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RE: Ars Technica dissects an AudioQuest Vodka ethernet cable

"Paper tape probably isn't the worst dielectric they could have used. Probably better than some pvc electrical tape."

I suspect so also. I've had excellent luck making interconnects out of masking tape.

"For the money that cable costs they maybe could have used some Kapton at least."

Maybe... I really don't know about that. I've never compared the dielectric absorption of Kapton with paper & adhesive. My guess is that the paper is quite good but I'm not as sanguine about the adhesive layer.

I do happen to have a roll of Kapton tape but it's not as wide as the masking tape. But I could build up matching sizes using narrower masking tape. The higher impedance lines have the advantage of more of the field being in free space which I deem a good thing UNLESS you get crosstalk with nearby cables.

By the way, if you decide to dink with "open lines" you need to terminate them with their charactoristic impedance. Mine came out around 300ohms and I've found that just using a 330ohm resistor at the load and a 220 build-out at the source works well with my solid-state gear which typically has a Zo~100ohms.

I'm pretty sure that the termination could start quite a ways out-of-band (and so could be "decoupled" at audio with a Cap.) However it depends on where the ends run out of GBW so having a "pure" resistance makes life simpler if you can get by with it.

I did all this years ago and it has really paid off in enjoyment. Probably there are some links in the system more sensitive than others and I suppose someone less lazy could sort them out but I have a possibly unfortunate tendency to quit dinking once I'm happy with the sound. Recently, however I've been reminded that adequate for happiness does not necessairly equate to optimum and doing a little Vib. work has really improved some performance areas.

Guess that's what makes this great hobby: You never succeed in reaching optimum! (or if you do, you can't know it...)

Rick



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