[Jon L]

John, I have the SB102 silver version.  Have you tried any different hook-up wire that you prefer?  I know the tranny is silver/teflon, but I'd like to nudge the sound a bit more towards more "dense" vocals.

I was thinking of Vampire CCC around 21AWG, enamel-coated possibly?

[John Chapman]

Hello!

I usually use the 24 Gauge Neotech OCC silver for internal wiring on silver tx102 units. This is the same as the leadout wires. For copper tx102 based NOH's I use 26.5 gauge wire from Chimera labs - basically similar to the vampire cont cast wire but cryo frozen. Really nice copper wire and it's what we use on leadouts for copper tx102's now. I use a braid of 4 wires (2 gnd and 2 hot) for input jack to input selector wiring and a single strand for the shorter misc internal wiring.

I have not done a silver with copper but I can't think why it would not work out! Should sound fine but it's hard to predict if the 'flavor' will be what you are after. If you try it please report back with results.

Many Thansk!

John Chapman
www.bentaudio.com

[Jon L]

Hello!

I usually use the 24 Gauge Neotech OCC silver for internal wiring on silver tx102 units. This is the same as the leadout wires. For copper tx102 based NOH's I use 26.5 gauge wire from Chimera labs - basically similar to the vampire cont cast wire but cryo frozen. Really nice copper wire and it's what we use on leadouts for copper tx102's now. I use a braid of 4 wires (2 gnd and 2 hot) for input jack to input selector wiring and a single strand for the shorter misc internal wiring.

I have not d ...

Hi.  Do you also braid 4 wires for the silver wire?  

I know that diyhifisupply has silver wire in cotton tubing.  Have you heard this cotton pipe arrangement?  Thanks for the help.

[John Chapman]

Hello!

I twist a pair of the 24 gauge wire. The 4 wire braid was suggested by Chimera and worked out great. I have not played with cotton pipe - I'd guess it would work out just fine. Lots of options (too many....) when it comes to wire and geometry!

Thanks!

John

[Gbatokai]

The thing about wiring this kit is that you want to get it right the first time... rewiring would be a real hassle, as far as I can see.

Thus, having experimented quite a bit with using different natural materials for insulation, I definitely *would* prefer seeing a solid core silver wire/cotton tubing option for the kit, like Brian offers.

The ultimate so far, in my experience, are interconnects made of solid core 24/25 AWG 24K gold conductors with silk tubing and then cotton tubing, the plugs having no plastic but instead ceramics for insulation. (I'll just make a pause here, until you're done laughing... )

This is prohibitively expensive, though the total cost of the materials is not more for a pair of interconnects than most entry/mid-level cables bought ready-made. And; you can always re-sell the gold if circumstances demand

Non-magnetic materials in the chassis and elsewhere (even the clamps for the TX102?), are definitely preferrable. The ultimate within reasonable limits would be copper, I think, although again the cost would be high. And there's the question of mechanical strength.

Copper is not ferromagnetic, like steel, or paramagnetic like alumium, but diamagnetic.

I'm about to order parts for a TX102-based volume control, but having a real headache about wanting half the parts from Diy Hifi Supply and the rest from Bent (including copper TX102s). I definitely prefer the looks of the Django over the generic case you use at Bent, but in the end, it seems I'll have someone make me a copper chassis, which will be fitted with wooden parts for vibration damping.

I'm not sure what to do about the wiring, but I'd like to keep the amount of plastic insulation at a minimum, hearing what it does to the sound. Teflon sucks.

Hats off to Bent and DiyHifiSupply for offering kits and support at such reasonable prices!

Sorry about the "voodoo"-factor, but when you've repeatedly heard how these things affect the sound - especially the treble and overall purity - it's sort of hard to ignore. Danish speakermaniac Steen Duelund wrote about these things some years ago, and piqued my interest.

[John Chapman]

Hello!

> The thing about wiring this kit is that you want to get it right the first >time... rewiring would be a real hassle, as far as I can see.

Re-wiring is not something anyone is likely to do - although the vast majority of conections are from the tx102 itself to the switch - and that wiring is fixed as it comes attached to the  TX102 at one end!

>Thus, having experimented quite a bit with using different natural >materials for insulation, I definitely *would* prefer seeing a solid core >silver wire/cotton tubing option for the kit, like Brian offers.

I have tended back to copper for copper tx102 based pre-amps - keeping the number of metals in the path down to a minimum. The silver with cotton I think would work out fine too.  Copper with cotton might be fun to try - although the Chimera wire with the minimal dialectric has worked out very well.

>The ultimate so far, in my experience, are interconnects made of solid >core 24/25 AWG 24K gold conductors with silk tubing and then cotton >tubing, the plugs having no plastic but instead ceramics for insulation. >(I'll> just make a pause here, until you're done laughing... >[icon_smile.gif] )

Nothing we do in this hobby can be considdered practical really but I think this would be a bit much inside the pre-amp - and especially where the leadout wires from the tx102 are concerned! Bet it works great as an interconnect though.

>Non-magnetic materials in the chassis and elsewhere (even the clamps >for the TX102?), are definitely preferrable. The ultimate within reasonable
> limits would be copper, I think, although again the cost would be high. >And there's the question of mechanical strength.

Copper is great for chassis but cost prohibitive for a kit offering. The case I make is non magnetic stainless with acrylic sides and front. The clamps are copper straps.


>I'm about to order parts for a TX102-based volume control, but having a >real headache about wanting half the parts from Diy Hifi Supply and the >rest from Bent (including copper TX102s). I definitely prefer the looks of >the Django over the generic case you use at Bent,

I like Brians kit as well but the case we make here is not generic at all! It is made totally custom from scratch. The case body is actually tapered from front to back to allow a small profile on front and yet have enough space inside for the tx102's and nice space at the back panel for connectors. It was a pain to get made! Still the looks may not suit everyone. I try and offer something different than what else is out there so I went for a high tech look with stainless, acrylic, blue leds, etc rather than the wood front panel Brian has.

> but in the end, it seems I'll have someone make me a copper chassis, >which will be fitted with wooden parts for vibration damping.

This'll work out great - please send pics or post when it is done!


Many Thansk!

John Chapman
www.bentaudio.com

[Gbatokai]

Thanks for your answer. I love the look of the Base Unit, and sorry for mistaking the NOH case for the generic case used by Solar Hifi and many others.

I'll be placing my order soon, till then