Hello 
,
What speaker cable do you use? Wich type would be better for a single driver?
I'm thinking of disassemble a alpha-core copper foil inductor and use the copper film to build a cable, with the film side by side like the Nordost flat cable. So I can build a spade conector at the ends .
Any other idea?
Guilherme
,What speaker cable do you use? Wich type would be better for a single driver?
I'm thinking of disassemble a alpha-core copper foil inductor and use the copper film to build a cable, with the film side by side like the Nordost flat cable. So I can build a spade conector at the ends
.Any other idea?
Guilherme
Thats a good idea.I have wondered what there foil sounds like from there inductor.It would make a good powercord also.
I have built many powercords and speaker cables out of the silver and copper foils.Outstanding sound. No different than what electraglide and david elrod cables use.I am using some left over wire from a nuclear powerplant right now.
Very heavily shielded silver coated copper wire with wax paper over teflon.Sounds very good i just wish i had more of it.
I have built many powercords and speaker cables out of the silver and copper foils.Outstanding sound. No different than what electraglide and david elrod cables use.I am using some left over wire from a nuclear powerplant right now.
Very heavily shielded silver coated copper wire with wax paper over teflon.Sounds very good i just wish i had more of it.
Sounds like an interesting idea. I've been using cat 5 and will be using 47 Labs OTA once I get my speakers built. I currently use it for ICs and love it, amazing stuff.
As for silver, it can work, but depends. I've had expensive silver ICs and didn't care for them. I found imaging to be smeared and they seemed to soften the edges of attacks. The 47 labs I made were much nicer, much more to my liking. I know some use silver with great luck, could have been the development of this cable.
I've also read that many use thin gage magnet wire with great results as well. Something to think about.
As for silver, it can work, but depends. I've had expensive silver ICs and didn't care for them. I found imaging to be smeared and they seemed to soften the edges of attacks. The 47 labs I made were much nicer, much more to my liking. I know some use silver with great luck, could have been the development of this cable.
I've also read that many use thin gage magnet wire with great results as well. Something to think about.
I'm using 24AWG magnet wire with a pair of FF165Ks at present -the higher resistance artifically raises the QES of the driver (same as adding a resistor, but cheaper and easier.) For speakers that don't requuire any series resistance to help their bass regions, I stick with 12AWG zip cord.
Personally I'd forget about silver -it's a marginally less resistive than copper, but the difference is literally miniscule, and it costs a whole lot more. I haven't seen or heard anything so far that persuades me otherwise.
Personally I'd forget about silver -it's a marginally less resistive than copper, but the difference is literally miniscule, and it costs a whole lot more. I haven't seen or heard anything so far that persuades me otherwise.
cat5
if it's good enough for interconnects (with Eichmann Bullet plugs), it's certaily good enough for speaker wire.
Try a single pair of conductors per side . Yes you'll have to strip the jacket and unravel the 4 pairs - but it sure as hell beats braiding multiple pairs into firehose sized cabling.
if it's good enough for interconnects (with Eichmann Bullet plugs), it's certaily good enough for speaker wire.
Try a single pair of conductors per side . Yes you'll have to strip the jacket and unravel the 4 pairs - but it sure as hell beats braiding multiple pairs into firehose sized cabling.
I am not an engineer ,but i only know what i hear.And i can get huge differences with powercords.However or whatever they are reacting to(does not matter) they just sound good.
I can make my depth fall further back behind my system--increase imaging--brighten things up--by just using powercords.I have made powercords out of foils,round wire ,very thin litz hairlike wire---just so many different types.
I can make my depth fall further back behind my system--increase imaging--brighten things up--by just using powercords.I have made powercords out of foils,round wire ,very thin litz hairlike wire---just so many different types.
I agree on the cat 5 and the power cords. I've been using cat 5 for a while, single run per speaker seperating the twisted pairs and using the solids for the + and the stripes for the -. Amazing for the money. Really solid stuff.
Power cords are a funny thing. You can spend a ton of $$ if you want to. Or not, but they really do make a difference. I've tried some fancy cords, but found the kits this guy sells to be really nice and cost effective. I also ended up getting one of his 4-outlet power boxes. His power box replaced a high-end PS Audio outlet for much less $$ and I didn't loose anything, in fact, it may be nicer. Ernie is a really nice guy, (don't know him and am not affiliated in any way, just good products) check out his stuff...
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?cablpowr&1136054762
Another thing that makes a difference, and not so subtle, are hospital grade outlets. Really. I figured mine were ok, so never thought much of it. I was at Lowes and saw they have these orange hospital grade outlets for around $9. So, why not try it. I big difference. Much quieter, etc. And I know my apt. building has older wiring, no ground and such. I'd highly recommend it. Cheap and easy. Just be sure you know what you're doing.
Power cords are a funny thing. You can spend a ton of $$ if you want to. Or not, but they really do make a difference. I've tried some fancy cords, but found the kits this guy sells to be really nice and cost effective. I also ended up getting one of his 4-outlet power boxes. His power box replaced a high-end PS Audio outlet for much less $$ and I didn't loose anything, in fact, it may be nicer. Ernie is a really nice guy, (don't know him and am not affiliated in any way, just good products) check out his stuff...
