cable & box terminal with alpair 7.3

[noPiano]

hello ,

I am starting a project with alpair 7.3 which I will present it in the forum as soon as I have some carpenter work done.
First of all I would like to know what kind/size/maximum length of cable is suitable
1) to connect the driver with the speaker terminal
2) the speaker terminal with the amp

Secondly what kind of speaker terminals are best?
maybe I would prefer something for thin banana plugs

thanks
noPiano

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by noPiano

hello ,

I am starting a project with alpair 7.3 which I will present it in the forum as soon as I have some carpenter work done.
First of all I would like to know what kind/size/maximum length of cable is suitable
1) to connect the driver with the speaker terminal
2) the speaker terminal with the amp

Secondly what kind of speaker terminals are best?
maybe I would prefer something for thin banana plugs

thanks
noPiano

"best"? - no such thing - or rather you'll never get a consensus, but my


-Inside the enclosure, I'd never use any thing but a soldered connection at both the driver and enclosure terminals

- Since we tend to swap speakers around a lot for demo / comparisons, a quick change connector is very handy, and we use cheap/low mass 5-way binding posts with 3/4" spacing that accommodates molded banana plugs (Pomona, etc), but can be very awkward if you're a fan of big spade terminals.

- Considering the amount of current draw by full range drivers such as the Alpair 7.3, the length of internal connection required, as well as the size of the voice coil conductors, it doesn't make sense to me to use anything larger than #20 inside the box (in fact I've been using #24 solid from CAT5 network for over 10yrs - it's dirt cheap and more than capable)

- While many of the more charitable forum contributors might be willing to grand the above point (with a smug grin of "but I know better, of course") , from the amp to the speaker enclosure is a different story- expect no mercy and plenty of energy spent on debating the merits of everything from #32 solid magnet wire to #2 welding cable , exotic braiding topologies and/more materials. I generally use the same #24 solid for runs shorter than 10ft, and nothing more elaborate than cheap #18 stranded from my local Home Depot

let the games begin

[phivates]

ChrisB: wire you saying such things? Do you then agree with those who suggest that the wire gauge of crossover components and voice coil leads should be the reference for the amp>speaker link? How could you?!?

[markaudio]

Hi Guys,
11 emails in the last 2 days asking me to comment on what I use when testing drivers and on my home system.

I've found Sommer AW16 gauge 1.5mm NYFAZ cable (Germany) works well. Its available in HK at moderate prices as allot of the pro audio guys use this brand.

sommer cable - Kabel Stageboxen Multicoresysteme Mikrofonkabel Stagebox Lautsprecherkabel XLR Stecker Gitarrenkabel Instrumentenkabel Neutrik Hicon

Cable similar to the quality of Sommer should be fine. I was given some very expensive exotic cables to test some years back, but couldn't detect any additional audible benefit.

Cheers
Mark

[Rullknufs]

For my newly built dMar-Kel70TeN I have slaughtered a Cat5 internet cable and took four strands, two per speaker. It sounds good to me, and it's incredibly cheap since you can find Cat5 cables pretty much for free.

[zman01]

Cat5 for me also for speaker internal connections.

[zman01]

Here you go with some pics of what ChrisB has suggested.

[planet10]

Originally Posted by zman01

Here you go with some pics of what ChrisB has suggested.

The terminals we use most of the time, have the cups on the right with the 5-way posts on the left... the plastic nuts have less metal & we prefer them.

dave

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by phivates

ChrisB: wire you saying such things? Do you then agree with those who suggest that the wire gauge of crossover components and voice coil leads should be the reference for the amp>speaker link? How could you?!?

how could I? easy -the OP was referencing using Alpair 7.3 - as best as I could parse from his post, a single per enclosure, not in a multi-way, so I don't think questions relating to gauges of wires in XO components is particularly relevant

but really, aren't there better issues about which to exercise ones' self?

I guess we'll soon see

[phivates]

Such as birch or maple sawdust?