Cable Asylum: Re: U-BYTE2 by Thorsten

Hi Andrew,

ThanX for the notes. I pretty much agree to a dot with all of this. My more recent Variations of these Cables (didn't think I'd stand still, did you now) use Coppertape (used for EMI Shielding) and loads of "spagetthi" PTFE Tubing with around 1.5mm - 2mm Diameter (outside). They are an absolute BITCH to make, but worth it. There is no longer any heatsrink slevving being used.

The Center conductors now are usually six 30 gauge Wirewrap (or solid Silver) wires run in parallel, spiralled around one of the spaghetti tubes at about 15 Degrees. Around this go six more tubes (good old "Flower" pattern). Then comes the (self adheasive) Copper Foil, sealed on the surface with Acrylic Laquer or C37 "Wunderstoff" (guess which sounds better). These are spiralled into the opposite direction form the inner wires. The Foil overlapps slightly with Plumbers PTFE in the Overlap, to "lubricate" the Overlap.

This makes sure the Foil has some give and the resulting Cable can be bend qiute a bit without risking tearing the foil. For more stability and to space the copper foil away from anything else, another layer of spagetti tubing goes on top, then nylon braiding to clamp everything together tightly.

BTW, each spagetti tube layer gets spiralled into the opposite direction from the last layer, keeping the contact areas between the wire/foil and the dielectric to a minimum.

The resulting Cable Assemblies are about 8mm - 11mm in Diameter and quite sturdy. It is essential to pull the nylon sleeving EXTREMELY tight. The Nylon sleeving basically tensions the whole assembly to eliminate mircrophonics.

There is a similar version of this as balanced or pseudo balanced Interconnect BTW, using 0.05mm solid copper or silver conductors. I have also tried crossconencted stuff as IC and found the capacitance too high for my liking.

At any extent, these cables are among the best I have ever come across and will match or outperform most commercial Cables at any funloving price. The one warning is that these are truely neutral Cables, not tonecontrols....

Later T