CAT5e cable

stvnharr · « **on:** 15 Jun 2003, 05:16 am »

What is with the love affair here with CAT 5e cable? It is not very prominent in any other forum, and is not overly used in other companies audio applications that I am aware of. Is this like so many things in audio, merely just personal preference? Or is there something else, or am I just not aware?

AKSA · « **Reply #1 on:** 15 Jun 2003, 05:52 am »

Hi Steve,

Generally, in this forum, you will find people are attracted to price/performance. So it is with CAT5E.

It's very good with audio, has very obvious sonic benefits, as good as much of the best stuff around since it's a thin, solid copper core with teflon insulation. It's actually rated to 350MHz data transmission, so there is good physics behind this.

But the biggest advantage is price. You can buy a 1000' roll in the States for about $US220, which makes it inexpensive since a sheathed cable holds four discrete twisted pairs.

I now put a bit of CAT5E in most of my kitsets, I think so highly of it.

Cheers,

Hugh

U4EA · « **Reply #2 on:** 15 Jun 2003, 05:24 pm »

Hugh,

I think it is a good move to include the cable in your kits. It all helps to hear the music as the designer intended.

Of course I think your an artist. But that is my opinion.

stvnharr · « **Reply #3 on:** 15 Jun 2003, 07:46 pm »

It obviously has not escaped my attention that the CAT5e is included in the kits, as I've used it. It is very easy to work with and everything sounds just fabulous. But outside the Aksa circle the only one I am aware of using CAT5e is Greg Osborne, who uses it for wiring his speakers and makes speaker cable from it. And there's great synergy between my Aksa 55N and my Titan References with Greg's cable in between.
I was just curious if there was some particular parameter of this wire that made it better than other wire.

Tyson · « **Reply #4 on:** 15 Jun 2003, 08:32 pm »

Actually, I think the CAT5 recipes abound, check over at www.audioasylum.com for more users of it.

PSP · « **Reply #5 on:** 15 Jun 2003, 09:55 pm »

And obviously it's hard to make a lot of money selling wire if you let on that teflon-insulated solid copper core Cat 5 is very, very good and cheap to boot.

AKSA · « **Reply #6 on:** 15 Jun 2003, 11:05 pm »

Ah, but Peter,

I actually don't want to make a lot of money from wire! I want to make a living - different priority - from selling good amps!

In unguarded moments I have let slip that I believe high end has been all but killed off by absurd folklore, and in truth wire/cables/interconnects are a pet peeve of mine.

I really don't like this trend as it's counter-productive since it destroys sales. Good sound can be had with inexpensive materials, and even poor people have a right to a good system. Only yesterday I re-read Douglas Self's site on subjectivism in audio, and I must say much of what he writes - not all mind - makes good sense. Here's the reference, it's a marvellous read, he writes very well: http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/ampins/pseudo/subjectv.htm

As I wander around Downunder, I look in in abject horror at the sums of money people spend, particularly those for whom high end is the social cachet, such as many enthusiasts from parts of Asia.

The day I compared a TLP - stock - with a BAT pre was a revelation to me; I don't know a lot of this exotic gear and just gaze in wonderment, though not at the engineering, just at the marketing department.

I know marketing and advertising is important, but I believe the scramble to sell at huge markups for each and every one of the three or four sellers in the chain has brought us to the China syndrome, where we've mostly just given up and now buy very cheap, often sub-standard goods from low cost countries for our day to day use. OTOH, I fully realize my prices will eventually need to rise to sustain me and my family in a manner befitting my work input.....

BTW, I'm advertizing in AudioXpress in the Classifieds from the July issue. I'm hoping this will improve the bottom line; trade is steady but soft at present.

Cheers,

Hugh

Tinker · « **Reply #7 on:** 15 Jun 2003, 11:13 pm »

Quote from: stvnharr

I was just curious if there was some particular parameter of this wire that made it better than other wire.

It's a relatively cheap wire that is quite thin, but still not too hard to handle. This means low skin effect and thus minimal smearing of the spectrum. (Thinner would be better, but then we would have current handling limitations or multi-strands whihc has capacitive problesm.) The teflon insulation means less wierd capacitive effects. These properties are mostly products of its intended network usage: it is designed for fastish data transfer (i.e. minimal edge degredation) were these preperties are important.

Any wire with the same kind of physical properties would do, but like all things computer, volume makes it cheap. Try buying anything else teflon coated with that level of purity.

stvnharr · « **Reply #8 on:** 16 Jun 2003, 04:13 am »

Tinker,
Thanks for that last post. I had thought CAT5 was mostly computer data transmission cable, er designed for that. I guess the fact that it can be used in audio is a plus, as it's 1/10th the price of "good" wire.

Also just visited AA cable asylum and realized I had recently visited and forgotten. Don't know about "a lot of recipes" as mostly it's just the Chris VH recipe from TNT.

Anyway, I think my curiousity has been satisfied.

Thanks to all.

jqp · « **Reply #9 on:** 16 Jun 2003, 04:57 am »

Quote from: AKSA

Hi Steve,

Generally, in this forum, you will find people are attracted to price/performance. So it is with CAT5E.

It's very good with audio, has very obvious sonic benefits, as good as much of the best stuff around since it's a thin, solid copper core with teflon insulation. It's actually rated to 350MHz data transmission, so there is good physics behind this.

...

And Cat6 is rated at 500MHz. It is available at Best Buy for about $35/50ft (just got some today for a PC). Much less in quantity I am sure.