2. cables
  3. 161712-89618

Too terminate or not

Final addition to my Harbeth p3esr and Croft Integrated amplifier combo is the speaker cable. Unfortunately I need a 30 foot long run. I’ve narrowed down my choice of cable to Mogami 3103. 

I can purchase the cable in bulk from Performance Audio at $2.86/ft(need 60 ft total). I suck at terminating cables and I can purchase Vampire HDS spades separately - where can I send for professional termination with gas tight crimp and maybe treating the cable with Cryo while there? Take Five Audio sells 30ft in pair Cryo treated and terminated with Vampire spades for $450.
128x128ghulamr
danvignau's avatar
danvignau
935 posts
 
Do it yourself, but use car battery conductive grease.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
audio2design, I agree - inductance (important factor) will be similar to lamp cord while capacitance (less important) will be on high side.  Dielectric constant of cotton is very low (1.3-1.4), but for oiled cotton (why?) it is over 3, increasing capacitance greatly.  I assume that dielectric absorption follows.  It might sound great, but from electrical point of view it doesn't make any sense. >$30/meter is not expensive in audio world, but you can buy good lamp cord for $1/meter.
bradbort
6 posts
 
I terminate with banana plugs at the amp side, but not at the speaker side. I rarely disconnect the speakers, but remove the wires on the amp side whenever I have to open it up to change the tubes. 

I also once had terminated cables to the speakers, and they came off....after which things sounded better!
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