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DIY cables, esp for SETs

Lenny,

Me and our local audio community have been toying very extensively with DIY cabling, and have found that some DIY cables behave in a different way in a low-powered / flea powered SET and in a power hungry monster, be it PP or SS.
I would include the power cords to the cables in question, as they have at least as much influence on the sound, as the ICs or speaker wire.
DIY SPEAKER CABLES:
A very transparent and relaxed sound can be obtained from a ga 20 solid core silver wire. Do not put any connectors to the end, use the bare wires. (No solder, no plug makes a HUUUUGE difference! Even the best plug is worse than no plug, and in the case of silver there’s no need to fear oxidation as in the case of copper cables.)
Insulate the wires with 3M transparent packing tape. Layout can be either sine-wave pattern, or parallel wires, spaced out far from each other. Both 3N and 4N silver wires work fine. Given that 20ga 3N silver is so cheap, you might end up with a pair of cables for less than the price of a lampcord.
We have compared these cables to all sorts of cables, from cheap DIYs to expensive cables, in very differents setups. The summary of reports: very high yet natural, non-edgy frequency extension, excellent stereospace and very good microdynamics, exceptional detail,
With low sensitivity speakers / PP,SS there is less base (only in qualntity, quality of base is very good), but with low-powered SETs the quantity of base does not suffer. In my observation mid-base is not as powerful as with most cables, … but anyway, people tend to listen to way more midbase than there is in real life. I also noticed that this cable lets you listen to the play of harmonies. Eg the vibrating air after a piano stroke, the naturalness of a human voice compared to a recording-like quality.
We noticed that cryogenic treatment and active shielding increase microdynamics and lower background noticeably.
What I personally like in this cable is that it offers very high detail-level, combined with a natural presentation. With expensive cables you have the feeling that the musicality suffers with the added resolution. This cable makes the music alive, good recordings sound great, bad ones turn out to be easier on the ears, yet compared to a good recording they seem to be even weaker.
These last comparison stand for observations on DIY CAT5 speaker cables, that I have made in all sorts of flavors that can be found on the internet.
CAT5 cables come in all sorts of varieties, plenum non-plenum versions, CAT5, CAT6, “CAT6 and a half: ) “. Common for all CAT cables is that you have to rip off the outer PVC sheath, as it kills dynamics, and makes for a flat, dull, lifeless sound. The less number of twists you use, the better the sound is in: imaging, clarity, and detail. With high efficiency speakers 3-4 twists are enough. That is basically one run of cable compared to the three runs that people use with success for general PP/SS cases. With SETs, 3-4 twists offer similar quantity, yet better quality bass than with 3 runs (12 twists).
CAT5 sounds the best unterminated, but copper oxidizes rapidly, and you have to keep on shortening your cables each month, otherwise you loose high end, detail, and life-like quality. If you tin/terminate the ends to prevent oxidation, you loose from the highs / lows, and musicality, detail level, imaging suffers noticeably.
If you go with CAT5, you have to make sure to mark the ends, and try it out in both directions, as copper is very directional. Costwise, I’d go with 3N 20ga silver, as it’s cheaper than buying a whole spool of CAT5 – and sonically way better. (But my cable-buddy just reported that paralleling the 20ga silver and the 4-twist CAT5 makes for a n even nicer result.)

DIY INTERCONNECTS:
I have experience with CAT5 Ics, and silver ICs only. CAT5 makes a nice speaker cable, but makes for a lousy IC. Well, it makes for an entry-level audiophile IC. Ga 30 radio shack magnet wire is a huge step forward (but RS ga22 and ga26, sold together with the 30ga are horrific), and ga 28-30 silver (either 3N, 4N) is again a giant leap. Cryogenic treatment is beneficial for both copper, and silver in these cases.
I used to be a firm believer of 4N silver wire, but then I ordered 3N when I was low on ‘resources’. It turned out that they sound very similar, I can’t make a difference between same layout / length 4N and 3N.
I can recommend silver for interconnects, but use skinnier wires, possibly 28-30ga (very cheap, how about 100ft for 10$?), as fatter wires loose most of the qualities, the only gain is fatter midbase, but overall base quality degrades, less precision and control.

A revelation in DIY ICs reached us when we started using a certain sine-wave pattern (CCSSWP, invention of cable buddy Charlie:). Sine wave pattern if done properly works surprisingly well. I could use the same description that stands for the speaker cable: high efficiency speakers, SETs love it, high-power equipment show lack of mid-base quantity.
There are more layers of improvement to come. One is to let go if the RCA plugs, and use the naked wires. Wind the hot around a swab, and punch a hole in a plastic foam piece to hold the return to the female RCA jack. Or even better, take out the female RCA and crimp together the wires… :)
Neglecting the RCA plugs makes for an unprecedented increase in detail, microdynamics, and stereoimaging. But it can be furthered, by employing active shielding, that in a simple form is to run a wire parallel to the IC, attached to its surface, and hooking it up to ground through a pile of batteries in series. (In my case 170V…)
This trick can be used on every cable, ICs, speaker cable, and power cords. If you run one pile of batteries, it’s better soundwise than hooking up separate batteries.

Whatever you try out, good luck! I advise everyone to experiment, and do not take anything for granted. The goal is not to find the best IC, speaker wire, PC, but to find a good one that synergizes with YOUR system. As every system & taste is different, slightly (or largely) different cabling will be the optimal.

Good luck!

Janos




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  • DIY cables, esp for SETs - Janos 10/21/0418:47:17 10/21/04 (0)


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