cat 5 internal wiring

freo · « **on:** 16 Jul 2005, 01:57 pm »

I have just finished building a class a ss power amp I used single strands of cat 5 cable for the internal wiring. The sound is a little thin I was wondering if anyone had used this wire before and what results they have had
Regards Roger

Gordy · « **Reply #1 on:** 16 Jul 2005, 02:25 pm »

I've used Belden solid core cat 5 for signal wire in two amps, an amp mod and a preamp with excellent results! For all other wiring I've used Chris VenHaus's hook up wire, which is an 18awg solid core and a joy to work with.
http://www.venhaus1.com/VH_Audio_Test.html

mcgsxr · « **Reply #2 on:** 16 Jul 2005, 03:38 pm »

I use it in all my DIY speakers, but I usually use two strands per signal portion, and twist them.

Sounds fine to me, for speaker level use, further down the signal path from the amps.

andyr · « **Reply #3 on:** 17 Jul 2005, 09:49 pm »

Quote from: freo

I have just finished building a class a ss power amp I used single strands of cat 5 cable for the internal wiring. The sound is a little thin I was wondering if anyone had used this wire before and what results they have had
Regards Roger

Hi Roger,

I presume you're talking about using the Cat5 for signal wiring? This should be fine - as long as it's teflon insulated. However, I have found "thinness" of sound can result if there are long, unsupported runs of the thin wire (it was explained to me that very thin wire can be moved by the current passing through it - which causes base loss - whereas thicker wire has more intrinsic mass and is not moved as easily). You should twist together the hot/earth wires to give the cable run more physical mass - I found when I did this, I got a fuller sound (but it was a huge effort to replace all my hookup wiring!).

Regards,

Andy

freo · « **Reply #4 on:** 18 Jul 2005, 03:28 am »

Thanks for all your help
I redid the wiring using solid core axon copper wire, and it sounds fantastic. I think I left some teflon on the cat 5, and that was stoping the signal getting through properly. The amp is a kit from altronics in perth, it is a 15 w class a with a seperate regulated power supply it is a pain to build but sounds really nice with my bottlehead pre amp. Iwould recomend it to anyone.
Regards Roger
Hi Andy hope you are keeping well

WerTicus · « **Reply #5 on:** 18 Jul 2005, 12:39 pm »

you should try using SATA cable for internal signal wire

thats pretty impressive. i think cat5 is a bit too thick for signal wire actually.

jaudio · « **Reply #6 on:** 18 Jul 2005, 01:53 pm »

I use Hp shielded cat5 as interconnect cables(two signal,two ground with shielding connected at one end). Sounds great!