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Hello to all in the cable asylum. The few who can hear and want the best sound despite the vocal and obnoxious majority who say it's all placebo.I have known for sometime that cables make a difference. I did not want to spend what I thought was rediculous sums on the retail stuff so I tried some DIY.
I got some BLag1 silver wire from Partsconnexion and some inexpensive RCA connectors. The results where good. I then tried some Furutech filament pin RCA Rhodium connectors. I was amazed at how clear they sounded but they are extremely bright and fatigueing. Will better insulated wire (air tubes help) with that? I am looking for feedback on the gold filamant pin furutech RCA vs the Rhodium also. This DIY stuff isn't all that inexpensive after all.So I picked up some Audioquest Victoria interconnects from the local Magnolia to try and I am really impressed with them. These are the equivelent to the Columbia interconnect but the Victoria LR is bundled together in one cable using only one DBS and costs less. What the Victoria does so well is it sounds really coherent all the way across the spectrum. I really notice it with Piano. Piano sounds whole, full and you can hear notes interacting with each other during chords. My only problem with this cable is it could be a tad brighter. If I move up the line to the Yosemite I may get that. But the cost doubles to $600. The only difference is teflon air tube insulation vs the stadard. This is where I start to feel like I'm getting ripped off.
At this point I am thinking of trying different DIY stuff. Especially RCA connectors. There are a lot of high end connectors out there but very little information about them. I would like feedback on the Xshadow, Eichman silver bullets, WBT and Furutech gold filament pin.
Do you think DIY is worthwhile or would I be better off buying the expensive stuff from Audioquest or VH audio?Also, how do you feel about crimping vs soldering? I had an inexpensive RCA with screws to terminate the cable. I decided to put solder in the connection and thought it sounded better. Audioquest says they use crimping and that it is a better connection.
I am hoping to get a good discussion on cables because there just isn't much information out there.
Edits: 02/24/12 02/24/12Follow Ups:
DIY:
Mundorf Silver/Gold and the RCA of your choice WBT/Eichmann etc.
Retail:
IMO, Audioquest is the biggest bang for the buck, simply buy as much as you can afford.
Dynobots Audio
Music is the Bridge between Heaven and Earth - 音楽は天国と地球のかけ橋
I built a set using Belden 89529 as per Jon Risch with Canare 75 ohm rca's
Simply stunning, they feed my Audio Note monoblocs, I haven't worried about interconnects since putting these in a couple of years ago.
One caveat - quite a long break in with the teflon di-electric though...
A gas tight crimp is a superior connection to solder if done properly.
OK. We sell cables. DIY is a great idea and fun, too. Just keep in mind that the final sound is MUCH more than just choosing the wire and plugs. How the cable is prepared prior to soldering, the type of solder, the temperature of the soldering iron, and other factors all are very important to the final sound.
Great sound CAN be had for little money. Just be patient fine-tuning the recipe.
Happy experimenting.
Regards,
Jerry
Sir-Anthony,
If your going to try DIY cable
try a 4-wire cable per channel.
Easy to make and very cheap,
and is a very good inter-connect.
Connect 2-wires that are opposite of each
other in the cable - an X-pattern.
CABLE with no shield !!!!
Would like to see what you hear.
to see a paper on this design
down load a FREE book at:
http://www.rosveta.com/public_ftp/lf.pdf
(this should give you more info on cables)
well take care.
CJ Larson
Amazing work CJ, thank you for sharing.
Any idea where one can 4 core cable for the interconnect you recommend? VH sells some for power cable and speaker cable but I have not found any with 4 cores for interconnect use.
Also, in a two core interconnect cable, would there be any benefit in using a thicker gauge for the ground wire compared to the hot signal wire?
I have noticed that thin gauge interconnects can sound thin and have restricted dynamics. A part of me wonders how much of this is due to the "poorer" ground connection due to the higher resistance on the thin gauges.
Finally, in my own experiments with DIY interconnects, I have found ribbon shaped silver cable insulated with oil impregnated silk (Duelund) to sound better than anything else I tried including top of the line Siltech cables.
From your work, any idea what cable construction / geometry would be optimal for use with ribbon shaped wire when used as interconnects ?
Thanks again for sharing your work, I have learned a lot from it.
Kind regards
Gaby
Here are some wires to use:
wires in DIGI-KEY catalog-#2011-US2011
CAROL BRAND - unshielded -
-4 conductors, 22AWG,7/30 Strand, W122-X-ND ROHs $50.00/100ft.p-2443
-4 conductors, 20AWG,7/28 strand, C1331-X-ND DIGI-KEY, $78/100ft,p-2444
Parts Express 2012 catalog
-4 conductors,18AWG, stranded, 100-716, 100ft/$42.00,p-92
-4 conductors,16AWG, stranded, 100-652, 98cents/Foot,p-94
Thank you very much Curtis,
Do I assume that the 20 and 22 AWG gauges would be best for interconnects and the 16 and 18 AWG gauges best for speaker and power cables?
What do you use in your system if I may ask.
Thanks again Curtis and many greetings from the land down under..
Gaby
Size selection is a trade off situation:
smaller for high frequencies, largere for lower
frequencies.
AWG: 18, 20, 22 High:
AWG: 12, 14, 16 Lower;
so 18 AWG for inter-connects (and smaller)
- - - -
18, 2 x 1624cm, -> 3248cm is about: 15 AWG ~ > 3257cm
so the 2x2 configuration has a larger over-all
conductance area. This configuration also does not
need - shielding - as poited out in our book.(p119)
If you can try several sizes you will see -hear-
the differences.
Curtis
Thank you very much Curtis for your valued feedback.
I look forward to experimenting.
Kind regards
Gaby
I'm looking at the paper. It apears to be very long so I will have to be in the mood to digest it.
Thanks
I take it you mean Connex BL-Ag pure solid silver interconnect cable. If you desire a shielded interconnect, the design of that cable is quite good, including an excellent dielectric. For what you've described as what you seek, if the Connex BL-Ag cable will fit into a connector with a 6.5mm entry point, I would suggest a warm and musical sounding rca connector such as the gold plated Furutech FP-126(G) PCOCC central pin rca connector:
Thanks for the suggestion on the FP126g. I have some of those. They aren't bad for the money. But they don't sound anything like the higher end Furutech. The audioquest Victoria blows the Connex BLag fp126 combo out of the water.
Crystal Cable Connect Reference interconnect cable terminated with Furutech FP-126(G).
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