Does it matter the wire gauge used in interconnects?

My experience with using heavier gauge interconnect wire is that the highs are not as pure.

ozzy

@ozzy - that could be due to the insulation -

• larger wires have thicker insulation
• the greater the amount of insulation the greater the dielectric impact resulting in distortion
• also larger wires have a larger surface area - again exacerbating Dielectric issues

Bare wire in a larger Teflon tube has a dielectric constant close to air and therefore much better clarity across the entire audio spectrum. Using a larger wire reduces the resistance of the "conductor", improving sound quality.

@mbolek - I currently use this wire in many of my cables and it is very good when used inside a Teflon tube

VH Audio is very good and the Airlok insulation (which is foamed Teflon) is much better than ordinary Teflon, but still not as good as bare wire inside Teflon tube.

I have cables that use

• Parts Connexion (PC) bare solid copper 6N wire inside Teflon tubes
• VH Audio solid copper wire with insulation removed and then inserted in Teflon tubes
• Both wires are identical gauge in almost identical interconnects
• The PC wire has a slightly faster dynamic performance,
• But to the casual listener they would appear the same
• Either wire may sound quite harsh in some systems
• whereas using the VH Audio wire with the Airlok insulation can take the edge off the harshness.

With wires at this level of perofrmance it often becomes a matter of personal preference

Hope that helps - Steve

Hi Steve,

Good stuff. I’m now trying to eliminate as much of the cabling as possible. Trust me as an engineer, less is more. I’m sure you understand the KISS.

I have transitioned to a streaming front end, no more tubes/vinyl...sorry.

I still love building cables and UP-OCC copper still floats my boat.

m

@mbolek - a really simple cable geometry that also performs very well, uses a Ribbon geometry

• Two Teflon tubes held apart using some sort of tape
  • the brown paper tape used for parcels is quite good
• The tubes should be spaced at least 1" apart for the length of the cables, for good separation
• insert the bare UP-OCC wire into the Teflon tubes and attach connectors
• allow 2"-3" at each end to get the connectors on (for interconencts)
• You could put a Mylar tube around the signal wire for improved RFI/EMI protection

It is good for Interconnects and Speaker cables

The only drawbacks with this style of cable

• there is no protection against RFI/EMI
• it is only flexible in one plain.

But it does perform very well - fast dynamics and good clarity and details.

It is basically a straight version of the DIY cables that are on the VH Audio website

Regards - Steve

@ozzy if by matter do you mean, does it affect the sound of the cable? Yes, it most certainly does.