Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics.

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Re: Some interesting replies.

Posted by Presto (A) on April 21, 2007 at 13:32:35

In Reply to: Re: Some interesting replies. posted by john curl on April 20, 2007 at 12:40:47:

John:

I thought at the atomic level, it's not really model anymore - it... is what it is! :o) I like mythbusters. Their models are often full scale, or not models at ALL (recreations of the real "claim".) Love that stuff.

In any case, so many models arrive at the conclusion that "what goes in must come out" when it comes to conductors. In fact, even the most definitive analysis of electron flow would come to this conclusion. But still, there are other factors. Modelling electrons going through a single wire is convenient, because it takes that pesky OTHER wire (the return path of the loop) out of the equation. :o)

I think this is where the impact of cable geometry and the relative positioning of the magnetic fields surrounding each conductor. Of course, with a very crude instrument (like a clamp on ammeter) the fields seem to be equal and opposite and cancel as one would expect. But clamp on ammeters - even tiny ones - cannot account for the magnetic interaction that is occuring BETWEEN conductors.

This then results in various schools of thought - you get the "twisters", the "shielders" and the "separatists". Some speaker cable designers go to great lengths to provide incredible levels of twisting (even insulting and twisting individual STRANDS) while others are claiming that ripping zip cord into its component parts and separating them by a few inches offers great improvements, improvements which will exceed any negative effects of the added inductance that the separation will cause. Even some of the most esoteric cable designs on the planet have large separations between the + and - conductors (Look at some of the Virtual Dynamics cables - some of their speaker cable topologies are reminiscent of hooking up a large arc welder!)

Yes, my biggest challenge when trying to learn about what constitutes an optimal conductor is trying to differentiate between truisms and mere pseudo-scientific claims borne of sheer marketing energy.

For the record, I am a really big fan of ultra-tight unshielded twisted pair (UTP) FEP teflon interconnects that are simply kept short and kept away from other fields. I think the whole audiophile community gets a little too hung up on shielding at times, and end up putting too much metal around their conductors. If triple-shielding of interconnects is necessary, I would be asking not if those interconnects are WORTH $1000, but why do I have so much noise to begin with, and why I am not shielding other parts of the signal chain in the presence of this "horrific level of magnetic interference" that warrants "triple shielding".

Just babbling now.

Cheers,
Presto

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