Cables with PVC vs Weaved Outer Sleeve

[admin_exported]

About ten years ago all the cables I came across had PVC outer sleeves. I notice that most mid-range and high end cables now have weaved outer sleeves. I was wondering why there was a shift towards this? Is it supposed to help EMI shielding? Personally I think cables with weaved outer sleeves look awful.

Cheers.

 

[aliEnRIK]

Its a 2 fold thing

EMI and mains interference. Ive tried quite a few types of mains cables now and found the more cores there are to braid the better the performance. Im now using 16 core solid silver cables and my system has never sounded as good. As far as im concerned they blow away the 'conventional' armoured cables

Theres also technical reasons why theres nothing over the top of them but id have to check back on that

You can also get braided interconnects (Which I have) and speaker cables (Ditto)

 

[clearer_audio]

Hi Breeder,

PVC is used as a cable jacket on the outer part of most interconnects and speaker cables due to its protective properties and also - depending upon the specification - mechanical damping properties too.

Braids and weaved outer sheathing - usually made from nylon - used on the outer of a cable is usually for cosmetic reasons (although you obviously do not like the look of this finish!). It can also be a better solution depending upon the cable design. However, other outer braiding such as our silver-plated type used on our Silver-line, Silver-line Optimus and Silver-line Optimus Reference cables actually has high-performance shielding properties and is part of the active shielding system.

Hope this helps clarify!

Kind regards,
Darren

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for taking the time to explain that Darren.

I was reading Hi-Fi+'s review of Supra Sword speaker cable and I found this rather amusing,

"Which is where we come to one of the industry's best-kept secrets. Most of those 'audio cable manufacturers' whose names are so
familiar don't actually make cables themselves. Occasionally they might actually specify one, but otherwise, they simply go to a cable plant and buy reels of stock product that happens to be useful for audio applications (or so they think).If they buy enough they might actually get it screen printed with a brand name, otherwise nylon webbing covers a multitude of sins. Terminate it, stuff it in a box and there you go. It's astonishing how many popular audio cables feature in the pages of the RS catalogue!"

 

[Tear Drop]

Well, not that astonishing.

 

[clearer_audio]

Breeder:
Thanks for taking the time to explain that Darren.

I was reading Hi-Fi+'s review of Supra Sword speaker cable and I found this rather amusing,

"Which is where we come to one of the industry's best-kept secrets. Most of those 'audio cable manufacturers' whose names are so
familiar don't actually make cables themselves. Occasionally they might actually specify one, but otherwise, they simply go to a cable plant and buy reels of stock product that happens to be useful for audio applications (or so they think).If they buy enough they might actually get it screen printed with a brand name, otherwise nylon webbing covers a multitude of sins. Terminate it, stuff it in a box and there you go. It's astonishing how many popular audio cables feature in the pages of the RS catalogue!"

My pleasure - hope that I have helped clarify.

Developing and manufacturing a brand new cable from scratch is expensive and developing a product range requires constant investment; as a result you will undoubtedly find that some manufacturers will use standard stock cables.

All the best,
Darren

 

[Anonymous]

So can anyone tell me which companies manufacture their own cables and which don't?