ClariT monoblocks have arrived.

eric the red · « **Reply #20 on:** 10 Apr 2005, 12:01 am »

Can you guys post a few links for the sources of some of the wire you thought worked well? I'm using some Tara Labs bulk stuff that sells for about 1.25 a foot that I've had for @ 15 years and it's not bad at all. Thanks

tianguis · « **Reply #21 on:** 10 Apr 2005, 01:36 am »

Eric:
I'll post my English source if it actually arrives. No tracking activity regarding my order on their site for ten days. Don't want anybody to get ripped off. That's my job.
The OTA is available from:
http://sakurasystems.com/

Regards,
Larry Welsh

smallpond · « **Reply #22 on:** 11 Apr 2005, 03:30 pm »

Howdy fellow Red Winophiles
I have an upgraded Clari-T (Black Gate caps, Kimber Kcag silver wiring, Eichman bindingposts etc) and my amp sounds extraordinary with Bogdan Audio Silver Spirit speaker cables. Solid core silver and affordable. Will equal or better most mega dollar cables for much less coin.
Bogdan sells through Audiogon so a search there will show several Bogdan options at different pricepoints. I am in no way affiliated, just love the sound of the wire with this little Clari-T.

Jay

Adamay · « **Reply #23 on:** 11 Apr 2005, 05:12 pm »

Thanks all, esp Paul Bui, Dmason and Tiangus. I almost hesitate to post more on this as I am not trying to criticize Vinnie's excellent amp -- but I am still trying to learn. My speaker cables are 10-foot runs of Cat-5 tefloned copper, consisting of 24 pairs in a complex twisted pattern. Are yours literally 2 pairs of single strands of Cat-5 cable wire? If so, the capacitance of your cables would be dramatically lower than mine, and that might make for a huge difference in sound. I don't think my front end is the problem: Vecteur D-2 & Ack Dack 2.0 hi-output. My speakers are 92db GR-Research Paradox 3's, with upgraded caps & resistors; 3db down point is, as I recall, in the low 30's; thus, true full-range speakers, and they sound fabulous. If you guys are using pairs of 24-guage copper wire for speaker wire, then I'm beginning to suspect my problem is my high-capacitance speaker cables. Unfortunately, I can't do a comparison anymore as I sent the amp back to Vinnie. But if the issue becomes clearer, I might have to reconsider

Best to you all.

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #24 on:** 11 Apr 2005, 08:10 pm »

Adamay,

Oh no, whatever decision you made, I respect it. Hearing a non-positive experience once in a while, IMO, is healthy and quite natural. You trust your ears and I would not do any less or differently.

It's just a bit unfortunate that you've been using such heavily braided CAT5 that I suspect has made a huge difference. I encountered a similar case when a DIY guy took efforts (along with his loving dad) to make a really elaborate and complex twisted pair of CAT5, to find out soon later that the cables didn't sound near as good as the single strands of the same material.

Yep, a most simple, unbelievable, pair of CAT5 single strands, one leg for each signal (plus/minus), twisted, thus two legs for each speaker channel will do a wonderful job on your low powered high rez system.

I do feel sorry you missed the boat this time. Who knows, you may get even a better deal down the road. Vinnie's coming up with more goodies.

smargo · « **Reply #25 on:** 12 Apr 2005, 01:10 am »

Quote

I do feel sorry you missed the boat this time. Who knows, you may get even a better deal down the road. Vinnie's coming up with more goodies.

This notion of adamay missing the boat is so not important - as if he is missing something if the clarit didn't work for him - how many times did a piece of equipment not work out, only to find 3 months down the line there was something new and exciting that your lusting after that filled that void anyway.

Were a fickle bunch, no sooner are we kvelling over something, then the initial 8 month bliss wears off then something else comes along that were all gaga over and so on and so on.

One can only wish that along the way, vinni can hit a couple of home runs.

I think we have only touched the surface of what is possible, digital or analog and I can't wait to catch many more boats and i'm sure i will miss a few as well.

regards,
smargo

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #26 on:** 12 Apr 2005, 05:06 am »

Adamay could have had a better experience with the ClariT if he used a simpler more appropriate speaker cable. But he didn't, so he missed the fun this time. Simple as that.

Adamay, please don't hesitate to post your further questions or impressions, or even PM guys in this forums, me included. It will be a pleasure to share what we know or have been through.

I felt in love and stayed with a low powered SET monoblock pair for 3 years before getting the FirstWatt F1. The latter last about 2 months until I ran into the ClariT. The rest is history. The current monoblocks make me think of BMW Z4 3.0i vs. the BMW Z4 2.5i (ClariT stereo). Same animal, same sweetness, same "handling", higher steroid level.

tianguis · « **Reply #27 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 01:15 am »

All:
As a followup, yeterday I received some Ohno Continuous Cast 22 AWG copper single-conductor wire from Audiocom in England. Slow to ship, but quick in transit.
I cut it to length and stuck it in as speaker cables, unterminated, between my modded T-Amp and Lowthers. Initially, a bit rough, it bloomed faster than any speaker cables I've used. It rapidly smoothed out and seems to be the most neutral speaker cable I've used. Its strength is speed, which is very noticeable.
It replaced 47 Labs OTA.
Here's a link:

http://www.audiocominternational.com/store/product.asp?P_ID=82&strPageHistory=search&strKeywords=neotech&numPageStartPosition=1&strSearchCriteria=any&PT_ID=all

Regards,
Larry Welsh

Jon L · « **Reply #28 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 01:25 am »

Is it PVC insulated?

