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Restoration: worth it to replace internal wiring?

nniemiec

nniemiec

Active Member
I get replacing the caps, but is there really any measurable reason to bother replacing 22AWG w. 16AWG in a 40+ year old pair of loudspeakers? Does the extra beef really improve things?...I tend to doubt there's any real improvement after doing this, but I don't know ****, so wondering what someone who's done this a bunch thinks? Maybe in some super high-end rig but not w. old EPIs?

Lastly, is there a simple / household chem way to deoxidize leads vs. using deoxit? Are vinegar or isopropyl alcohol capable of doing the job? Not sure what to believe about this stuff.
 
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It's about the easiest thing you could do to get your own definitive answer. I'd say the answer is yes, no, maybe.
Soldering isn't hard to do and there's not a lot of wire involved. Whether it delivers any noticeable results is a crapshoot.
I have rewired a few sets of speakers while recapping them, some were improved, some were about the same but none of them were negatively affected by the switch.
:)
 
Internal wiring dose matter. Upgrading to Cardas Litz wire gives a softer but balanced sound as where with DH Labs T14 has a more lively signature with brilliant highs. Then again some can argue more commonly found wire such as Beldin or whatever sound just as good. It all comes down to the listeners ear and budget.
 
embrown057 said:
Internal wiring dose matter. Upgrading to Cardas Litz wire gives a softer but balanced sound as where with DH Labs T14 has a more lively signature with brilliant highs. Then again some can argue more commonly found wire such as Beldin or whatever sound just as good. It all comes down to the listeners ear and budget.
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Woha, so you can hear different speaker wires inside the speaker cabinet? Are you sure there was not just a bad connection somewhere?
 
Not only me, experience over a half century and a few hundred speakers rebuilds. As I stated it's the listener that matters, very few have said it made no difference. In those few cases the system and balance of wiring was at best marginal. Everyone is entitled to there own opinion, I always encourage to experiment with your system and do what you feel is best. Wiring can be very expensive, wiring a set of Polk SDA's can set anyone back a good bit of a paycheck. Always try to use brass connectors also, yes that matter also. Can you hear the difference in connectors? Maybe not but I'll stick to science there and call it a day.
 
I had it done on my fully modded Snell E II’s. To me it was worth it. Others, I know will say I am full of crap. It’s easy enough and cheap enough to do, unless you decide to use the Audio Note wire:rolleyes:
 
What is the consensus here on soldering as many connections as possible vs push on connectors?
Once upon a time I tried this and found a noticeable improvement in sound quality but had to be careful soldering to speakers
 
NO soldering to the drivers, use brass connectors. I tin the wire, crimp the connection and run a fine line of solder into the crimp. Be carful not to overflow the solder into the connector, it will not push on fully.
 
In his first sentence, the OP asked for a measurable reason.

I see lots of fluffy un-supported opinions. Lots of opinionated wanking with years of experience at it.

Expectation bias has a field day here.

Anybody care to give reference or citation of empirical measurement of these differences that their micro-sensitive golden ears are detecting?
 
bowtie427ss said:
In his first sentence, the OP asked for a measurable reason.

I see lots of fluffy un-supported opinions. Lots of opinionated wanking with years of experience at it.

Expectation bias has a field day here.

Anybody care to give reference or citation of empirical measurement of these differences that their micro-sensitive golden ears are detecting?
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I liked it:D So that was good enough for me.
 
Long term brass sustains its ability to resist corrosion compared to unplaced copper. Most fast-on copper connectors are tin plated making the connector magnetic also. Capacitance and resistance is also a factor in the connectors. You can find gold fast-on connectors at a higher price. As far as measurable, there may be imperial data somewhere. All would be disputed here, there is always a skeptic to call anything snake oil. If using brass, silver or gold connectors was a pipe dream then let the top speaker manufactures know, they all use them.
 
In high-end speakers, the designer usually had the ability to use what he wanted. If you do something different, it does have the potential to change the sound, are you a better Engineer than the original Engineer?

Some very good speakers have small-gauge wires, just like many very good amps have small-gauge wires to the speaker wires (have you ever seen how small the conductors are inside of a transistor?) and they were able to dial in the sound after many trials and much testing.

I'm a skeptic regarding upsizing wiring in a speaker having a measurable change and agree with bowtie on this one, but if it makes you happy then spend the money.
 
embrown057 said:
Long term brass sustains its ability to resist corrosion compared to unplaced copper. Most fast-on copper connectors are tin plated making the connector magnetic also. Capacitance and resistance is also a factor in the connectors. You can find gold fast-on connectors at a higher price. As far as measurable, there may be imperial data somewhere. All would be disputed here, there is always a skeptic to call anything snake oil. If using brass, silver or gold connectors was a pipe dream then let the top speaker manufactures know, they all use them.
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I don't believe that tin plating is magnetic however the steel used in some connectors is, and they are plated to prevent rust (tin plated? zinc plating is common).

Brass is used instead of copper because the zinc in it makes the metal stronger, and usually brass connectors are gold-plated to give them good conductivity. Brass corrodes, a lot, just like copper does.
 
ic-racer said:
Woha, so you can hear different speaker wires inside the speaker cabinet? Are you sure there was not just a bad connection somewhere?
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A bad connection or inferior wire can cause a restriction in signal passing through to the intended component. First, a manufacturer wants to make a higher profit margin and is not going to use a gold alloyed wire because of the cost. A gold alloyed wire will sound different than a silver alloyed wire etc.....it’s all based on conductivity. Anything can be improved based upon design and principles but that doesn’t mean that it’s wrong for just settling for the way it is if that is what you enjoy.
 
Because the speed of light is faster in gold?

So you have current-carrying capacity and connection resistance, that's all. It can be argued that gold will create a lower resistance connection, by .000000001 Ohms? Maybe?

Marketing and Engineering will argue all day, this I know from decades in Engineering.
 
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