I wound mine together as well. I like them for the opposite reason Nick stated....my cables have to go in front of my fireplace, and there's a groove that I can kind of push them in to in order to keep them out of site. The thiness and stiffness help them to stay "in the groove" (literally!). The complete opposite of how cables are *supposed* to be treated, I know, but one can't fight against WAF considerations....