Question re: Exodus Quadfield..

WEEZ · « **on:** 16 Feb 2005, 03:42 pm »

Kevin,

Is this cable based on the Cardas Quadlink?- or Microtwin?

thanks in advance,

WEEZ

Kevin P · « **Reply #1 on:** 16 Feb 2005, 05:06 pm »

Neither.... it is based upon the Cardas 4x24 which Cardas sells in bulk. It is very similiar to some of the commercial cables. Cardas uses it for a number of products (headphone cable, tonearm box etc..) and they sell it to OEMs for use in commercial products.

It is pretty much your standard Star-quad geometry using the Cardas golden ratio litz wire. It's capacitance/inductance are very similiar to the Canare Quadfield but it has the advantage of much better quality copper & having that copper coated to prevent oxidation over time. Also...if your a believer in skin effect (I'm not at audio frequencies) it has the advantage of using mulitiple small gauge conductors rather than one large 24AWG bundle.

WEEZ · « **Reply #2 on:** 16 Feb 2005, 06:03 pm »

Thanks.

So it's around 50pf/ft give or take? Same for the phono(DIN) version?

best,

WEEZ

Kevin P · « **Reply #3 on:** 16 Feb 2005, 06:27 pm »

Correct... the capacitance depends upon distance between conductors & surface area. With any Starquad cable you trade capacitance for better noise rejection. It doesn't make a difference unless you are using exceptionally long runs or using a passive preamp. In either of those two situations I'd recommend sticking with a twisted pair configuration which will have less capacitance/ft.

For the phono version your using the cable differently. In the Quadfield it is being used as an interconnect wired with four conductors per channel. In the phono cable it is wired with TWO channels per run of cable. The capacitance is less when using it for the phono application.

WEEZ · « **Reply #4 on:** 16 Feb 2005, 06:34 pm »

Thanks for the info!

WEEZ

konut · « **Reply #5 on:** 16 Feb 2005, 06:35 pm »

I know its dependant on the output impedance of the source(or input impedance of the amp?), but what would be the maximum length of star quad you would safely use with a passive?

Kevin P · « **Reply #6 on:** 16 Feb 2005, 06:58 pm »

I wouldn't.... you may get away with it in some situations but I'd do everything I could to limit capacitance in passive applications. Stick with a simple twisted pair design. The Superlative is around 25pF/ft and would be a much better choice.