DIY cables Vs Mass market cables.
I agree with Mapleleafs3. Go for it..you'll never look back. I need to make myself some interconnects out of this a stuff also. The Fine Silver speaker wires are great. Skip the terminations and go bare wire for the speaker wires. Remember no connector is better than the best connector. An eight foot pair should cost less than $60 to make. Have fun! |
Hmmm ...it's 16 AWG Silver wire not 24 AWG for speaker wires.It will also last a lifetime without the worry of oxidation seriously degrading the conductivity unlike copper oxide. From what I gather from recent reading copper oxide as a conductor could be 3 million times, worse than that of silver oxide. Go and think about it again. :-) Cheers |
Pabelson , I see your point and agree for the most part. I would rather see a newby spend $60 or $70 on REAL Silver wires than $800 retail on the tin stuff. This is easiest way to find out for one's self that some of this Audiophile cabling is BS. Making your own... is the best way to understand what not to do on down the road. If you know what I mean. It also cures some of the audiophile nervousis as you know your're using the best conductor available.LOL As far as oxidation..I've seen it go up inside cabling. You wouldn't know this unless you cut it open. If you live in a moist climate as I do..it can happen. |
Mattybumpkin... a good design? You've lost me guy. Silver is silver and copper is copper...did I miss something here? Adding a colorful jacket/sheilding will not change the composition of the metal. I didn't know Merlin the Magician was still alive. :-) People can buy what ever they want. It doesn't make a difference too me one way or the other. I've been down the road of cable swapping. I've never been happier with any of them as I am with my own DIY silver cables. For me the speaker cable journey is over..I can concentrate on other components of more importance now. I'll let others worry about getting more bass from a cable or more midrange from a cable or more presence from a cable....you get my drift? |
Mattybumpkin, Yes my friend these do make a difference. The best dielectric/ shielding is air itself. You knew this didn't you? Certain cable shieldings do more harm than good. Twisted cable ..well the verdicts still out on whether it makes a real difference or not. Some hardcore audiophiles actually use cotton tubing as the only covering. Also some DIYers may use a different Awg size/metal composition for the positive side of the terminal compared to the negative side of the terminal. There's a lot more to it than using cool cable coverings. I could call several brands that I have used but still prefer my own DIY. Why bother..it will only piss someone off. Cheers, |
Robm321 With all due respect that logic makes no sense. It is much easier for a person to figure out what works in their system at home. Than a person 800 miles away using totally different components testing cables. There's no one magic bullet for all systems. I guarantee DIYing and experimenting is a lot cheaper and more fun than spending absurd amounts on cables and finding out they don't work in your setup. I'm sure there are Aphiles on Agon that have owned 20 pairs of cables or more, all of them were suppose to be the best...go figure? At the same time some are so concerned with how much the speaker cable cost or whether it's better because it cost more. The funniest part most have not a clue as to what the wire,capacitors,inductors and resistors quality is in the speakers themselves. The quality of these components makes more of a difference than the cables IMHO. Is it logical to hook a pair of $1000 retail cables up to $50 worth of internal speaker components? I was being generous with the $50 quote. LOL Good listening |
Here's a DIY Wire Gauge Calculator, Damping Factor and SPL Loss Calculator that a nice Agon member sent me.From what I gather.. This is supposed to help you to find the proper damping factor for your speakers by tweaking the cable length and gauge of the wire. Of course you need to know the damping factor the designer suggests using for a particular speaker to use it properly. It's a neat little tool. You need Excel to run the program. Just click on the link at the top of the page to download it. |
Robm321, If you've ever tried DIY. You wouldn't be asking me these questions. Again you ask me several questions that aren't logical. How would you know how good any cable is whether homebrewed or store bought against thousands of others? Your point is moot. Where did I say I've only tried DIY? It would be impossible for you or I to know one way or the other if there was such a thing as a best cable for all systems..that cable DOES NOT EXIST. I only pointed out DIY is a viable solution for the ones that want to take a walk on the wild side and learn something on their own. If your not one of those folks it's fine..no problem. By the way, I considered buying some JPS Labs cables. After listening to equipment with JPS Labs throughout ..it is nothing to write home about ..that's for sure. I say bottoms up!! :-) |
Yes lol ..I've also seen spools of this stuff. I don't know where the owner purchased it though.I looked at this wire close up..it looks like some of the copper strands are dipped in Aluminum or Tin..not sure though. "Audiophiles shouldn't fall for this". Yeah ..I agree but some refuse to see it any other way. I say let them blow as much as they feel comfortable..it will help with the audiophile nervousis. Cheers |
