What kinds of wire for a gainclone??

[JazzzSpazzz]

Greetings,

I hope no one has to do the search of the archives I just did: wire & gainclone.

Anyways, needless to say there are a lot of hits, but nothing I could find an answer to my questions. The GC I am talking about is BrianGT's group buy & I'm looking at a Avel 250, 25-0-25 transformer.

First, what type of wire should I run from the rectifier board to the amp boards? These are going to be in separate boxes.

Second, I am planning on using the shield video cable I use for interconnects to go from the input plugs to the pot (grounding the shielding only at the input), but what wire should go from the pot to the amp boards? Is there any real advantage to use shielded?

Finally, what wire from the amp boards to the speaker outs? I am thinking about braided cat 5 (I already have this)

Sorry, I may be nit picking, but I'm ordering the tranfo from PE & want to try and get everything I need in 1 order.

Thanks in advance,
Bret Morrow

[Ropie]

I use the same wire for inside the amp and for (the umbilical between psu and amp - that is standard 0.6mm solid core wire. To make the umbilicals more substantial you can wrap them in shrink wrap or some old mains-wire insulation. On the primary side of your transformer(s) use mains cable and always use a nice thick earth wire if you have a metal case.

I have never used shielded wire so couldn't comment on it, but the above has always sounded very good

Braided cat5 makes very good speaker cable so it probably wouldn't hurt to use it inside the amp from the chip to the speaker posts as you say.

When ordering your wire it may be easier to put together if you get coloured wire: red for +, black for -, etc; though this is not essential of course.

[JazzzSpazzz]

Thanks. I would have thought an umbilical would have to be "not solid" copper wire (what ever the actual term for that is). I bet I can't find 0.6 mm over on this side of the pond but I think I should be able to find 22 gauge (AWG) or 20 SWG, if my conversion is correct We haven't quite accepted the metric system full swing here yet ;-)

Thanks,
Bret Morrow

[Ropie]

I see what you mean about solid wire umbilicals but as long as you are careful and don't move them too much they will be fine. 0.6mm is about 0.024 inches so is quite thin!

Of course, you could always use copper stranded mains cable instead. There may or may not be a difference in the sound of solid/stranded wire - I have tried both and couldn't tell.

[soundNERD]

I like cat 5 for connecting between the rectifiers and amp. I one pair of wire for each voltage (so two twisted wires for +, - and gnd).

It is good because by having the twisted wires it reduces EMI created by the high voltage/current power.

Never tried cat5 for speakers though.

-Mike

[JazzzSpazzz]

I should have realized this last night (East Coast time), but 22 AWG is really really thin--as soundNERD says its cat 5! This is my reality check--is this really enough, shouldn't I use something really awkward like 12 gauge solid cu++? Isn't more always better javascript:smilie('')? I have nothing to base this on other than what little I know about speaker wire that uses many pairs of cat 5. I really don't know but I guess I just want to make sure I'm not miscalculating the size.

cat 5 just seems too easy javascript:smilie('')

TIA,
Bret Morrow

[soundNERD]

i never made speaker wire out of cat5, but i would think you would use 4 wires for each lead, so it really isn't that thin.

i would use cat5 for the speaker and the power. use 1 pair of wires for +, - and gnd.

if you want to get really fancy, use real cat5 jumper cables and rj45 jacks for connecting the speakers and stuff.

-Mike

[JazzzSpazzz]

Thanks, I guess I've got my power wire now!

Cheers,
Bret Morrow

[Nuuk]

if you want to get really fancy, use real cat5 jumper cables and rj45 jacks for connecting the speakers and stuff.

If you want to get real practical, use a single pair of Cat5 wires for connecting the speakers.

[Hewie]

Wish I had read this thread earlier. I just finished point to point wiring 2 MUR860 bridges using 24AWG solid core connecting wire from the secondaries, diode to diode, and to the amp. Is this sufficient or should I replace it with 22 AWG?
Thanks.
Dave
PS this is the first of many noob questions as I start my GC.