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?cablpowr&1136054762
Another thing that makes a difference, and not so subtle, are hospital grade outlets. Really. I figured mine were ok, so never thought much of it. I was at Lowes and saw they have these orange hospital grade outlets for around $9. So, why not try it. I big difference. Much quieter, etc. And I know my apt. building has older wiring, no ground and such. I'd highly recommend it. Cheap and easy. Just be sure you know what you're doing.
It may be obvious, but I thought I'd mention that it is far preferable to get plenum rated Cat5. It should have teflon dielectric instead of pvc. It was specified in the original concepts by Chris VenHaus. The capacitance of such designs is stupid high, even with plenum rated cable. PVC is much worse sonically, and will send some amps into fits. I know cable talk can be contentions, so just ignore me if you don't agree.
Paul
Paul
Good point, I've heard that as well. It's pretty easy to tell the difference. I've been told that you can easily take the casing off of the PVC insulated cables with your fingers, while the Teflon insulator is much tougher to remove. Note that this is the insulator on the actual wire, not the larger housing that contains all the wires.
I believe VenHaus sells the better stuff on his website. I have some cheaper stuff from Lowes, though it still seems to have the Teflon insulation.
I believe VenHaus sells the better stuff on his website. I have some cheaper stuff from Lowes, though it still seems to have the Teflon insulation.
Guijs said:Hello
What speaker cable do you use? Wich type would be better for a single driver?
I'm thinking of disassemble a alpha-core copper foil inductor and use the copper film to build a cable, with the film side by side like the Nordost flat cable. So I can build a spade conector at the ends
Any other idea?
Guilherme
Alpha Core's own wires are sandwitched together instead of side by side. This configuration used in power cords provide an effect similar to using T-caps.
In my experience power-cords make little difference, and expensive ones usually make even less. But then, I live in the UK, not the US, and have a particularly RFI-free environment.
In the US -well, I've seen those pitiful things that you guys have to put up with masquerading as wall sockets. Horrible. So I can see the potential benefits of upgrading them to something a bit more solid, even if you can't afford to re-wire your house (often a big upgrade, if only in safety terms). And I suspect that many will live in envrionments with more of an RFI problem than I have, in which case shielded cables will reap rewards. They needn't be expensive, I've used a couple of Isotek Elite lookalikes that I bought from my local Maplins that work as well as any mega-priced cable I've heard. Not much in it between these and stock kettle-leads for me though. I'd rather buy higher quality drive-units. As for interconnects, my view is if it's not shielded, or doesn't have a ferrite clamp, then it has no place in a hifi system, even in one comparatively free of RF problems. Your amp and sources will likely be churning out a fair bit. There's no voodoo with cables -only electrical properties, so they don't need to be expensive.
Clearly I'm deaf as I've never heard the slightest difference between otherwise identical cables coated either with Teflon or PVC in any system. Teflon has a marginal edge in measured tests of dilectric loss, but a run would need to be far longer than the average home will ever need for this to become even slightly significant. And then you'd need to factor in and account for increased RF pickup, boosted capacitance, resitance & inductance etc too. As a point of interest, Teflon in contact with silver (another pointless contrivance in my view -just use a [very] slightly thicker copper cable & the results will be basically identical, and a whole lot cheaper) is a bad idea, particularly in microphone leads -a horrible combination in terms of triboelectric problems; you get measurable ringing (see audioholics for more on that one), which might explain why some find silver wire has a bit of a 'sheen' (whatever that means).
I hasten to add that these are just my views, backed up by a fair amount of objective evidence. I am not saying anyone has to agree with me. Cables can indeed sound different, but it depends on the system context and what you need them to do.
In the US -well, I've seen those pitiful things that you guys have to put up with masquerading as wall sockets. Horrible. So I can see the potential benefits of upgrading them to something a bit more solid, even if you can't afford to re-wire your house (often a big upgrade, if only in safety terms). And I suspect that many will live in envrionments with more of an RFI problem than I have, in which case shielded cables will reap rewards. They needn't be expensive, I've used a couple of Isotek Elite lookalikes that I bought from my local Maplins that work as well as any mega-priced cable I've heard. Not much in it between these and stock kettle-leads for me though. I'd rather buy higher quality drive-units. As for interconnects, my view is if it's not shielded, or doesn't have a ferrite clamp, then it has no place in a hifi system, even in one comparatively free of RF problems. Your amp and sources will likely be churning out a fair bit. There's no voodoo with cables -only electrical properties, so they don't need to be expensive.
Clearly I'm deaf as I've never heard the slightest difference between otherwise identical cables coated either with Teflon or PVC in any system. Teflon has a marginal edge in measured tests of dilectric loss, but a run would need to be far longer than the average home will ever need for this to become even slightly significant. And then you'd need to factor in and account for increased RF pickup, boosted capacitance, resitance & inductance etc too. As a point of interest, Teflon in contact with silver (another pointless contrivance in my view -just use a [very] slightly thicker copper cable & the results will be basically identical, and a whole lot cheaper) is a bad idea, particularly in microphone leads -a horrible combination in terms of triboelectric problems; you get measurable ringing (see audioholics for more on that one), which might explain why some find silver wire has a bit of a 'sheen' (whatever that means).
I hasten to add that these are just my views, backed up by a fair amount of objective evidence. I am not saying anyone has to agree with me. Cables can indeed sound different, but it depends on the system context and what you need them to do.
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