I have a modest setup. Rotel 1023> Zen Preamp> Mini-A(elph)> Paradigm Titans. My interconnects have been Monster Cable low end types. My Speaker cables- Audio Quest (8-solid core strands).
I purchased 20 feet of six 9's silver (20 guage) and 20 feet of teflon tubing for about $35-40 with shipping. I made a 1'-1/2" set. It was just a simple 2 wire loosely twisted pair. No shielding. The plugs were a nice quality gold plated set. (I got them second hand from Soundex, now closed
, they don't even match.) I just wanted to see if there was any difference in sound- good or bad. It took less than a half hour to make a set.
My jaw nearly hit the floor. It was like putting on corrective lenses. Any tune that open with a bassline just knocks me out!
It's so much better defined and you can hear a wider range of harmonics. I can literally hear the player's fingers plucking the strings. It wasn't there before. This is without any break-in period. It sounded nice as soon as the set was plugged in.
I'm not sure what to make of it. I still have a set of Monster 100 interlinks between the cd player and the preamp. Could it have made that much of an improvement? It was like I upgrade all my components one step up.
I want to build another set. Does anyone have any recommendations on cable builds? Some builder are using cotton tubing instead of teflon. What about braiding wire or some other geometry? Is simpler better?
Any comments or suggestions would be cool.
Vince
I purchased 20 feet of six 9's silver (20 guage) and 20 feet of teflon tubing for about $35-40 with shipping. I made a 1'-1/2" set. It was just a simple 2 wire loosely twisted pair. No shielding. The plugs were a nice quality gold plated set. (I got them second hand from Soundex, now closed
, they don't even match.) I just wanted to see if there was any difference in sound- good or bad. It took less than a half hour to make a set.My jaw nearly hit the floor. It was like putting on corrective lenses. Any tune that open with a bassline just knocks me out!
It's so much better defined and you can hear a wider range of harmonics. I can literally hear the player's fingers plucking the strings. It wasn't there before. This is without any break-in period. It sounded nice as soon as the set was plugged in.
I'm not sure what to make of it. I still have a set of Monster 100 interlinks between the cd player and the preamp. Could it have made that much of an improvement? It was like I upgrade all my components one step up.
I want to build another set. Does anyone have any recommendations on cable builds? Some builder are using cotton tubing instead of teflon. What about braiding wire or some other geometry? Is simpler better?
Any comments or suggestions would be cool.
Vince
Vince,
Try winding the two wires a set distance apart around a former like this http://www.venhaus1.com/diysilverinterconnects.html . It should give you an interconnect with a cable capacitance of a few pF , lower than that of your plugs !
Cheers,
Jon
Try winding the two wires a set distance apart around a former like this http://www.venhaus1.com/diysilverinterconnects.html . It should give you an interconnect with a cable capacitance of a few pF , lower than that of your plugs !
Cheers,
Jon
I'll give it a try. Should i stay away from PVC for the former? PVC is easier to find.
Thanks,
V~
Thanks,
V~
You may consider rewinding the voice coils and the crossover coils of your loudspeakers with silver wire...
Your signal is still travelling through 50 meters or so of thin solid copper wire of standard pureness (99%) inside each loudspeaker... 😀😀😀
World would be a beutiful place if people employed their imagination for useful things...
Your signal is still travelling through 50 meters or so of thin solid copper wire of standard pureness (99%) inside each loudspeaker... 😀😀😀
World would be a beutiful place if people employed their imagination for useful things...
Eva said:
Eva
You are so much behind the times. Too busy trying to keep an open mind? Lowther and Audio Note among others have silver voice coil drivers...
Hi Vince:
I have found that PE insulation is very good, and in some cases even better than PTFE (teflon). A friend of mine and I made 2 different versions of PE/Ag or CuAg interconnects, which you may check out at my website (it's in Croatian but things should be quite clear from the pictures).
We are both very pleased with both versions and got quite satisfactory results when we compared them to some expensive, upscale cables (e.g. Nordost Quattro).
Regards,
Milan
I have found that PE insulation is very good, and in some cases even better than PTFE (teflon). A friend of mine and I made 2 different versions of PE/Ag or CuAg interconnects, which you may check out at my website (it's in Croatian but things should be quite clear from the pictures).
We are both very pleased with both versions and got quite satisfactory results when we compared them to some expensive, upscale cables (e.g. Nordost Quattro).
Regards,
Milan
Vince,
Yes, if you can. Try unbleached cotton piping cord. The dielectric constant of cotton is around 1.3 , teflon 2 and PVC around 3.
Regards,
Jon
Yes, if you can. Try unbleached cotton piping cord. The dielectric constant of cotton is around 1.3 , teflon 2 and PVC around 3.
