[shep]

Sorry if this belongs to an old thread but this site is sOOO slow someimes I get crazy looking.
Simple question/ I am buying some nice solid core wire, off the roll. Ohio casting etc. If I understand rightly
I should make twisted pairs, 3/4 turns per foot. Is it advisable to wind them around something like a tube or another wire? If not should they be twisted tightly or loosely? I also thought of laying the finished pair on a long strip of tape, just to hold them together. I will use them unterminated/bare ends.
Thanks for the help

[BobM]

What guage is the wire? What kind of insulation does it have on it?

You could go either way - side by side (but leave a 1" or so space between them), or twisted. By twisting you will effectively be lowering he inductance, which is what you want to do for a speaker cable. I would keep the twist tight, to lower any mechanical vibrations, then put some shrink wrap around the whole thing to keep it tightly bonded together (or at lease a piece every 6"-ft).

You could try it both ways and see if you hear a difference before you commit to the final configuration.

Enjoy,
Bob

[GHM]

This is the guide I used when I made my own Make Your Own Home Audio Cables.

[shep]

here is a link. http://www.ahfartaudio.com/components/wires.html

[robert1325]

that cable looks interesting,     is the anti-cable similar?    I've had them for 5 days now, and all I can say is WOW !

[shep]

The only difference I know of is that the Anti-cable is insulated with some kind of enamel
and these have a Teflon coat. Nor do I know if the Anti-C uses this grade of copper (which is supposed to be the very best). There is a price dif. in favor of "mine". Time will tell. I am putting together an under 1000$ system and given the good press for the Anti-C., I searched for an alternative. I plunked down
40$ for a set of good interconnects on E-Bay. I guess I will just follow advice and try them first paralleled
before twisting. Just as an aside, can anyone tell me why there could be any advantage in terminating
rather than the bare wire approach? I know to clean the ends occasionally and I have never yet caused a short by mishandling. It seems to me anything, be it lugs or bananas, is adding a signature to a wire.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I have a nice little trick for twisting wires that is quick, easy, and make the twists uniform distances.
(wouldn't try on very small guage, might damage.)

- Determine the lenth you need, add a few percent to the "off the roll lenth", since overall lenth will decrease after twisting.

- install the ends in a vice.

- neatly stretch the individual strands together (walking away from the vise) so they 'hang' uniformly.

- cut off the ends evenly

- install the ends in a handheld drill

- slowly spin the drill untill you get "the twist" you want.

- tape/heatsrink as needed.

Hope that helps.

Bob

[SET Man]

Hey!

    Well, what a conincident., there is another thread about DIY IC

     Okay, here is my .02 cents. I used to have Kimber 4TC for my speaker. Not a bad cable, especially for the price.

     Than of cause after I made my own IC. I though well why not make speaker cable too! So, I ended up using a bigger ga. (21ga) of what I've been using for my IC. I got couple of feets of teflon tube and put couple of conductors in.

    I first try them paralle run just like my IC to see the effect as speaker cable. But of cause somehow I fee the sound wasn't right. So, I bundled them up and twisted them... not very tightly. Than very thing just came together!

    Keep in mind the my IC use paralle run design of which have lower capacitance, but will have higher inductance... but this work well in my simple tubed Audio Note M1 pre-amp. For speaker cable this is another story. Lower inductance is better for speaker cable.


   So, from this I would say that for speaker stick with the simple twisted design. And as for the connectors. I use the Audio Quest spade... I got the silver one but I scarped out the silver coating and now is bare copper. Other nice one would be Vampire spades.

   Well, have fun and keep us posted.

Take care,
Buddy

[shep]

thank you one and all! I will post my impressions when I get them (a ways off..singapore) If this thread is still extant.