Hi,
What about the idea of DIY tonearm cables ? Few questions are:
1. What should be the ideal wire gauge ?
2. What is the best conductor that can be used ?
3. What should the insulator be made up of ?
4. Do we need to twist them as pairs or can we use them as strands ?
5. Which one is the best: stranded or solid core ?
Please post your ideas/comments....
Best regards,
Bins.
What about the idea of DIY tonearm cables ? Few questions are:
1. What should be the ideal wire gauge ?
2. What is the best conductor that can be used ?
3. What should the insulator be made up of ?
4. Do we need to twist them as pairs or can we use them as strands ?
5. Which one is the best: stranded or solid core ?
Please post your ideas/comments....
Best regards,
Bins.
30 or 32 gauge...
This is great wire for tonearms (other than Van Den Hull MCS Silver.. which is waayyyy pricey but very very nice)
Very reasonably priced solid core can be had at:
http://www.a-msystems.com/physiology/wirerod/silvertef.aspx
JD
This is great wire for tonearms (other than Van Den Hull MCS Silver.. which is waayyyy pricey but very very nice)
Very reasonably priced solid core can be had at:
http://www.a-msystems.com/physiology/wirerod/silvertef.aspx
JD
I'm interested in the answer to questions #3 & 4 too. I have an old Rek-O-Kut tonearm that badly needs rewiring. I have some Cardas 33ga wire that I purchased from Percy Audio - but I don't really know how to proceed. I'm wonder if I should twist it (in pairs or all 4) or litz braid it, or what? and should I find some kind or braided shield or what. (If you haven't guessed, I'm pretty much a noob to DIY.)
Hopefully some of the wizards on this forum can provide some illumination.
Thanks,
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Hello there
I have used this A-M Systems | Teflon® Insulated Silver Wire catalog number 786000 with very good result. Compared with van den hul and audio note it is not expensivt.
Yours Ole
I have used this A-M Systems | Teflon® Insulated Silver Wire catalog number 786000 with very good result. Compared with van den hul and audio note it is not expensivt.
Yours Ole
Mouse cable (fron a wired computer mouse) has I think 5 insulated stranded wires (about 30-31 gage) in it (just cut the cable open and pull the wires out) that work just great and costs nothing to salvage from a dead mouse. Have used this and it sounds just fine. I would not endorse using a solid core wire as the slitest knick when stripping the dielectric and you will end up with a broken wire and a pain in the butt.
I've read testimonials from a number of people that have used mouse cable with great results. Naturally there are many who dismiss this as an inferior practice.
Although I can't help but think the majority of nay-sayers haven't actually listened to the results first hand.
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Concur - cheap (usually free) light, colour coded, flexible and well capable of carrying the infintisimal voltages and current generated. I twist in two pairs - braiding all four (or five if you include an earth line) can lead to high levels of torsional stiffness - the braided cable doesn't flex as well and can affect tone-arm movement.
Cheers!
I'm having nice results with "cost next to nothing" mouse cable. I twist 2 seperate pairs and thread it through the arm and down the column with inches extra and free play there at the bottom. I also use those cartridge plugs from pulled from printer port. At the other end with extra few inches its terminated with another 4 terminal plug/socket also pulled from defunct PC audio card to a small DIY PCB which I then solder permanently a twin coax cable with female RCA connectors. I can then use normal interconnects to the amp. All this is quite cost saving, practical and easy to dismantle for any tweaks to the arm I can think of doing later on. Initially I thought these wires may be too thick but so far so good. Yes, I reckon many purists won't endorse or agree with this implementation, but what the heck, costs next to nothing and it works.
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cotton insulated litz wire - scavenged from old RF coils
just find any broken ( even functional is good enough) Boombox with MW , and pull that coil from ferrite rod
Those AM/MW antenna rods?.. did hear of these were useful here.
cotton insulated litz wire - scavenged from old RF coils
just find any broken ( even functional is good enough
Best free arm wire i have used. Don't try to strip the wire !!
Use the tip of hot soldering iron to burn a few mm of cotton/silk insulation off. Tin the end and attach pins from a computer D plug.
John.
Brilliant!
You're good at more things other than PASSing the Pumpkins at THANKSgiving
*hears groans*
Cheers!