Regards,
Jon
Eva, I'm not sure if you're joking. Are you saying it's a waste of time implementing one portion of my system with silver wire? Or are you saying that there is no difference in sound between copper and silver wire?
In either case, the sound difference is as clear as day to me.
Jon and Moamps,
I'll try to find/use the cotton former. Is the unbleached cotton piping cord used for the jacket around the AU wire?
Venhaus cotton insulated silver wire is my current favourite for interconnects (3 wire braid). Clearly better than teflon insulated silver wire from Home Grown Audio (SC4). I recommend using bulletplug RCA connectors.
I have also silk insulated silver wire from partconnexion but I haven't used it for interconnect yet.
You can find teflon tubing for Venhaus interconnect from stores that sell pneumatic hardware.
I have also silk insulated silver wire from partconnexion but I haven't used it for interconnect yet.
You can find teflon tubing for Venhaus interconnect from stores that sell pneumatic hardware.
Nordic,
That's a good question. They were over 15 years old and I never cleaned the contacts. You think maybe the contacts needed to be cleaned?
There's probably corrosion and build up. But they do look clean.
I'll see about cleaning them up. Will 99% alcohol do? Should I get some audiophile approved cleaner?
Thanks,
Vince
PS, I just remembered that the ones I replace with the silver ICs were only installed new after Christmas. I still have an old pair of Monster Cable 100s from the CD player to the preamp installed.
I'll clean all and do another comparison.
V~
That's a good question. They were over 15 years old and I never cleaned the contacts. You think maybe the contacts needed to be cleaned?
There's probably corrosion and build up. But they do look clean.I'll see about cleaning them up. Will 99% alcohol do? Should I get some audiophile approved cleaner?
Thanks,
Vince
PS, I just remembered that the ones I replace with the silver ICs were only installed new after Christmas. I still have an old pair of Monster Cable 100s from the CD player to the preamp installed.
I'll clean all and do another comparison.
V~
This may have made a difference. There is no 'special way to clean them, they just want a cleaning/reseating from time to time. I would think you are attributing this portion of improvement to your cables.vdi_nenna said:
I do reseat them often. I have switched cables around and used DIY IC constructed from Mogami studio quality wire. Nothing has made such a drastic difference as these Au ICs.
BTW- A buddy of mine came over last night and he heard them.
He has "machinest's ear" or Tinitus to be exact. I put on some Jack Johnson. Also, this guy's not hugely into music. He was freaked out by how he could hear the pick against the strings and how the drumstick sounded on the snare.
One nice quality I noticed was how responsive the system seems when the music comes out of silence.
BTW- A buddy of mine came over last night and he heard them.
He has "machinest's ear" or Tinitus to be exact. I put on some Jack Johnson. Also, this guy's not hugely into music. He was freaked out by how he could hear the pick against the strings and how the drumstick sounded on the snare.
One nice quality I noticed was how responsive the system seems when the music comes out of silence.
I have noticed stripping old cables that there is often corrosion in patches along the length...
Don't think there is anything you can do about that except replace them every few years depending on how dry the climate is where you live... remember even silver will tarnish.. just go look at some silverware that hasn't been polished up recently....
I think there would be less of a diffirence between your old cable when it was new and the silver one...
I'm not realy into the this cable sounds better than that one scene... but I prefer the sound of a fresh cable to an oxidised one, at least that was my experience...
Don't think there is anything you can do about that except replace them every few years depending on how dry the climate is where you live... remember even silver will tarnish.. just go look at some silverware that hasn't been polished up recently....
I think there would be less of a diffirence between your old cable when it was new and the silver one...
I'm not realy into the this cable sounds better than that one scene... but I prefer the sound of a fresh cable to an oxidised one, at least that was my experience...
Nordic,
I know what you mean. That's why I want to get to the bottom of it.
Maybe it was just time for a replacement in general.
Maybe I will audition some nice, new Cu ICs and see what the differences are.
Thnx,
V~
I know what you mean. That's why I want to get to the bottom of it.
Maybe it was just time for a replacement in general.
Maybe I will audition some nice, new Cu ICs and see what the differences are.
Thnx,
V~
Some people prefer to twist two pair of leads instead, with cotton, obviously this is the way it was done in the early telephone age to block out interferences or crosstalk...
I have tried various pure silver/cryo silver Ic´s but could never like the sound.Sure they sounded different and detailed but too bright and in fact bass light compared to some well made DIY or production copper ics.
Maybe you are hearing a combination of new clean contacts and the brightness of silver which may be suited to your speakers etc.
My favourite is very thin teflon coated pure ofc single strand copper twisted around a teflon tube.
Maybe you are hearing a combination of new clean contacts and the brightness of silver which may be suited to your speakers etc.
My favourite is very thin teflon coated pure ofc single strand copper twisted around a teflon tube.
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