I believe there's only a coule of places in the world who actually can cast this continuous cast copper wire. I believe the copper wire itself is from the same place even though the cables companies are different: Neotech, Harmonic Tech, Vampire, etc. If so, one does not have to import this Neotech PVC wire from England. We can buy Vampire continuous cast copper wire, preferably with enamel coating, right here in the U.S. from Michael Percy, DIYcable, etc..

tianguis · « **Reply #29 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 01:51 am »

Jon:
Yes, it's PVC.
AFAIK, there are only three places on the planet who make UP-OCC wire. The Neotech is from Taiwan.
Vampire wire is supposedly "CCC" (not UP-OCC, 6 N's) and it's PVC insulated. The stuff from Percy and DIY Cable is PVC insulated, not enameled. I'm not sure if Vampire uses Ohno's process or even if it's made in the USA. My guess is it's Neotech. At $1.00/ft, I'd rather buy at $1.38/m., even though it took a little longer. They were very generous with their measuring and actually under-charged for shipping.
If you know of a source for enamel-coated or Teflon-insulated Ohno Continuous Cast copper wire I'd appreciate it.

Regards,
Larry Welsh

Jon L · « **Reply #30 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 02:01 am »

Actually, Percy sells Vampire wire "magnet wire" of various AWG, that is CCC solid core copper insulated in enamel. Great sounding stuff IME..

I know this stuff sounds great with T amp b/c I'm using some DIY "speaker cable" made of this magnet wire to power my AKG K1000 earspeakers. I'm using ~20awg x2 per leg..

doggie · « **Reply #31 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 02:03 am »

Quote from: tianguis

Jon:
Yes, it's PVC.
AFAIK, there are only three places on the planet who make UP-OCC wire. The Neotech is from Taiwan.
Vampire wire is supposedly "CCC" (not UP-OCC, 6 N's) and it's PVC insulated. The stuff from Percy and DIY Cable is PVC insulated, not enameled. I'm not sure if Vampire uses Ohno's process or even if it's made in the USA. My guess is it's Neotech. At $1.00/ft, I'd rather buy at $1.38/m., even though it took a little longer. They were very generous with their measurin ...

Hi Larry,

Do know what the approximate gauge equivalents are for the sizes on the Audiocom site. They list .65mm, .82mm, and 1.03mm.

Thanks,

Paul

tianguis · « **Reply #32 on:** 21 Apr 2005, 02:10 am »

Paul:
They're about 22, 20 and 18 AWG (very close).

Regards,
Larry Welsh

ohenry · « **Reply #33 on:** 3 May 2005, 12:44 am »

Larry,
Thanks for the tip on the Neotech wire. I recently received some 20 ga. and hooked it between my modded T-amp and Ed's horns. I agree that's it's something special with my set up. It's very neutral and seemed to enhance imaging. Actually, the imaging improvement was the most noticeable change for me over the other high quality copper I have tried.

I was using some homemade teflon-coated solid copper and solid silver cable that worked great with a tube amp I have, but it was a bit hot for the T-amp on some recordings.

I've tried quite a few solid core wires and I feel this is the best with the T-amp. I'll terminate it and leave it alone (at least for a few months).

JeffB · « **Reply #34 on:** 3 May 2005, 01:48 am »

How do you decide which gauge wire to purchase? I have a Clari-T and I am looking to buy some speakers with between 96db and 101db sensitivity.

Also, I don't know how to get a good connection with such small wire and the Clari-T. The Clari-T will accept banana plugs, spades, or bare wire with screw down terminals. However, I don't feel like I can get a really good screw down connection with small wire. The radio shack banana plugs seem to work best with stranded wire. The spades require like 12 or 14 gauge wire. I suppose I could sodder the wire to the banana plugs and get a good connection. Any thoughts?

Dmason · « **Reply #35 on:** 3 May 2005, 02:15 am »

The screw down connection works fine with small gauge wire, just dont suck down too tight or you can shear off the wire. Once it is nice and snug, you have your connection. Mine have been in and out, and now between the ClariT and RealiT several times, and I have never broken off the leads, and believe me, I am capable of such things. It forms a really nice tight connection, squeezing the wire tightly...worry not, Paduan.

JeffB · « **Reply #36 on:** 3 May 2005, 02:30 am »

Thanks Dmason.

Do you put the wire through the hole or just flat against the plate?

Dmason · « **Reply #37 on:** 3 May 2005, 02:53 am »

through the hole.

ohenry · « **Reply #38 on:** 3 May 2005, 09:53 am »

Quote

How do you decide which gauge wire to purchase? I have a Clari-T and I am looking to buy some speakers with between 96db and 101db sensitivity.

I doubt you'd be able to discern 18 ga. from 22 ga. in this low-power venue, but to be safe (mentally) and totally unscientific, I took a stab at 20 ga.

JeffB · « **Reply #39 on:** 4 May 2005, 05:36 am »

Since this thread has been hijacked into a discussion on speaker wire I thought I would post a link I found today. This has just about everything you want to know about wire gauges and their properties.

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/wiring/wire_resistance.html

Anybody know how many amperes the Clari-T can output?
Does the following work:
W = V * I
V = R * I
W = R * I^2
I = sqrt(W / R)

I = sqrt(10 / 4) = 1.58 amperes // 10 Watts into 4 ohms
I = sqrt(6 / 8) = .866 amperes // 6 Watts into 8 ohms