47 Labs OTA, a cheap alternative?

[homer09]

I hear the OTA cables designed by 47 labs are somehow the better choice for interconnects and even speaker cables, especially for gainclones (hence why this thread is in this forum)

From the official site, and some digging on the web and this forum, ive only found the following specs about the cable:

- 0.4 mm thick (26 AWG)
- solid conductor
- OFC copper
- jacket material???

oh and its ridiculous price tag of course

I would like to know if anyone has found a reasonably priced alternative cable that is basically the same thing as the OTA.

Is construction really just a double length of the wire side by side? is there any way to join them for neatness, since i hear you shouldnt twist them.

Anyone have pictures of interconnects (i have no idea how to terminate with rca)?

[homer09]

Is cat5e cable a good aproximation? I would take one pair of conductors and use that for one speaker wire. (ex. belden 1585A).

Would i have to separate the two leads? still unclear how to run these from my amp or how to use them as interconnects...

[Stabist]

Not quite sure what makes you problems - but for IC - if you take 2 wires - one is signal and one is gnd - so 1 wire is for signal and other for gnd - simple as that ...

[homer09]

Originally posted by Stabist
Not quite sure what makes you problems - but for IC - if you take 2 wires - one is signal and one is gnd - so 1 wire is for signal and other for gnd - simple as that ...

Ok maybe i made my self sound a lil more dumb than i am. I know where the connections go, just was wondering how people are constructing them. The RCA's i have are designed to accept thicker wire, the hot being soldered to the middle prong, and the cold is the shield which is crimped down on by a screw. SO with such thin wire, do i need a dif type of RCA?

Also shouldnt IC's be shielded?

[Asen]

I had bad results with CAT5. It's a waste of time but try it for yourself. Anyway it's cheap enough and it won't hurt.

[homer09]

Originally posted by Asen
I had bad results with CAT5. It's a waste of time but try it for yourself. Anyway it's cheap enough and it won't hurt.

What did you use them as, speaker cable or IC? What do you recommend instead?

[Stabist]

Originally posted by homer09


Ok maybe i made my self sound a lil more dumb than i am. I know where the connections go, just was wondering how people are constructing them. The RCA's i have are designed to accept thicker wire, the hot being soldered to the middle prong, and the cold is the shield which is crimped down on by a screw. SO with such thin wire, do i need a dif type of RCA?

Also shouldnt IC's be shielded?

It's not neccesary to have shield - just look at Kimber cables, etc ...
All my cables are diy - and except in one case I never used a shield - I just soldered gnd cable somewhere on the connector ... And I use standard RCAs ... But you're right - most of the RCAs are "stupid" - Eichman RCAs are a good example of what a call smart engineering!!
Another interesting aproach is the way Naim does ...

[etexte]

Originally posted by Asen
I had bad results with CAT5. It's a waste of time but try it for yourself. Anyway it's cheap enough and it won't hurt.

I use it, so do others, with very good results.
I'd say people reading your statement waste their time since you generalize on this when it's not the case. Say you wasted your time, don't say it's a waste of time. Unless you try it, you never know, not all systems are the same

[planet10]

I use CAT 5 strands with good results. Use the solid core stuff. Plenum grade (teflon insulation) is best but not nearly as obtainable as the cheaper stuff with PVC insulation.

It is best -- but a lot of work -- to untwist the strands and run them some distance from each other. I'm usually lazy and just run a single twisted pair. At some point i'll get industrious enuff to build a multiple pararlell strand cable where the wires are layed flat inside a sandwich of packing tape.

dave

[homer09]

if i like the results, im think i will probably run two conductors around a hose or some other flexbile separator and heat shrink the whole thing.

If i have very unequal distances to my speakers (i need a min of ~12' to reach one and ~3' to reach the other from the amp) should i use unequal cable lengths or make them both long and coil one up?