Freebie Speaker cable?

[admin_exported]

hi all

Thanks for the replies to my last post, bought the diamond 9.1 and theyre great.....antique system much improved!

having a chat with my Electrician son the other day and speaker cables came up.

He looked at the old cabletalk 3 stuff wired to my speakers and comented that it ( in a sense ) it looks the same as ordinary electrical wire.

Now I'm sure the cable is manufactured specially for Hi Fi but..............................

He said, what do you want, 2 strand 32, fine 68 etc!!

Guess you have already worked out the question, Can none hi fi rated cable be used, as he could match the cable I have like for like or go thicker/ finer/more or less strands etc.

would cost me a pint ...........or two!

thanks

martin

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Decent 13A mains flex will be fine, basically the thicker the better. You might get more detail and transparancy with a more specialised cable (think chord crimson silverscreen for £6/m) but mains flex won't harm the speakers...

*edit* by thicker, I meant overall thickness, not individual strands.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks,

just curious really.

As I said, I can choose the number strands and thickness etc etc.

They have a huge selection of cable from minute diameter to very large diameter hardcore industrial.

Apart from specific high end hi fi cable, is youjr more regular stuff the same as what he could get?

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Not really - even something cheap like the Gale 400 strand from Richer Sounds will be more designed with audio in mind, higher current, lower voltage, than mains flex. Normal audio voltages are less than about 50v, whereas the mains cables he has are designed for either 240 or 415v.

If you do want to get cable from him, what you need is a multi-stranded (i.e. not single-core) cable capable of carrying at least 15A current - more if at all possible.

 

[Terryff]

Wouldn't solid copper core be optimum?

I wonder what the science behind multicore cable is?

Am sure there is a valid reason.....ÿ

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Well, solid would be ok, providing you can get the cable to go where you want it (it's a bit stiff see) and would be a burger to get soldered onto those 4mm plugs

 

[Terryff]

lol a valid point, but if you could, would it not be a better conductor than stranded cable?

 

[Anonymous]

Just talking to a local chap who's into is Kit.

he reckons that 'audio' cable has a far higher/purer copper content than that of 'household' cable (regardless of the amount of strands etc..) add shielding etc to that and the answer is audio dedicated cable is better.

interesting.

cheers

 

[Big Chris]

fatboyslimfast:Well, solid would be ok, providing you can get the cable to go where you want it (it's a bit stiff see) and would be a burger to get soldered onto those 4mm plugs

Mmmm........Burger..........

 

[ElectroMan]

martbass:
Just talking to a local chap who's into is Kit.

he reckons that 'audio' cable has a far higher/purer copper content than that of 'household' cable (regardless of the amount of strands etc..) add shielding etc to that and the answer is audio dedicated cable is better.

interesting.

cheers

Well, that's what the manufacturers would claim anyway!

There was a recommendation about 25 years ago or so (if my memory is correct) in some hi-fi mags to use mains cable instead of speaker cable, as they claimed it would give better results!

 

[Anonymous]

yes 25 years ago it was a rage to use cooker cable!

 

[Andrew Everard]

ElectroMan:There was a recommendation about 25 years ago or so (if my memory is correct) in some hi-fi mags to use mains cable instead of speaker cable, as they claimed it would give better results!
Better results than bellwire, yes - especially using the thick solid copper cored cable used to hook up appliances such as cookers and wire houses.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Sooo, Twin & Earth 52A (the stuff used to wire showers etc) should be a reasonable bet? Hmmm, might get me down to B&Q to replace that old 79 strand that I'm using...

But it's 2.25 a metre. Richer sounds have Gale 400 for 1.99 a metre...any thoughts on which would be best Andrew?

Obv, for the OP who is getting it for a pint, cost isn't an issue!!!

 

[d4v3pum4]

Copper is copper. Look at the prices of car audio power cables. A welder I worked with told me he could have given me welding cable free. If only I had known, it would have saved me a packet.

Was there not a story going around of a hifi manufacturer turning up at a show and they forgot speaker cable. An employee was promptly dispatched to source some and he came back from B&Q with some mains cable and everyone remarked how good the sound was. Job done.

 

[Tony_R]

I once tried some 2.5mm solid core copper cable...

Like this

And then I tried some 4 core flexible (stranded) cable like this (i used in parallel) (I think this was 2.5mm)

The solid cable made the midrange very forward and unnatural.

