Silver DIY Interconnects

You guys crack me up with 22 gauge being too heavy for interconnects. Then again, i'm sure that the feeling is just the opposite on your end when i talk about "too much power is not enough" : )

For the record, 20 gauge is "linear" up to and slightly above 20 KHz. 24 gauge is linear up to appr 100 KHz. By "linear", i'm talking about a minimum of skin effect, etc... With that in mind, the 22 - 23 gauge wire should be good up to about 50 - 60 KHz or so. Should anyone want to challenge those figures, talk to Walt Jung and Richard Marsh, not to me. They researched and documented all of this in the late 1970's with papers submitted to the AES during that time frame.

Having said that, there are two schools of thought on wire. One is to keep it as simple as possible and use one solid conductor per polarity with as little dielectric interference as possible. Greg Weaver, formerly of Soundstage and now with Stereo Times, made "signal tape" in his February 1998 article following this formula. I also think that Chris Venhaus aka Chris VH has some similar recipes, at least in basic principle, on his website.

Many claim that one runs into smearing when running multiple conductors, primarily due to unequal length signal paths, phase / impedance non-linearities, increased dielectric absorption, strand jumping when using stranded wire, etc.... I guess that these folks believe in the old acronym "K.I.S.S." ( Keep It Simple, Stupid ). Along those lines, they probably feel that the less that touches the signal and the straighter & shorter that the path is, the less there is to go wrong. There is a lot of validity to such a belief in my book.

On the other side of the coin, you have those folks that believe that one should have the lowest possible series resistance and pay special attention to physical geometries / electrical impedances in terms of trying to reduce RFI, etc... Their thoughts are that any series resistance involved may be more deleterious to the signal than the majority of effects mentioned above. On top of that, a cable that acts as an antenna and allows more noise into the system will surely result in lower performance. By using multiple conductors arrayed in specific patterns, one can reduce series resistance and minimize the potential for the cable to act as an antenna.

Obviously, there are those that fall somewhere in-between those two extremes and / or want the best of both worlds. Personally, that is why i think that there are so many different cable designs on the market. Each designer / builder feels that their approach is "most correct" in terms of how they specifically go about things. Most all designs incorporate various aspects of the same beliefs but tend to concentrate on some aspects more than others. The end result is a product that has strengths and weaknesses rather than a "mighty conquerer" that delivers all of the goods in a totally uncompromising fashion. Then again, some folks DO have specific sonic preferences in terms of "flavouring" their system and they build or use products to suite those tastes. Obviously, there is enough room in this field and diversity of products available for everyone to find what they like and be happy with it : )

Other than the above, I would suggest building a couple different designs and see what you like the best within the confines of your system. You might find that one design works well between CD and preamp and a different design works best from preamp to power amp, etc... Don't be afraid to experiment as that is how you will learn. If you find that you like one design much better than any of the others, it is not that hard to unsolder the wires and re-configure them into that design. That is, so long as you didn't go crazy and make things "permanent" when building them to begin with : )

One more suggestion. Most silver that i'm experienced with takes noticeably longer to break in than does copper. If you have some way to pump high level signals through them prior to really giving them a serious listen, you'll be better off. Otherwise, you might experience higher levels of listening fatigue and / or a sense of tonal balance that is lean and tilted upwards in response.

Best wishes and let us know what designs you try and what you like best. I'm always curious as to others' results when "home-brewing". Sean
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Someone reading this thread contacted me and took my comments re: "you guys crack me up" as being somewhat of an insult. As such, I'd like to clarify what i meant when i said what i did.

My comments were NOT meant as an insult to anyone participating or reading this thread with the point of view that supposedly "cracked me up". It was strictly meant to say that we have different points of view and that different points of view are sometimes humourous when sitting on the other side of the fence. What is "believable" or "fact" to one may be "humorous" or "silly" to someone of a different persuasion, especially if they don't agree or fully understand where the other person is coming from.

