Sexy speaker cables

[tcpip]

I built some speaker cables for my speakers. They look superb, and sound as good as any other well-made cables.

I wrote up my process here: Sexy speaker cables | dhandanought.org | tcpip

Hope you find the approach interesting. I found my approach much easier than trying to build braided cables which some builders like so much.

 

[Pano]

Nicely done.

 

[DF96]

A simpler technique would be to use mains cable, but hide it. However, as the author is clear that he is talking about electrically sound cables, but prettified, it is difficult to disagree with him.

In my view, braided cables are a bad idea - too much loop area so too much pickup and too much inductance.

 

[Pano]

However, as the author is clear that he is talking about electrically sound cables, but prettified, it is difficult to disagree with him.

Yes indeed.

 

[ultrafi]

Using a drill to spin wire REALLY messes up the physical structure of the metal in the wire and makes it sound bad.

 

[tcpip]

Nicely done.

Thanks.

And DF96, I built the cables to make them look like the photos of $1,000 factory-made cables I've seen. I reached 90% of the way there, learned things I will be more careful about if I do more cables, and that's that. As far as the audio performance of the system goes, all this was unnecessary. Good mains cables would have done.

 

[restorer-john]

That's funny. LOL.

Using a drill to spin wire REALLY messes up the physical structure of the metal in the wire and makes it sound bad.

 

[thrifttrust]

That's funny. LOL.

I was looking for the wink smiley.

I don't know what it does to the sound but twisting wire with a drill defiantly messes the wire's physical structure. It makes flexible wires stiff. To twist wires you should secure the bundle at one end then twist them by hand starting at the bundled end. I don't know if twist is the right word. You kind of rotate the bundle allowing each wire to find its own lay. As you go allow the free wire ends to "unwind". You also must keep the free ends separated. you can make nice cables that remain flexible and hold their shape naturally with a twist pitch many times that of the bundle diameter. This should satisfy the inductance worrywarts. Secure each end with a cable tie, length of heat shrink or something. This will prevent the wires from unwinding.

 

[DF96]

Twisting wire with a drill not only wraps the two wires round each other, but also twists the individual wires. This may introduce lattice defects, and hence make the wire less flexible - it becomes work-hardened. It may also slightly raise the electrical resistance, although almost certainly not enough to make any practical difference.

 

[AndrewT]

Using a drill to spin wire REALLY messes up the physical structure of the metal in the wire and makes it sound bad.

That's funny. LOL.

Twisting wire with a drill not only wraps the two wires round each other, but also twists the individual wires. This may introduce lattice defects, and hence make the wire less flexible - it becomes work-hardened. It may also slightly raise the electrical resistance, although almost certainly not enough to make any practical difference.

the reels are rotated in the opposite direction to the twisting.
It is the contra-rotation of the wire feeding in that prevents the TWISTING of the strands and their insulation as they "wrap" around each other.
The twisted cable does not have any TWIST in the individual strands.

Using a drill to twist the stands around each other is bad for the metal wire and bad for the insulation and bad for the final product.

 

[Max Headroom]

Heating the wires with a hair dryer/paint stripper gun softens the insulation and helps with laydown and can eliminate self untwisting.....this is done during twisting and after to cause insulation to settle and set to new position....clamp cable position until fully cooled.
Much less 'overtwisting' is required to arrive at the desired twist rate.

For diy usage, the twisting of the copper is not a huge issue regarding reliability of the cable assembly, and my tips above help to reduce the forces on the copper during twisting.

Here's some more ideas - VH Audio

Dan.

 

[analog_sa]

These are supposed to be sexy?

Only if stiffness is your only criteria

 

[tcpip]

These are supposed to be sexy?

Only if stiffness is your only criteria

The cables are not very stiff, actually. They can be coiled into coils of 12" diameter or less without any problem. That's part of the benefit of building them up from six narrower physical wires. They're much more flexible, for instance, than the 4 sqmm or 6 sqmm electrical wires I've used earlier standalone.

 

[badman]

drill is bad. Multiple twisted pairs is AOK, though there's a reason for using an overall wrap. Mil-spec thick teflon tape does this quite well.