Ion Power DAC
User Guide
3
Speaker Cables
While we realize that audio hobbyists love to experiment with various types of speaker wires, we highly
recommend against
using cables that are essentially “Magnet Wire”
-based construction. These are 12-
18 AWG copper cables with a lacquer coating. They look like this:
We recommend against these types of cables for two reasons. First, the lacquer coating is by its very
nature very fragile. If this coating fractures and flakes off, you have the risk of a short circuit. While the
Ion PowerDAC like virtually all other amplifiers on the market today, employs a protection mechanism
against short circuits, these interruptions are annoying and the protection circuits can weaken over time
making amplifiers and PowerDACs more sensitive to going into protection under low impedance
conditions. Secondly, these types of cables are prone to having extremely high capacitance which can
cause stress on the output devices. This stress will show up in the form of the amplifier or PowerDAC
running hotter than normal which could shorten the life of your amplifier or your Ion PowerDAC.
