally come in.  Before he got 20 feet unrolled, the other 80 feet were in a knot that he had to take an extra 5 minutes to unwind and untwist.  Though most cables could pull a car out of a ditch, they were not made to do that.  Why would you tie up an expensive copper wire like a rope (below) and not expect to damage it?     Pro Gear + Pro Care = Pro Life & Performance  

If you want to sell your cables and wad them up like rope, a Pro will know the potential buy of your cable may be a bad one or turn into a bad buy soon because the cable was NOT properly cared for.  I have purchased several cables off eBay and will contuinue to do so.  But when I see a cable twisted up like a rope and wrapped up, I pass it by because I know, it was not taken care of, it may have already lost over half the normal life and the odds of it being a good investment are potentially very low.  You can bet the cable on the above right may already have hairline cracks in the copper where it is wound tightly in the middle.  The cable on the above left may have already developed hair line cracks on the end loops as well as in the middle.  Hair line cracks turn nto defective cables.

If you have a kid or inexperienced person rolling your cables into a bunch, teach them how to properly roll your cables.  As the cable makes the circle into your hand, you can immediately tell if it is stressed or not.  If rolling your cables is a pain, extend the cable fully out it's entire length, then loop it slowly and in a minute, your cable will be in the same circular shape it was meant to be and you have not taken any more life from your cable than absolutely necessary.

OK, I know, some of you are buying cable with a lifetime warranty.  The manufacturer has a lot of confidence in the product and it will probably give you longer service than the cheaper cables.  But it can break at the worst time, just like the cheaper cables if you don't properly care for it.  You subs or mains may be off line for a while until you can jump in the car and take the broken cable to the store for that FREE replacement.

If your budget doesn't allow you to drop the big bucks on the expensive lifetime cables and you, like me are buying some of the less expensive cables, you may get just as much life out of a $35 dollar one hundred foot cable as the guy that bought the high dollar lifetime brand.  Think of it this way, care equals life and that means less expenses by replacement costs or more profit, depending on what you are doing with your ProSound System.

As for the cables twisted up like a rope, we all have seen, they can make good 3 to 5 foot patch cables.  The obvious thing to look for is the tighter the wind the greater the chance of damage.  I bid on the above cable but the seller took it off because it was no longer available.  It didn't look as bad as the ones tied up like a rope.  When I get a chance to buy a cable tied up like a rope, its for making a patch for my drive rack.  To me, that's all it's really worth but if the bidding get even close to the half price mark of new cables, I watch it go by.   I am buying some off eBay now that could have been good cables and might still be good but because the owner abused them badly, I will not risk my performance on that cable.    After it gets cut to the proper length to use as a patch cable, the wear almost totally ends in a patch.  It becomes a stationary cable that should last a long time.  The patch I am currently building will be virtually stationary from now on unless I replace it altogether.

The Disclaimer:  Every cable tied up like a rope or twisted up badly will not cease to work the moment you get it.  But the copper has been placed in unnatural stress that may have damaged it or caused hairline cracks by the mere fact it was bent just too far to maintain it's intended integrity.  You might get 20 years of service even still but the odds are you will get far less dependable or reliable service.   To me, this is a key factor in the real value of a used cable when buying or bidding.  If it is not important to you, bid away as much as you like.  All the needs we have are not the same.

The information was given to me verbally by a friend that works at a cable manufacturing company.  He told me he tries to tell others how to and not to handle those expensive speaker cables and why.  He said the proper care can easily add or take away 10 year of the life of a cable.  I thought it made a lot of sence.  So I thought I would add it here and hopefully save my fellow sound engineers and musicians some hard earned money.

I hope the information helps in some way.  I hope it gives you longer performance from your cables and you never get caught in the middle of a performance in dead silence!  Best Wishes Always! Carl