Having said that, i think that many of us take this way too seriously. I hope that those of us with opposite points of view or points of view that sometimes conflict can overlook these differences and continue to share our experiences REGARDLESS of whether we agree or not.

As a case in point, while it may seem that Albert and I have been disagreeing a lot lately ( and we have been ), Albert knows that i have the highest amount of respect for him that i can. Both as a human being and as an audiophile. Albert is a true gentleman and displays nothing less than "class" and "elegance" in every way that he handles himself and deals with situations. Having said that, we simply have different points of view and experiences and i "think" ( or at least "hope" ) that Albert understands that i'm not trying to "do battle" with him. Quite the contrary. I'm trying to encourage others to share what may be opposing points of view to what is being posted here, be it my post or Albert's.

I can see how someone could take my posts as being "totalitarian" or "confrontational", as i have a "matter of fact" type of writing and conversation style. With that in mind, i'm not above learning or being reprimanded. Just bare in mind that if something does fly in the face of my own knowledge or experience, i am one of those people that will say "show me". I really do WANT to learn and one learns by di-secting information and breaking it down to the root of the situation. This may come across as being confrontational to some, but it is not meant to be that way at all.

The person that contacted me privately did so out of respect as they did not want to disagree with me / attack my point of view publicly. My response to them was, and i quote from the email that i sent them, "Other than that, i'm just a bigmouth that loves the "hobby" and wants to share my joy & experiences with others. I'm honoured that you find my posts at least "interesting", as that is about all that i could ask for. I've learned a long time ago that you can't please all of the people all of the time, so i simply try to share an honest opinion and hope that someone can either learn from it or help me to learn otherwise."

Later in the same email, i stated:

"Other than that, feel free to blast me or share your comments in public. I would rather have others join in and share their experiences in public for all to see and learn from than to keep such information "hostage". While i do appreciate your effort and the amount of respect that
you demonstrated by contacting me privately, i'm nobody special and am not above "public flogging" if the conditions warrant it : )"

Having said that, i hope that some of you may have a better understanding of who i am and how i operate. If you don't, just tell me to shut up and i'll get the message : ) Sean
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Sean:

Lurking on the sidelines as I often do, let me just say that your willingness to post your last message underscores that you are a gentleman in my book. I've appreciated your willingness to share your knowledge and experience, as many of the veterans here do.

This is not the first time I've seen a well-intended (and veteran) 'Gon member have to clarify his post. Part of that will always be directly attributable to the text-only nature of the forum...we don't get the benefit of your vocal inflection, body language, or your quick offer to buy us all another round of Lagavulin.

It also seems that as more and more new members become active on the forums, veterans who are familiar with the same recurring topics, as well as with each other, sometimes post casually as in a room of old friends. Then someone who does not have the benefit of months (or years) of forum discourse with this veteran takes umbrage. Old friends cut each other more slack.

I have no idea if this is a "good" thing or a "bad" thing, but it does seem to be a "recurring" thing.

I would only add that I was not the person who contacted Sean outside of these threads. I always voice my opinions in the open and based solely on my experience.

As to audio cable, there are many things that lie beyond explanation or the ability to measure. Some things measure well and sound good, some measure well and sound bad. We can all think of examples.

As far as Sean and I, I am not as technical a person as he is. My only goal as an audiophile is to achieve the highest possible musical performance from my audio system within my financial restraints.

I read specifications if the manufacturer lists them, but I only make judgements based on trying the item in a known situation. Even then, I generally will not voice an opinion until after long term listening.

There are likely as many ways people arrive at what they want as there are members at Audiogon. Sharing experiences has value, even among those of us searching for different end results.

Sean, I would agree with you on the specs for the gauge. I've tried 24 gauge and it sounded muddy in the upper mid range. I tried twisted pair of 30 gauge ( equivalent to 27.01 gauge.) and it works great for me. I'm still experimenting with slightly thicker gauge to see if I get more lower frequency response. I think working from Chris's web site is a start. Finding your own gauge to fit your own system will be base on trail and error experience.