Twl: I built a set of cables incorporating some of the ideas that you discussed. The wire i'm using is 24 gauge Teflon insulated silver plated copper. I'm using two per polarity for an equivalent 21 gauge conductor. I have multiple spools of this stuff, so i figured i'd give it a try. The two "positive" conductors are wrapped around each other in a twisted pair configuration and the two "negative" conductors are also wrapped in a spiral pair. The positive conductors are run in a straight line down one side of the tube and the negative are spaced on the opposite side of the tube in a straight line. Capacitance is pretty low, appr 8 pf per foot, so i know that should make Audioengr happy : ) The RCA's are locking models that have a Teflon dielectric.
I finished them a few days ago and threw them on my burner. After letting them "cook" for about 36 hours, i gave them a quick listen. They were not bad at all. I compared them to some of the Magnan's that i have ( Models 2, 3 & 4 ) and they help up pretty well. As you may know, the Magnan's use very fine wire ( something like 36 gauge ) and try to achieve an air dielectric. I did not measure any of the Magnan's, so i don't know what their electrical characteristics are like. They've always come across as being very smooth, airy, liquid and detailed but a little on the lean side.
I also tried them against some Goertz Silver Sapphire's, which are similar to their speaker cable design. These are flat ( NOT twisted ) and make use of 18 gauge pure silver ( not plated copper ). This design is VERY, VERY, VERY high in capacitance and i was wondering what to expect. In most cases with typical SS line level gear is concerned, highly capacitive interconnects are a "no-no".
In both cases, the Magnan's and the Goertz sounded slightly more liquid with a more cohesive presentation. The upper mids on my "home-brews" were slightly subdued, resulting in a presentation that was not quite as spacious sounding and slightly lacking in overall clarity and transparency. Female vocals were a little less intelligible and slightly more congested sounding. Frequency extension was quite good on both ends of the audio spectrum. The soundstaging on all of these cables was excellent and beat out several others that i tried in the same location of the system.
I put the cables back on the burner and am going to let them cook for a full 30 days. It is quite possible that they will sound different after "fully cooking" as i'm sure i caught them "in transition". I'm hoping that the upper mids fill out a bit in the process. I may have to tweak the design a bit more otherwise.
I've also got another set of homebrew interconnect cables that i'm working on, but haven't gotten them fully assembled yet. I thought i had them finished up, but forgot to do something and had to pull them apart again. I'm following the design that Jung & Marsh laid out in their research, so we'll see how that goes. For a three foot pair of stereo interconnects, you end up using 96 foot of wire !!! Needless to say, there is a LOT of cutting and soldering going on. Once i get them put back together, they'll go on the burner for 30 days of "punishment" and then i'll give them a listen. Sean
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I finished them a few days ago and threw them on my burner. After letting them "cook" for about 36 hours, i gave them a quick listen. They were not bad at all. I compared them to some of the Magnan's that i have ( Models 2, 3 & 4 ) and they help up pretty well. As you may know, the Magnan's use very fine wire ( something like 36 gauge ) and try to achieve an air dielectric. I did not measure any of the Magnan's, so i don't know what their electrical characteristics are like. They've always come across as being very smooth, airy, liquid and detailed but a little on the lean side.
I also tried them against some Goertz Silver Sapphire's, which are similar to their speaker cable design. These are flat ( NOT twisted ) and make use of 18 gauge pure silver ( not plated copper ). This design is VERY, VERY, VERY high in capacitance and i was wondering what to expect. In most cases with typical SS line level gear is concerned, highly capacitive interconnects are a "no-no".
In both cases, the Magnan's and the Goertz sounded slightly more liquid with a more cohesive presentation. The upper mids on my "home-brews" were slightly subdued, resulting in a presentation that was not quite as spacious sounding and slightly lacking in overall clarity and transparency. Female vocals were a little less intelligible and slightly more congested sounding. Frequency extension was quite good on both ends of the audio spectrum. The soundstaging on all of these cables was excellent and beat out several others that i tried in the same location of the system.
I put the cables back on the burner and am going to let them cook for a full 30 days. It is quite possible that they will sound different after "fully cooking" as i'm sure i caught them "in transition". I'm hoping that the upper mids fill out a bit in the process. I may have to tweak the design a bit more otherwise.
I've also got another set of homebrew interconnect cables that i'm working on, but haven't gotten them fully assembled yet. I thought i had them finished up, but forgot to do something and had to pull them apart again. I'm following the design that Jung & Marsh laid out in their research, so we'll see how that goes. For a three foot pair of stereo interconnects, you end up using 96 foot of wire !!! Needless to say, there is a LOT of cutting and soldering going on. Once i get them put back together, they'll go on the burner for 30 days of "punishment" and then i'll give them a listen. Sean
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