Supernova Speaker Cable: Geometric RF Cancellation at High Current
Supernova speaker cables use the identical geometric construction proven in our interconnects, 48 bare copper conductors in four concentric circles, twisted every 4 inches optimized for the unique challenges of speaker-level signal transmission.
High Current Delivery: Amplifier outputs drive 4-8Ω loads with currents reaching 5-10A or more during dynamic peaks. Cable resistance directly affects damping factor and power delivery.
Bidirectional RF: Amplifiers generate RF from their output stages (especially Class D), while speaker drivers generate back-EMF from their motion, both create RF that travels through the cable in opposite directions.
Long Cable Runs: Speaker cables are often 2-3 meters or longer, making them more effective antennas for ambient RF pickup and increasing their contribution to system impedance.
Direct Speaker Connection: The cable connects directly to inductive loads (speaker voice coils) that can resonate with cable capacitance, creating impedance peaks at RF frequencies.
Supernova’s 48-conductor geometry addresses all of these simultaneously.
The Geometry: 48 Conductors, Multiple Roles
Supernova’s geometry is more sophisticated than simple wire twisting:
48 conductors arranged in four separate circles of 12 wires each. All four circles maintain equal distance from the cable’s center axis, they’re not concentric (inner/outer), they’re co-axial circles in a rotating arrangement.
The four circles rotate around each other every 4 inches, like planets orbiting while the cable axis remains straight. Meanwhile, the 12 wires within each circle maintain their exact positions throughout the cable’s length.
Critical design feature: Individual wires experience zero torsional stress. They’re not twisted, they’re held in position by the 3D-printed structure while the circles themselves rotate around the common axis.
Why This Specific Geometry
This planetary rotation creates RF cancellation through multiple mechanisms:
Maximum Path Length Diversity
Each of the 48 wires follows a helical path as its circle rotates around the cable axis. But because:
- Each circle contains 12 wires at different positions
- Four circles rotate together
- Each wire maintains its position in its circle
Every one of the 48 conductors has a unique path length through the cable. At RF frequencies, these path length differences translate to phase shifts, RF components traveling different paths arrive out of phase and cancel through destructive interference.
Distributed Magnetic Field Cancellation
With all four circles equidistant from the center and rotating together:
- Current flows through all 48 conductors
- But each conductor’s magnetic field originates from a different physical position as the circles rotate
- These distributed field sources create complex field geometry that cancels more effectively than simple twisted pairs
The rotation ensures that at any point along the cable, the magnetic field contributions from different conductors are spatially distributed and phase-shifted, leading to superior field cancellation compared to conventional geometries.
Structural Precision Without Conductor Stress
Traditional cable twisting applies torsional stress to conductors, work-hardening the copper, potentially creating micro-cracks, and changing conductor properties over time.
Supernova’s approach: the structure rotates, the wires don’t. Each wire maintains its position in its circle with zero torsional stress. The 3D-printed skeleton (137 parts) does the geometric work—holding four circles in precise rotating relationship while individual conductors remain unstressed.
This is why the construction appears complex: we’re creating geometric complexity in the structure rather than forcing it into the conductors themselves.
Why 137 Parts Are Necessary
Maintaining four circles of 12 wires in rotating relationship over cable length requires:
- Positioning each of 48 wires precisely at every structural point
- Maintaining circle shapes (12 wires equidistant from circle center)
- Controlling rotation rate (every 4 inches exactly)
- Preventing wire-to-wire contact (bare copper can’t touch)
- Keeping wires unstressed (no forced twisting)
This level of geometric control is impossible with conventional cable manufacturing. The 3D-printed structure is the only way to achieve the geometry the RF cancellation math requires while keeping individual conductors mechanically ideal.
The Result: RF Cancellation + Low Impedance + Zero Conductor Stress
This geometry simultaneously achieves:
RF Path Diversity: 48 unique helical paths create phase cancellation of RF contamination
Low Resistance: 48 parallel conductors (24 per polarity) provide ~11 AWG effective gauge with <0.001Ω/ft
Low Inductance: Distributed rotating field sources cancel more effectively than simple twisted pairs
Mechanical Stability: Zero torsional stress means conductors maintain optimal electrical properties indefinitely, no work hardening, no fatigue, no property changes over time
This is engineered complexity serving multiple electrical and mechanical requirements simultaneously.
What You’ll Hear
Supernova’s RF cancellation and low-impedance design manifest as:
Improved Bass Control: With negligible cable resistance, your amplifier maintains damping factor, controlling driver motion rather than the driver’s momentum controlling itself. Bass notes start and stop more precisely, with less overhang or bloat.
Clearer High Frequencies: Reduced RF contamination means tweeter signals aren’t modulated by amplifier switching noise or woofer back-EMF. Cymbals, strings, and vocal sibilants have clearer texture without electronic grain.
Better Dynamic Articulation: Low cable impedance means amplifier output voltage appears at the speaker terminals without attenuation; dynamic peaks have the voltage swing they need. Orchestral crescendos and percussion transients arrive with proper impact.
Reduced Background Noise: RF cancellation means less amplifier-generated noise reaches the speakers, and less speaker-generated back-EMF contaminates the amplifier. The result is a lower audible noise floor during quiet passages.
Spatial Precision: With reduced RF-induced intermodulation and better high-frequency preservation, spatial cues arrive at the speakers more accurately. Images lock more solidly, with clearer depth perspective.
These aren’t cable colorations, they’re preservation of what your amplifier is actually outputting, without cable impedance limiting dynamics, RF contaminating the signal, or resistance degrading damping factor.