I'm building my first "hi-fi" system right now and I have a question about the speaker cables. I've done some reading, and the Ubyte-2 cable configuration seems like a really good idea. My question is, does the ohm rating of the cable really matter? I know that frequency attenuation occurs based on the ohm rating, but isn't most of that up in the Mhz range? The reason I ask is because I have access to some 50 ohm Aircom Plus cable on the cheap from a buddy who does radio transmission work.
If it matters, I'm going to be running ~8ohm, 93dB/W speakers on a 41Hz Amp 3. Thanks for the help.
If it matters, I'm going to be running ~8ohm, 93dB/W speakers on a 41Hz Amp 3. Thanks for the help.
You don't need shielded cable for speakers. A lot of people, including myself, use 14 ga. zip cord.
In this case, the foil shielding is actually used as a conductor. The theory as I read it is so that you have both a nice chunky center conductor for good bass, and a thin foil conductor for high end. I've never made full range speakers before, just subwoofers, so I'm used to just using really heavy gauge wire of most any composition. I've also heard that CAT-5 cable makes a good speaker cable (twisted or braided configurations).
velmeran42 said:
I love it!
Also, don't forget to put your amplifier up on a shelf to achieve better electron flow down into your speakers. 😀
Cal
The aircom cable would be a very good speakercable, if a little tricky to terminate nicely. But just as good would be some think figure-8 cable. Just make sure resistance is low, and all cables will sound the same.
It's not just about thickness, the spacing between the conductors is also important. Too much space between them and you have an too much inductance on long runs. Generally though, thick zip/figure-8 cable is just fine.
Cal Weldon said:
Alright, so what's the optimal slope to get adequite electron flow? Is vertical too steep? Like I said, I usually just grab some nice chunky 12 guage for my subwoofers. Just plain old copper multi-strand. There's far too much snake oil and vodoo in hi-fi, sometimes it's hard to sort the wheat from the chaffe.
I find that about 45% is about right. Any steeper and the electrons fall too fast and jam up at the connectors...
Actually I have been running my speakers on DC so the electrons all move neatly along in one direction. That prevents them from getting in each other's way going both directions.
Use the Aircom cable to make some nice rca's. Solid rca connectors you can buy for ~$1 each. Get some heat shrink as well.
Not saying it will sound better, but it definately looks better, and makes a much better connection (all the cheap rca cables I have make a lousy fit). Plus you can choose your exact length required.
🙂
Not saying it will sound better, but it definately looks better, and makes a much better connection (all the cheap rca cables I have make a lousy fit). Plus you can choose your exact length required.
🙂
Thanks for the laughs guys. I'll stock up on snake oil (to aid the electons in their motion) and jump right on it. I could actually make some pretty nice RCA's out of the Aircom Plus, but for now I'll run what I've got (Acoustic-Research Pro II, and no, I didn't buy them retail). For now I'll concentrate on just getting my amp finished up (some connections remain to be soldered, then testing begins) and putting a finish on my speakers (bare MDF isn't so pretty). For now I'll just wire the speakers up with some 16 gauge RCA brand speaker cable I have sitting on the floor by my computer.
I've tried to do the same thing. Wasn't a real succes though, the innerconductor is too thick to nicely solder onto the connectors. I make my interconnects with a low-loss shielded microphonecable. They are good quality and easy to work with. For speakerwire I use 1.5mm zipcord. I just like the looks of a round cable.
If using a chip amp be sure the case is anodized black, this will keep the bogomips from escaping and possibly causing interferance.
Tweeker said:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Hmmmm, well, my case is actually aluminum faces with steel upper and lower, but it is black. Will that keep the bogomips in check? (oh yeah, the upper is ventalated too, hope they don't get out through there).
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