DesertRatt
All Bark, No Bite!
..... and inductance.
Speaker cables - I share this at great peril
- Thread starter onwardjames
- Start date
You're not doing it right.
You need to take all those cables, wire them all together in parallel in between the amp and speakers, and then you will surely find sonic nirvana.
jqp
Well-Known Member
I like the idea of titanium fasteners. Probably good synergy with my AR TSW 110 (titanium, solid wood) speakers.Actually, orthopedic surgery or military aircraft-grade titanium fasteners are the way to go.
Here you go. Personally, why not go whole hog and get the 500kV-rated cable?
The 2000 kcmil gauge with 1150-amp capacity should be good enough.
DesertRatt
All Bark, No Bite!
Transfer Function...
Is always affected by any and all capacitance, inductance, and resistance in a complete circuit.
As Bob Carver taught the Stereophile gurus when he made his $400 M1 amplifier sound indistinguishable from a $10,000 Mark Levinsin amp, the Devil really IS in the minute details. He simply tweaked the TF until he copied the sound of the ML amp.
From that demonstration--which he also did for Peter Aczel, he pretty much endorsed the idea of how wires and cords change the sound.
Is always affected by any and all capacitance, inductance, and resistance in a complete circuit.
As Bob Carver taught the Stereophile gurus when he made his $400 M1 amplifier sound indistinguishable from a $10,000 Mark Levinsin amp, the Devil really IS in the minute details. He simply tweaked the TF until he copied the sound of the ML amp.
From that demonstration--which he also did for Peter Aczel, he pretty much endorsed the idea of how wires and cords change the sound.
pete_mac
Super Member
Just confirming… did you mean to say can or can’t?
drjohnnyfeva
Well-Known Member
I have what might be a stupid question, but I'll chance it anyay.
If you are going to braid or twist the cat5 wires to needed lengths, wouldn't it be easier to use two or three lengths in the "natural casing" to get the 16 or 24 desired strands and then twist or braid those together. The link about how the wire was tested got me thinking about the time it would take to braid or twist all of those individual strands. In fact, if one searches youtube, there are examples of this being done. Seems horrifyingly tedious. Just wondering if in saving time and energy by not stripping and individualy braiding or twisting all that wire it would impact the results.
Also, there is shielded and unshielded cat5. I wonder if it would make any difference to use shielded in the manner I propose above. I would guess, no, but I concede that it might.
If you are going to braid or twist the cat5 wires to needed lengths, wouldn't it be easier to use two or three lengths in the "natural casing" to get the 16 or 24 desired strands and then twist or braid those together. The link about how the wire was tested got me thinking about the time it would take to braid or twist all of those individual strands. In fact, if one searches youtube, there are examples of this being done. Seems horrifyingly tedious. Just wondering if in saving time and energy by not stripping and individualy braiding or twisting all that wire it would impact the results.
Also, there is shielded and unshielded cat5. I wonder if it would make any difference to use shielded in the manner I propose above. I would guess, no, but I concede that it might.
Oasis8
Well-Known Member
The result would be very different.I have what might be a stupid question, but I'll chance it anyay.
If you are going to braid or twist the cat5 wires to needed lengths, wouldn't it be easier to use two or three lengths in the "natural casing" to get the 16 or 24 desired strands and then twist or braid those together. The link about how the wire was tested got me thinking about the time it would take to braid or twist all of those individual strands. In fact, if one searches youtube, there are examples of this being done. Seems horrifyingly tedious. Just wondering if in saving time and energy by not stripping and individualy braiding or twisting all that wire it would impact the results.
Also, there is shielded and unshielded cat5. I wonder if it would make any difference to use shielded in the manner I propose above. I would guess, no, but I concede that it might.
I have never liked shielded analogue signal cables (never even needed in when I made RCA SPDIF cables, in my system), better to address the source of any interference rather than apply a band-aid IMO.
Personally I did not get good results when I braided CAT5 in my system at the time.
I want to thank everyone in my humble thread. Eight pages in, and civility and discussion have ruled the day. Cable threads are a known morass of opinion and attitude, yet here we are.
