[JDUBS]

Hey guys

I need to put together 3 pairs of interconnects (each 3 ft. in length).  The key is that they need to be very flexible.  Anyone have a recommendation on good wire for this application?  Maybe a price of up to $2-3 a ft. (less would be better)? 

Thanks,
Jim

[Wayne1]

What is your definition of wire?

Are you going to be twisting separate strands together and covering with a shield?

Are you looking for a complete cable that you can terminate with whatever connectors you wish?

For flexibility, a stranded wire has it all over a solid core. PVC jackets are more flexible than Teflon.

The Canare L-4E4 series of star quad cables are inexpensive and sound very good for the money.

[doug s.]

you might want to contact this seller:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230452017864

by contacting him directly, he agreed to sell me a pair of these for $60 shipped.  i am awaiting delivery; they're supposed to ship tomorrow.  he will also sell bare wire & insulation if you want to assemble cables yourself.

doug s.

[rajacat]

Doug,

Wow, that seems like a very good price for high purity silver hand woven litz cables! I'll be eagerly awaiting your review.

-Roy

[doug s.]

Doug,

Wow, that seems like a very good price for high purity silver hand woven litz cables! I'll be eagerly awaiting your review.

-Roy

ya, that's what i thought.  so good, in fact, that i went ahead and queried about two more pairs, which he agreed to do for £60; so the three pairs shipped will run me ~$150.  it's hard to get excited about megabucks cabling, or even making your own, w/pricing like this...

doug s.

[sts9fan]

Cardas makes a nice 2 x 21ga plus sheild cable.  I use it for internal signal cable but ti would also be a great IC.  Percy Audio has it for the best price I have found. 

[mgalusha]

Gotham cable is super flexible and has dual shields.

coax for single ended

twisted pair for balanced or singled ended

star quad

I have not heard this but it's well made, extremely flexible and very inexpensive. I have some to try, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[wushuliu]

And to mix things up even more, to make a mega bang for the buck IC:

OCC 5N Bare Silver wire: $1 - $2.30 per/ft

http://www.partsconnexion.com/wire_hookup_occ_ag.html

24awg teflon tubing: .20/ft

http://www.partsconnexion.com/heatshrink_tubing_teflon.html

Onix RCA w/ OFC copper pin (or the RCA of your choice): $12.95/pr

http://www.partsconnexion.com/connectors_rca_onix.html


and Chris VenHaus' method, as many know, is hard to beat.

http://www.venhaus1.com/diysilverinterconnects.html

(I use $5 poly rope from Home Depot to wrap the wire around)

[doug s.]

wu, it would be interesting to compare the cvh home brew cable against the litz cable i am buying. for me, tho, being a bit lazy, i went w/the ready-made; it's about the same price.

if you wanted the litz braid w/the connectors of your own choice, the seller i got it from will sell the braid w/o the connectors for about half the price.

doug s.

[jb]

Is this flexible enough? Weave the conductor of your choice into lengths of polypropylene hollow braid in a counter rotating
helix. I use Cardas tonearm wire. Capacitance is <3 pf/ft.



Teflon braid is less flexible and more fragile.

[rajacat]

Which ones sound the best?

-Roy

[rollo]

Is this flexible enough? Weave the conductor of your choice into lengths of polypropylene hollow braid in a counter rotating
helix. I use Cardas tonearm wire. Capacitance is <3 pf/ft.



Teflon braid is less flexible and more fragile.

 Cool.  Thinking outside the box. makes sense Thanks for the head up


charles

[jb]

Two more suggestions: The outer pair is cryoed, OCC wire: Flexible but stiff. The inner pair is an amorphous, non-metallic conductor wrapped in silk: Very flexible and very fragile. Both are braided and high capacitance.

[JDUBS]

Thank you, fellas!  Lots of great ideas....now just need to make up my mind on which direction to head!  Will reply back when I figure it out.

If anyone has any other ideas, bring 'em on!

-Jim

[Poindexter]

Wow, what a substantive thread!  Usually, these things veer off into foil, DBT 'discussions', various treats of webgeekery.

All these guys have shown what I consider to be the cream of ICness; small gauge fine silver in teflon, in pretty simple geometries.  That pommie lad on the 'bay, you can hardly go wrong.  I have myself found braids to sound just a tiny bit confused, preferring a simple twisted pair of 24ga. in ftp tubing.  I put 'em in an overall tube of teflon just for physical robustness, and cover this with the outer sheath of lacing from the sewing store (with the inner strings pulled out) for appearance.  Use good RCAs on the end, you are not going to get better sound (as with all the above) for thousan' clams.

Go get 'em, pal, these guyz have it right.

Aloha,

Poinz
AudioTropic

[doug s.]

poinz, i have a 3-wire pair similar to the litz i yust bought; it's good; comparable with my alpha-core tq2-ag and micropurl-ag.  it was time for me to try the 4-wire braid.  if you prefer simpler 2-wire twisted pair, this guy also sells on line for prices not breaking the bank.  if you contact him direct, you may be able to get a better deal, ask for an exterior sheath, etc:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130376716508

there is always a trade-off - 3 or 4 wire construction offers more resistance to external electrical forces than twisted pair; i am ok with any supposedly "more confusing" presentation, to have better protection from stray electronic fields w/o having to go shielded.  nothing at all confusing sounding w/my present 3-braid construction i/c, and i don't anticipate being anything else but extremely satisfied with the 4-wire stuff when i get it.

i'm w/you, poinz - i believe good cables are worth getting; but i don't think you need to spend >$100/meter to get it...  i do like the alpha-core cabling i mentioned above, and i buy it used when i can find it - besides being neutral and transparent, it's quite durable -  but i am happy to buy what i yust bought when i cannot find it.  seems folks do not get rid of the tq2-ag or micropurl-ag wery frequently...  hmmm...   

ymmv,

doug s.

[jb]

Which ones sound the best?

Are you asking me?

Horses for courses as you can see from the back of my preamp. Both types use Cardas tonearm wire as a conductor and have similar geometry although they use different construction and materials to maintain the desired conductor separation for low capacitance.

[JDUBS]

Guys

What are your thoughts on using small gauge coax for analog interconnects?  Seems like quite a lot of talk about it in the "best" interconnect available thread elsewhere on Audiocircle.

Would one use two lengths for the signal and return or just use the shield for the return?

Specifically, this is the cable I'm talking about:

https://www.micro-coax.com/secure/MCDlgCableDetails.aspx?Cable=UFA294C

-Jim

[srb]

Guys

What are your thoughts on using small gauge coax for analog interconnects?  Seems like quite a lot of talk about it in the "best" interconnect available thread elsewhere on Audiocircle.

Would one use two lengths for the signal and return or just use the shield for the return?

The shield would be used for the return.  I have compared my DIY shielded twisted pair made from two Belden 89259 coax cores, to the straight Belden 89259 coax using the shield for the return.  Both cables were terminated with fairly good quality WBT RCAs.
 
After much switching back and forth (I've already admitted I'm not real good at this), I decided I preferred the twisted pair over the coax.  When people insinuate that one may have a preconceived (conscious or subconscious) bias going in, mine would have to be the 6 hours of construction of the twisted pair, versus 1 hour to simply terminate the coax.
 
Sweat equity.
 
Steve