I recently replaced my SS amp with a tube based amp. I currently have 12 gauge stranded copper wire as my speaker wire. Is CAT5 only recommended when the amp is solid state? I have plenty of that stuff laying around being involved with computers at work. Another thing I wanted to mention which goes back to my amateur radio days is that I remember reading about something called the 'skin effect' when using single conductor wire. It stated that as the frequency increased the current flow tended to travel along the outside of the conductor thereby increasing impedance. I know it was a concern with RF but is it a concern with audio?
I've made my own Cat5, using 3 strands per side. I braided them together, and then seperated the colored and striped wires to + and -. Banana plugs on the amp end, and heat shrink at both ends to keep it from unraveling.
The run is approximately 12ft in length, and I've had no problems at all with my Super T-Amp. In fact, the gain in quality was considerable, and everyone who passes through my office is amazed as well.
The run is approximately 12ft in length, and I've had no problems at all with my Super T-Amp. In fact, the gain in quality was considerable, and everyone who passes through my office is amazed as well.
Nothing hard & fast. Depends on the speaker and amplifier, and what you're trying to achieve. As a basic ROT, if running a lowish Q driver, the higher the ouput impedence (damping factor) of the amplifier, then thinner wire will probably work better. But that's not hard & fast, as you can also use thin wire with low DF units too.
Huge bundles of cat 5 are popular because the cable is cheap and people think that if a little bit is good then a lot must be better. It's a good way to destroy an unstable amplifier. Braided cat5 is effectively two conductors with very large surface areas very close together separated by an insulator. It's a capacitor.
Look at it this way. Your speaker is usually 8 ohms. 24 AWG wire is 0.03 ohms per foot. Assume your speaker cables are 10 feet long, so the resistance of the whole cable (from amp to speaker and back) is 0.6 ohms. You lose just under 10% of your signal, sounds like a lot. 10% is less than 0.5dB. That $25 per metre enormous monster cable conducts less than 10% better than 24c per metre cat 5 for short runs of cable
It's not unusual to have a 0.5dB error in a typical consumer product's volume control between channels. Most people wouldn't even notice such an error.
Depending on the particular driver / cabinet combination that little loss of signal (and damping factor) can actually sound better than a huge cable.
Look at it this way. Your speaker is usually 8 ohms. 24 AWG wire is 0.03 ohms per foot. Assume your speaker cables are 10 feet long, so the resistance of the whole cable (from amp to speaker and back) is 0.6 ohms. You lose just under 10% of your signal, sounds like a lot. 10% is less than 0.5dB. That $25 per metre enormous monster cable conducts less than 10% better than 24c per metre cat 5 for short runs of cable
It's not unusual to have a 0.5dB error in a typical consumer product's volume control between channels. Most people wouldn't even notice such an error.
Depending on the particular driver / cabinet combination that little loss of signal (and damping factor) can actually sound better than a huge cable.
True, short leads do all of that. But remember that the entire point of using thin wire is to add some series resistance, artificially raising the Qe of the driver, and bolstering the LF output, where most FR units need all the help that they can get, especially if a high output impedance amp is used.
As I said, you use whatever is appropriate to the driver / amplifier combination. There are no hard and fast rules. It depends what you're trying to achieve.
As I said, you use whatever is appropriate to the driver / amplifier combination. There are no hard and fast rules. It depends what you're trying to achieve.
I just tried the single strand trick. I was running all 4 striped wires and all 4 solids as Red and Black respectively using all of the wires in Belden 8443 shielded wire for my speaker cables. To try the trick I untwisted the wires and went with the brown stripe and brown solid as the Red and Black and left the rest of the wires unconnected. It is unbelievable what a change it made!
Thanks for the tip. I'm running these (FE126E with Plant10 Mods)Very Small OB with Playstation model 1001 (or Dual 1245 TT) feeding Dynaco PAS3 preamp followed by ASL MG-SI15DT in PP mode with KT88 output tubes and 12AU7 pre tubes. The only need I have at this point for more bass is home theatre otherwise I can completly live with what I now have. Thanks for all of the input from the DIY community that leads to so much knowledge being shared.
Thanks for the tip. I'm running these (FE126E with Plant10 Mods)Very Small OB with Playstation model 1001 (or Dual 1245 TT) feeding Dynaco PAS3 preamp followed by ASL MG-SI15DT in PP mode with KT88 output tubes and 12AU7 pre tubes. The only need I have at this point for more bass is home theatre otherwise I can completly live with what I now have. Thanks for all of the input from the DIY community that leads to so much knowledge being shared.
Hello,
Chris Venhaus has a website about this: http://www.venhaus1.com/diycatfivecables.html
Maybe try Cat-5e or Cat-6. Better physics have to impact the sound positively. Maybe faster transients. Faster Ethernet requires better Cat 5e or better.
Also, this kind of cable has 4 pairs of wires, all twisted at different rates to minimize crosstalk. Maybe find which twist rate has the best sound.
Good Luck.
Regards//Keith
Chris Venhaus has a website about this: http://www.venhaus1.com/diycatfivecables.html
Maybe try Cat-5e or Cat-6. Better physics have to impact the sound positively. Maybe faster transients. Faster Ethernet requires better Cat 5e or better.
Also, this kind of cable has 4 pairs of wires, all twisted at different rates to minimize crosstalk. Maybe find which twist rate has the best sound.
Good Luck.
Regards//Keith
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