Thank you, folks.
Thank you, folks.
RVT1K
Super Member
I decided to take the plunge and try out "CAT5" cables.
Since I don't have the patience or skills to strip and braid all that wire, I bought this four 8-foot lengths of this:
I needed four because I am bi-amping. The process of un-braiding, separating, re-grouping, and soldering lugs on was pretty tedious and time consuming. It was made a bit worse by working in the garage...its HOT here now. I also used some big-ass copper ring lugs for both the speaker and amp ends. The lugs and bundles of wires were way too big for my soldering iron to handle so I busted out the trusty and venerable BernzOmatic propane torch.
Then came the listening test...my CD of Dark Side of the Moon was first on the list.
My immediate impressions were a bit more "sparkle" or perhaps "clarity" is a better word. I also noticed more focus and precision in the image.
But I also noticed the the sound was more "forward". By that I mean that the sound actually seems to come from in front of my speakers rather than from the plane of the baffles. This seems to be song and/or recording dependent since I don't hear it with everything, I played a variety of MP3's after Dark Side.
Definitely herd a difference that I like. It is not a huge difference but it is noticeable.
Since I don't have the patience or skills to strip and braid all that wire, I bought this four 8-foot lengths of this:
Amazon.com: ASHATA 12TC Cable, 24 Core Audiophile Speaker Cables for HiFi Stereo System, HiFi OCC Copper Cord for CD Speaker Radio Amplifier - 2.5m / 8.2ft : Electronics
Buy ASHATA 12TC Cable, 24 Core Audiophile Speaker Cables for HiFi Stereo System, HiFi OCC Copper Cord for CD Speaker Radio Amplifier - 2.5m / 8.2ft: Speaker - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
I needed four because I am bi-amping. The process of un-braiding, separating, re-grouping, and soldering lugs on was pretty tedious and time consuming. It was made a bit worse by working in the garage...its HOT here now. I also used some big-ass copper ring lugs for both the speaker and amp ends. The lugs and bundles of wires were way too big for my soldering iron to handle so I busted out the trusty and venerable BernzOmatic propane torch.
Then came the listening test...my CD of Dark Side of the Moon was first on the list.
My immediate impressions were a bit more "sparkle" or perhaps "clarity" is a better word. I also noticed more focus and precision in the image.
But I also noticed the the sound was more "forward". By that I mean that the sound actually seems to come from in front of my speakers rather than from the plane of the baffles. This seems to be song and/or recording dependent since I don't hear it with everything, I played a variety of MP3's after Dark Side.
Definitely herd a difference that I like. It is not a huge difference but it is noticeable.
Kind of mirrored my own experience. Thank you very much for sharing your experience.
Clue there is Mp3, they loose 80% of the information including space.
I love your thread!
Kinda of like Eugene Levy in "Best of Show," I have only left thumbs, so I enjoy reading along if I can't actually do the work!
You are right about this being a pretty nice place!
RVT1K
Super Member
Now that I have had some more time to listen, the improvement in the focus and detail of the image is apparent with pretty much anything I play. Including a radio station that I stream via their app -WEQX- which is typically pretty bad for some reason.
I don't think that I'm hearing "depth" as much as it is a more forward projection. I do hear it with some MP3's and do not with others.
The wife is getting her hair done today and the plan is to do some critical listening while I have to opportunity. I've even invited some friends over and suggested they bring their own CD's/ MP3's.
pete_mac
Super Member
No they don't - that's a huge over-simplificiation.
Further, if he’s comparing the before and after implications of different cables with the same source material, it really doesn’t matter.
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Yes they do, sure it was a simplification, for brevity, given it was one sentence and not an essay.
The general point was, with MP3 a lot is lost. There's an HF cutoff which is lower than the cut-off cd has.
Rvt1k said he put on a CD, dark side, heard sparkle and clarity but he didn't hear it with everything after playing some mp3s. Qed it might be the source material.
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Oasis8
Well-Known Member
GR Research have a similar looking cable for DIY cable making.
I have no affiliation or connection with GR Research.
Cables | GR-Research
gr-research.com
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