Wire From Ext. Crossover to Speaker

[Jeff Glowacki]

Originally Posted by Guild

I didn't try the Hovlands but IME over a long period of tweaking and tinkering, capacitor picking usually turns out to be a matter of taste. With the Newforms, I started off by replacing the stock tweeter cap with an Audiocap Theta... very (very) nice but a maybe a little too smooth for my tastes. Next up was the Sonicap Gen 1 which proved a little too bright (bypassing it with a Vishay 1837 helped) and then I tried the Auricap...and that was the ticket. Just the right amount of detail and musicality that I was looking for. All of these caps are excellent but my second choice in this application...the Theta (bypassed with a .1uf Multicap RTX).

I agree regarding "a matter of choice". So what are the chances that someone else would share your taste, or mine for that matter. All we can do is guide with broad generalizations. I appreciate your opinion given your experience with this speaker. My experience is based off of modifying or selling modification kits to over 200 owners of the 645. In this, I have had near 200 opinions with all different kinds of equipment and rooms.

My cost no object choice...any good Teflon (Aura-T, Platinum, V-cap, etc...). Second choice...Mundorf Silver/Oil. Third...RTX. Fourth...Sonicap bypassed with 0.1uF to 1uF. Fifth...a single value of Sonicap G1.

I would like to point out that I do believe the RTX helped the Theta, but I too feel that combo is a tad slow and dark. While you may have preferred the 1837 bypass, I can guarantee it made the G1 brighter.

Again, I appreciate your input, but I do not wish to go off topic. Feel free to start another thread if you would like.

[rich2ch]

Jeff,

I did use the OIMP VCap 12 uf. It generally sounds pretty good but is a bit rolled off. It took so long to break in the cap that I don't think I could really make a good comparison between the Vcap and Theta. It would be nice to get more HF extension but I would not want it to get brighter or harsh. My space is on the bright side with hardwood floors and hard plaster.

Thank you for the info on the wire braiding. That was a good clarification. How much extra length of do you need to make the braid for about a 5 foot cable?

Guild,

Was your 6 wire cable braided in any particular pattern?

Thanks,

Rich2ch

[Tech Staff @ Sonic Craft]

Hi Rich,

Keep in mind, extra length required when braiding depends on how tight your braid actually is. A good rule of thumb is 20%. For a five-foot final run, start with six foot strands.

Shawn

[Guild]

Originally Posted by rich2ch

Jeff,

I did use the OIMP VCap 12 uf. It generally sounds pretty good but is a bit rolled off. It took so long to break in the cap that I don't think I could really make a good comparison between the Vcap and Theta. It would be nice to get more HF extension but I would not want it to get brighter or harsh. My space is on the bright side with hardwood floors and hard plaster.

Thank you for the info on the wire braiding. That was a good clarification. How much extra length of do you need to make the braid for about a 5 foot cable?

Guild,

Was your 6 wire cable braided in any particular pattern?

Thanks,

Rich2ch

Actually it's a 4 strand braid but with 3 wires per strand, so you end up with 6 conductors per polarity. Kind of hard to describe, but you start by dividing the wires into 4 groups of 3 and perform a Milloit braid (see link). Think of and treat each 3 wire strand as a flat ribbon.

When you finish the braid you will have two counter-wound helixes (looking something like the XLO interconnect shown below). There will be 4 "ribbons" of 3 wires each. Connect into two polarities (+ & -) as shown in the Milloit link below...only with 6 wires each.

Patent US2958724 - ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR - Google Patents

XLO

[Jeff Glowacki]

Originally Posted by rich2ch

Jeff,

I did use the OIMP VCap 12 uf. It generally sounds pretty good but is a bit rolled off. It took so long to break in the cap that I don't think I could really make a good comparison between the Vcap and Theta. It would be nice to get more HF extension but I would not want it to get brighter or harsh. My space is on the bright side with hardwood floors and hard plaster.

Thanks,
Rich2ch

Both the OIMP and the Theta are soft on top. Given your situation, the best bang for the buck would probably be a 10uF/200V Sonicap G1 bypassed with a 2.2uF Mundorf Silver/Oil.

[Jeff Glowacki]

Originally Posted by Guild

Actually it's a 4 strand braid but with 3 wires per strand, so you end up with 6 conductors per polarity. Kind of hard to describe, but you start by dividing the wires into 4 groups of 3 and perform a Milloit braid (see link). Think of and treat each 3 wire strand as a flat ribbon.

When you finish the braid you will have two counter-wound helixes (looking something like the XLO interconnect shown below). There will be 4 "ribbons" of 3 wires each. Connect into two polarities (+ & -) as shown in the Milloit link below...only with 6 wires each.

Patent US2958724 - ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR - Google Patents

XLO

This is the same braid we are referring to whether you happen to use 2, 4, 6, or more conductors. Thanks for the link Bob. I'm glad that patent has long since expired

Rich,

There are a couple of ways to braid four. For the low-pass, I do not care how you do it. Here is another link: How to braid with four strands - YouTube For the high-pass, you will use the same configuration as Bob has linked to, but only two 18ga conductors are involved. They will wrap back and forth about a simple twisted pair (23ga) that runs thru the center.

[Guild]

[QUOTE=Jeff Glowacki;3396440]This is the same braid we are referring to whether you happen to use 2, 4, 6, or more conductors. Thanks for the link Bob. I'm glad that patent has long since expired

As a point of interest regarding the Milloit braid. As you can see from the patent what you have with this braid is 2 twisted pair woven together and Mr. Milloit found that the greatest noise rejection occurred by connecting one polarity from each pair (ie, 11 to 13 & 12 to 14). I assume this is true but have no way of knowing for sure...just passing it along for what it's worth.

Also, this is the same braid that Kimber uses in the very popular and excellent Hero interconnect. Interestingly (from what I've read), they connect it in parallel (ie..12 - 13 & 11 - 14). Again, don't know this for a fact having never examined the Kimber Hero connections.

[Jeff Glowacki]

Bob,

When using that particular braid, I too would us 11&14, and 12&13 for each polarity. However, this will depend on the freq of the the common mod of noise you wish to reject. And, the ratio of reactance that is more conducive to your desired results. Such as...will it be speaker wire, or interconnect...etc...

[rich2ch]

Jeff,

I just priced out the silver for the cable and decided it was a little over my budget! What would be the next level suggestion?

Guild,

I started thinking about the 6 wire braid but the price doubled when I noticed it was 6 per polarity.

[Jeff Glowacki]

Rich,

The Silver is a big part of that cable. How long does your high-pass cable have to be?