2. cables
  3. 1333543097

Dielectrics and such...??

Knowing a little about something can be dangerous! Having read about poor dielectric designs, static fields, EMI…etc., I don’t know if my idea of executing some shotgun runs of speaker cables is a good or bad idea….

I want to use double shotgun runs of Kimber 4tc per speaker. Rather than twist the runs together, I want to try keeping them separated at equal width throughout the runs. My thought is to “laminate” four equal lengths of the cables together with some type of clear tape (i.e.: separate and secure four lengths of cables by an equal and consistent width throughout the run – say one-inch - by “sandwiching” all four cable between heavy clear tape).

Question: will the tape itself hinder the dialectic properties of the cables (because I assume the tape is a poor dielectric)…??

What say you electrical engineer types?

Thank you.

_Ben
2chnlben
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
04-05-12: 2chnlben
I want to use each "braided pair" (one complete run of the 4tc) per speaker terminal (2 runs - one to each of the top/bottom positives, and 2 runs - one to each of the top/bottom negatives).
Hi Ben,

Thanks very much for the nice words.

What you are describing is not what I was interpreting your original post to mean. And I wouldn't recommend doing what you are now describing. If you use all of the conduction paths within a single cable to carry just one polarity of the signal (+ or -), you are essentially redesigning the cable to have very different characteristics than what it was designed to provide. Inductance will increase considerably. Also, the effect that Kijanki described about noise being picked up and entering the feedback loop of the amplifier, if it has one, becomes a significantly greater possibility. Capacitance will be reduced, but capacitance is relatively unimportant for a speaker cable as long as it is not extremely high. Twisting with another cable carrying the opposite polarity will reduce the magnitude of the increase in inductance, and the likelihood of noise-related issues, but just somewhat.

Best regards,
-- Al
2chnlben OP
595 posts
 
Thanks Al.

How then would you suggest I utilize my Kimber wire. I have plenty of it to work with. The 4tc does not provide a lot of copper (gauge). I want to increase the amount of copper (gauge) and thus my desire to use four sets per speaker.

Would I need to take two runs of the 4tc and twist them together...then at the ends, separate and combine the negative wires and the positive wires from the two runs. Repeating this procedure for both the top and bottom sets of the speaker's binding posts...?
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
04-05-12: 2chnlben
How then would you suggest I utilize my Kimber wire. I have plenty of it to work with. The 4tc does not provide a lot of copper (gauge). I want to increase the amount of copper (gauge) and thus my desire to use four sets per speaker.

Would I need to take two runs of the 4tc and twist them together...then at the ends, separate and combine the negative wires and the positive wires from the two runs. Repeating this procedure for both the top and bottom sets of the speaker's binding posts...?
Sounds like a (good) plan!

Best regards,
-- Al
More to discover