The stranded cable yielded the best results (better than the QED 79 strand I was using at the time).

This was back in the late 70's early 80's....

So I would recommend using stranded cable, and if you can get 4 core, all the better for bi-wiring.

Just watch the polarity!! (with the odd colours!)

 

[Anonymous]

I used cooker cable for years and have only recently switched to 4 mm Van Damme cable (£3/m) following various recommendations from this forum. I noticed a real improvement all round, especially for cymbals which rang clearly as opposed to...not ringing clearly.

 

[Olli1324]

Numerous DIYers recommend using Cat 5 cable. I have ordered 60m (dirt cheap of ebay) and will be making 3 sets of a pair of cables twisted together, then braiding the 3 twisted pairs and using all the copper strands (Cat 5 is comprised of 4 pairs ÿthin, twisted multicore copper, so there will be a lot at each end) to end up with a relatively thick total copper thickness, along with 'excellent' interference-rejection properties. It will be interesting to see the results compared to the Chord Carnival Silver Screen cable I currently use.

 

[Anonymous]

I had a go at the old CAT-5 twisted home-made recipe. I was using a Rotel integrated at the time and it went in to thermal shut down after about 5 mins

 

[Tony_R]

thfcwestlower:I had a go at the old CAT-5 twisted home-made recipe. I was using a Rotel integrated at the time and it went in to thermal shut down after about 5 mins

That twisted CAT-5 cable probably has too high a capacitance, which would send some amplifiers into oscillation, resulting in the thermal shutdown.

Although CAT-5 is mooted as "the be all and end all" speaker cable in the "chip amp" community, I would advise against it's use with most amplifiers, particularly for longish runs (in excess of 5m per side)

 

[Olli1324]

Ahh... That is interesting. I'm not using particularly long lengths; when I first test them, I will be standing over the amp with a watchful gaze poised to stop it if it starts heating up.

ÿ

Of course, assuming the Cat 5 cable doesn't go down too well, what's the non capacative be all and end all DIY cable?ÿ

 

[Tony_R]

Olli1324:
Ahh... That is interesting. I'm not using particularly long lengths; when I first test them, I will be standing over the amp with a watchful gaze poised to stop it if it starts heating up.

Of course, assuming the Cat 5 cable doesn't go down too well, what's the non capacative be all and end all DIY cable?

You can get 4 core (stranded) mains cable which works pretty well - go for 2.5mm thickness.

You could also use 2 core (if you can find any - but most is 3 core) - a visit to any electrical wholesaler will open a world of reasonably priced cable to you. Just be sure to stick with the stranded variety.

What amp do you have?

 

[Olli1324]

I used 2 core+ground mains cable for a short while before I got my Chord Carnival stuff, but my God it was a pain to hook up to the amp (a Marantz PM6002).

 

[Anonymous]

Olli1324:Numerous DIYers recommend using Cat 5 cable. I have ordered 60m (dirt cheap of ebay) and will be making 3 sets of a pair of cables twisted together, then braiding the 3 twisted pairs and using all the copper strands (Cat 5 is comprised of 4 pairs thin, twisted multicore copper, so there will be a lot at each end) to end up with a relatively thick total copper thickness,

along with 'excellent' interference-rejection properties. It will be interesting to see the results compared to the Chord Carnival Silver Screen cable I currently use.

What does that last bit mean?

 

[Anonymous]

fatboyslimfast:Not really - even something cheap like the Gale 400 strand from Richer Sounds will be more designed with audio in mind, higher current, lower voltage, than mains flex. Normal audio voltages are less than about 50v, whereas the mains cables he has are designed for either 240 or 415v. If you do want to get cable from him, what you need is a multi-stranded (i.e. not single-core) cable capable of carrying at least 15A current - more if at all possible.

Mains flex carries mains with a massive tolerance, have you seen the thickness of a 13amp fuse Yes cables differ in capacitance / inductance per meter, but the frequency is relatively low.

You do not 'need' multi core. In fact solid is likely to be of lower capacitance and lower resistance.

It is a low frequency transmission line, from which lots a money is made. I will admit to hearing a difference between solid and stranded cables.

 

[Tony_R]

Olli1324:I used 2 core+ground mains cable for a short while before I got my Chord Carnival stuff, but my God it was a pain to hook up to the amp (a Marantz PM6002).

It's not that difficult if a) you don't go for hideously thick cable which is unnecessary and b) you use decent banana plugs.