Depth vs. Cable Type


I've built a pair of interconnects from my preamp to my power amp. I've used a technique that I found on the web in which a strip of mailing tape is used to space a pair of strands of 20 gauge silver wire (from a jewelery supply house). The mailing tape is the insulator and the silver wires are soldered to gold interconnects. I've modified the design slightly by adding a series capacitor to form a high pass filter into the power amp. They are extremely simple and I think they would be a purists low budget dream but I'm not hearing the depth I used to. However, I'm hearing details that I think were missing with my standard cables so they can't be too bad.

I know this is an unconventional question given the unique qualities of the interconnect but does anyone have a feel for whether the depth will improve as they break in?
jlambrick
I have done something similar, but a little different in terms of packaging. I am getting good depth, and I think that a little break-in time may help.

But I also think that your inline capacitor, will cause some problems in this area. It is a filter, and may be filtering some things that you don't want filtered.
Don't know about break-in on these, but maybe try losing the cap in order to see if there is an immediate change in the depth of the soundstage?

I have made the tape IC's before, but used smaller gauge solid core wire (26 & 30). I did not use a cap and I did not use heavy gold plated RCA's. I used the Radio Shack RCA's that come 8 to a pack for $2.99, polished up the contact surfaces and then cleaned them with alcohal (these RCA's have very low metal mass). In my setup soundstaging (of these IC's) was not a problem.

If you want an even larger stage (filling the whole room and beyond) then switch to a high % of air surround (oversized 3/8" tubing). Imaging will suffer with the "air" design, but I have never heard a more open sounding cable.

If the "air" surround is too much of a good thing then run a split down the tube in order to reinsert the wire once it has been dressed with Teflon balls/supports. Thread the wire through balls of Teflon (roll Teflon plumber's tape into balls and then punch a hole through the center with a sharp needle). The spacing and number of these Teflon supports will effect the sound (more will close in the sound while sharpeneing up images) and through trial and error you will be able to balance this out to your liking. I would start by using them every 3"-6" depending on the length of the cable. I would also use smaller (than 20 gauge) wire. Once you find a suitable balance mummy wrap the outside of the "split" tube with more Teflon plumber's tape and tie it off at the end. The supports probably alter the sound by adding damping and/or by altering the dialectc properties of the surround (who knows), but they work. In the end you can end up with a hidious looking, though great sounding IC for under $15.
Thanks for the input. I'll try removing the caps. The reason they're there is because I have some self powered subs and the low frequency content driving and towers is wasting power and I'm also a little worried that it could damage the mid-bass drivers.
Dekay: I've used those "budget" RS RCA's before on some interconnects that i was experimenting with. The cables sounded horridly bright and smeared on top. I changed RCA's and things were much better. Sean
>