It seems to me that if stranded wire could possibly be more microphonic than solid wire, and the signals coming out of a cartridge are very small, and the whole idea of a cartridge is to be shaken around by a wiggly groove, that headshell wires ought to be solid rather than stranded.
There's Litz wire where I think each strand is individually insulated but I doubt that the "Litz wire" that is sold to fools like us actually has individually insulated stranded wires.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I mean, real thoughts? Maybe the best possible wire for headshells is something scavenged from CAT5 cable?
There's Litz wire where I think each strand is individually insulated but I doubt that the "Litz wire" that is sold to fools like us actually has individually insulated stranded wires.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I mean, real thoughts? Maybe the best possible wire for headshells is something scavenged from CAT5 cable?
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I can't think of any reason why a stranded wire would be more microphonic than a solid wire. Given how fiddly it can be to get the connectors on I would want a stranded wire to give some flexibility. Possibly less likely to break, too; rewiring a tonearm could be fiddly. Given that headshell wires have been stranded for many decades I would hazard a guess that this is because this is the best option.
I've tried solid core Mundorf Silver/Gold wire, but it's way too fragile (breaks to easily). I have also gone of silver and silver/gold wire as I feel it emphasises the upper frequencies and copper sounds more natural to me. Last time I used Gotham microphone cable (smallest diameter) with success for my head shell wires. However standard Nagaoka and Ortofon sound just as good.
Thank you for your kind reply. I think that microphony pretty much has to come from parts moving in relation to one another, and stranded wire has more parts than solid wire. The issue of wire breaking is a good one, but 30ga wire-wrap wire takes a beating during installation and it seems to hold up okay.
I didn't know about that. Thank you !
Just last night I was soldering up some Mogami quad-core mic cable. Those wires are pretty itsybitsy, and Mogami does use pretty good copper....
The parts in stranded wire (e.g. the strands) are likely to be connected together at both ends so even if they did move with respect to each other this is unlikely to create any microphony.
Now use a silver wire with PTFE insulation (as favoured by some audiophiles) and microphony is more likely.
The wires are not shaken by the groove - unless you have a stiff cartridge in a lightweight arm, which would be quite wrong for other reasons. So follow normal commercial/engineering practice and you should be fine. Follow audio fashion and you might change the sound, but not for the better.
Now use a silver wire with PTFE insulation (as favoured by some audiophiles) and microphony is more likely.
The wires are not shaken by the groove - unless you have a stiff cartridge in a lightweight arm, which would be quite wrong for other reasons. So follow normal commercial/engineering practice and you should be fine. Follow audio fashion and you might change the sound, but not for the better.
If anything, stranded wire should be less microphonic than solid wire. When you flex stranded wire, the bending will cause the individual strands to slightly 'slide' against each other. The sliding movement encounters friction from the strands rubbing against each other. Friction = damping effect. The thickness and nature of the wire insulation may have a greater influence than the conductor itself. Not an issue to lose any sleep over.
Ray K
Ray K
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