How to braid Cables (Configurations)

[Rarkov]

Hi,

I have been inspired by Kimber Kables and wish to make some speaker cables. I have gotten hold of some cable and have been thinking of how to braid them. Here are a few ideas:

Normal braid, requires 3 cables so one goes to waste. Instead, you could braid 3x2 so instead of using one cable, you use 2. Then seperate at the end which gives you 3 cables per terminal.

My question is this. Is there any other way to braid these things that don't require multiples of three?

What exactly is the configuration that Kimber uses, since the main stretch of the cables look almost square - not flat!

Thanks,
Gaz

[Ulas]

From you description it sounds like a square sinnet. There are literally dozens of sinnets that can be braided with an even, or odd, number of strands resulting in a square, round, oval, half-round, triangular, pentagonal, and other shapes. A good place to start is The Ashley Book of Knots.

[Rarkov]

I thought there'd be a reply by now...Does no-one have Kimber Kables?

Edit:
BTW I know that the 8VS cable has 8 conductors so this braiding method has to be something to do with that.

Thanks

Gaz

[faustian bargin]

Originally posted by Rarkov
....
My question is this. Is there any other way to braid these things that don't require multiples of three?

is there a way of using the third 'unused' cable as sort of a shield? i think i've heard of doing that, but i'm not sure how it works.

[Aud_Mot]

Rarkov,

Braiding, induction, capacitance, skin affect, solid cable, multi-standed, litz wire, small gague, large gauge, combinmation gague, impedance matching, RF suppression, golden section, coax, sheilding, cable is directional, oxygen free, damping factor.

Please feel free to mix and match any number and combination of the above factors, plus the ones I forgot to mention and the ones I have not heard of or the ones to be discovered/invented in the future.

I do not know of a subject that has a broader range of data, opinions, and beliefs than the subject of speaker cables and interconnects.

Experiment, listen, have fun, enjoy the music.

Try:

http://www.vacuumstate.com/index.htm

for Alan Wright's Cable Cookbook. 2nd edition is on the way.

Also try searching patents on cables. Maybe Ray Kimber reveals all.

Aud_Mot

[GrahamnDodder]

Rarkov-

My CAT5e speaker cables use three full runs of CAT5e each. I braid them normally, but I use the individual twisted pairs to seperate into pos and neg wires.

You braid them, leave a little on the end, and untwist all the wires at the end. Then twist all of the solid colors together and twist all of the white/striped colors together (at each end, of course!) and, no matter what braid configuration you use, you will always have an equal number of neg and positive strands. Shrink wrap the ends and terminate.

I also think this has the added bennie of cancelling out RF interferance, which on a speaker cable is admittedly negligible.

GnD

[sreten]

Originally posted by Rarkov
Hi,

My question is this. Is there any other way to braid these things that don't require multiples of three?

What exactly is the configuration that Kimber uses, since the main stretch of the cables look almost square - not flat!

Thanks,
Gaz

One method is for four cables and is also used in tonearm wires.

You simply keep crossing opposite pairs of cables across each other.
You can also build in a twist or not to the cable, try it and see.

3 cables form a flat plait, for more you have to think in terms of a circle.

sreten.

(CAT5 triple plait, all pairs in parallel)

[hjelm]

I can vouch for the quad braiding. I use four solid core wires of a thin gauge as signal wires. They do not need to be shielded and provide a much better detail image and clear high than the bought cable they replaced, the braided one was shorter though.

Here is a description with images in Swedish:
Quad braid

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by hjelm
I can vouch for the quad braiding. I use four solid core wires of a thin gauge as signal wires. They do not need to be shielded and provide a much better detail image and clear high than the bought cable they replaced, the braided one was shorter though.

That configuration has worked best for me as well.

How are you terminating the individual strands at the ends?

There's basically just two ways to terminate. The braid is essentially two interwoven twisted pairs, with one pair on one axis and another on an axis 90 degrees to the other.

You can either terminate the pairs on each axis or you can pair one wire from one axis to one wire from the other axis.

I've found the latter works best for me.

Here is a description with images in Swedish:
Quad braid

That gets the job done and illustrates the basic construction of the braid. But it's very tedious to actually do the braid like that, trying to build it up like a skyscraper.

I've found a more longitudinal approach works much better. Here are some images I made of it a couple years ago. Should be self explanatory. The leftmost wire goes under, comes up and over the next rightmost wire. Rightmost wire goes under and comes up and over the next leftmost wire. Just keep alternating back and forth.









se

[hjelm]

I have done the same thing you did for termination but didn't try the other way around, they were a bit too short already and they sounded so much better than the old ones i didn't bother to redo them.

I think your method is better than the one i showed.
I actually worked it like a "skyscraper" and had pairs that i crossed on top.