I will throw my 5 cents as I have been DIY cable constructor for 15+ years. The Cat5 cables are in 99% poor cables as either signal or speaker/power cables. I have never met good results with using CAT 5 or 6 whatever cables. Sure many DIYers do not know and have no comparision to good high quality often expensive cables to have an idea, add the lack of expirence with cables as an average DIY person mostly focuses on electronics etc. What I would advice for simple inexpensive way to get the good results is using ready available Alpha Core inductors ribbons. Just a single run of it for + and - gets a good results. They are usually isolated with thin polyester film on both sides to prevent from oxidation. Much better results are possible but this requires much more knowledge, expirence and some more $$ investment. But belive me using Cat 5 cables for audio is a total crap not worth even a penny. This my opinion after playing with virtually hundreds if not more DIY and commercial cables.
Cheers
Cheers
Last edited:
Many played around with CAT5, some measured: Speaker Cable Faceoff 3 - The DIY Shootout | Audioholics. I'm trying to parse spending over $10K for an amp and choosing CAT5.
Silver tarnish is usually considered benign. Sulfate is apparently rare: http://www.te.com/documentation/whitepapers/pdf/Ag_use_connectors_503-1016.pdf
Most sensible suggestion I've heard yet, though that isn't saying a lot in the world of DIY speaker cables. 😉
I actually like the heavy gauge, fine stranded stuff with the clear PVC jacket, that Maplin sell as their "Shark" brand speaker cable. Besides hi-fi, I've used it (and the Shark banana plugs) to wire up Tesla coil primary circuits, and I figure if it can withstand 50 amps of RF, audio should be a walk in the park. Some cheap unbranded speaker cable that looks like this is actually copper-plated steel, but I can vouch that the Maplin stuff is real copper, or at least it was the last time I bought some.
I will now run for my life under a hail of green painted CDs. 🙂
Last edited:
Indeed I have seen some of that clear PVC insulated cable go green and yucky with age, but all of the Maplin stuff I have is still good, and some of it is 10 years old now.
I imagine ordinary domestic or industrial flexible cord would be a safer bet, as they make a heck of a lot more of it than specialised speaker cable and should surely have sorted out any chemical compatibility issues with the insulation long ago.
I will repeat that I don't believe the conductive or dielectric properties of a speaker cable affect the sound in the slightest, except in so far as very high resistance would alter the speaker frequency response, and very high capacitance might cause some amps to chirp with parasitics. People just seem to pick a cable that comes with a story that makes them happy.
I imagine ordinary domestic or industrial flexible cord would be a safer bet, as they make a heck of a lot more of it than specialised speaker cable and should surely have sorted out any chemical compatibility issues with the insulation long ago.
I will repeat that I don't believe the conductive or dielectric properties of a speaker cable affect the sound in the slightest, except in so far as very high resistance would alter the speaker frequency response, and very high capacitance might cause some amps to chirp with parasitics. People just seem to pick a cable that comes with a story that makes them happy.
My mistake it is not silver sulphate but silver sulfide (Ag2S).
It certainly is not silver oxide though which seems fairly difficult to to produce (at least in commercial quantities) as one has to mix silver nitrate with an alkali hydroxide to do so.
Silver tarnish is quite soft and well-designed connectors using silver contacts employ wipers to clean them off every time they are plugged in.
Standard Neutrik XLRs are a good example but then it is good practice to use their gold-plated XLRs for permanent connections and the standard ones for mic leads etc.
I for one had a number of XLRs go intermittent/dead due to tarnish which is fixed easily by re-plugging (sometimes repeatedly).
You can make silver tarnish-free by alloying it with 1.2% germanium. The resulting alloy is trademarked as Argentium. It is used in jewellery, the addition of Germanium also increases electrical and thermal resistance enough to make electro welding possible.
Cat 5/6 is a pain in the butt to strip and looks ugly. Ive since bought some low cost Sommer Meridian (£1.80 per metre). Worth the money not to have to strip those tiny individual wires. Along with pro (Neutrik Speakon) connectors makes an easy and good quality cable. Just my 2 cents.
I think current handling capability might possibly be a little more important than any of those measurements. Maybe measure the voltage drop of the Cat5 wire with 8 amps flowing through it for a useful measurement. What a load of crap!
This would have been the tip of the day if the householdcable were a solidcore
There will allways be a lot of loss in any stranded cable, mainly audible as loss in the dynamic range. The only way to avoid this dynamic loss is to run thick solid core, thick is here starting at around 6mm. Btw; burn-in is a key-word here.
Flat foil-conductors will never perform anywhere near a big gauge solidcore when used as speakercables.
How so?
Any data? How does a wire "burn in"? What's the property that changes and how is that determined?
I'm not sure what you're calling "a load of crap," but these speaker cable threads always go that way...
I was referring to the useless tests in the article. I really don't care what open circuit resistance is on a piece of wire that isn't rated to carry anywhere near the needed current. If a couple pF of capacitance is going to upset a stereo there's bigger issues there than the wire.
Hi,
6mm^2 minimum is an amusing concept. How do you think
the alleged "dynamic loss" of thinner cables compares
to the "dynamic losses" of the drivers voicecoils ?
The speakers internal wiring ? Internal inductors ?
Richer Sounds sells good value 200 strand cable @£1.50/m.
Solder tin the ends and use without plugs for the best results.
Half the price (and mm^2) of Maplins Shark stuff, just as
suitable, and worth the extra 50p/m over the 100 strand.
They also do a spaced 400 strand for £2.50/m,
based on the classic Naim speaker cable of old.
Sadly I can't find the 4 core 3 phase cable at Maplins anymore.
Or the rather fetching Lilac heat resistant solid core CAT5 stuff.
rgds, sreten.
6mm^2 minimum is an amusing concept. How do you think
the alleged "dynamic loss" of thinner cables compares
to the "dynamic losses" of the drivers voicecoils ?
The speakers internal wiring ? Internal inductors ?
Richer Sounds sells good value 200 strand cable @£1.50/m.
Solder tin the ends and use without plugs for the best results.
Half the price (and mm^2) of Maplins Shark stuff, just as
suitable, and worth the extra 50p/m over the 100 strand.
They also do a spaced 400 strand for £2.50/m,
based on the classic Naim speaker cable of old.
Sadly I can't find the 4 core 3 phase cable at Maplins anymore.
Or the rather fetching Lilac heat resistant solid core CAT5 stuff.
rgds, sreten.
Last edited:
Maybe you should have at least glanced at their test: I don't believe they tested anything smaller than a 12AWG cable.
I did look at it. Cat 5 was the winner so it's obviously not a very useful test. As I said, a real test would involve actually putting a load on it.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.