[siava1018]

I was thinkin about geting some solid copper in cotton to make some rca's and speaker cables what do you guys think? Can i get the same gauge for the rca's and speaker cables, and how many wires should i use for the speaker cables? http://www.homegrownaudio.com/bulk_wire.htm

[Big Red Machine]

You can pull the center out of this small cotton rope and then put your wire inside it.

http://www.knotandrope.com/store/pc/Cotton-Solid-Braid-c57.htm

I'm going to try some of this small ga. magnet wire in a multiple strand cables very soon. 

http://www.bulkwire.com/

I can give you a lead on getting solid silver wire for as little as 30 cents per foot but it is not pure.

If you look closely at Morrow cables he uses 18 strands of coated wire in a twisted config in his MA3 cables.  They measure about .019" OD each over the insulation which appears to be a coating like magnet wire, not a sleeving.  For IC's I can see this is enough but for speaker cables and the current involved I'd want to add some heavier wire.

[walkern]

In general I've liked thin (20 to 28 awg) solid core wire for interconnects, and thicker stranded wire (12 to 14 awg) for speaker wire... although I have heard some good sounding solid core speaker wire.

Silver wire sounds different from copper, and silver coated copper can sound like the best of both worlds, or the worst of both.  Dielectric also makes a difference with interconnects in particular, with cotton sounding one way, teflon another, and PVC yet another.

The most recent ICs i've made used Jupiter 23 awg 5N copper with cotton insulation for the + lead, and Neotech 20 awg UP-OCC copper with teflon insulation for the - lead, and Eichman Bullet RCAs.  They sound great to me... and outperform most commercial ICs I've tried.  Got the wire from partsconnexion.

Neil

[wushuliu]

Second the UPOCC Neotech and Jupiter. The pvc version is dirt cheap. Soniccraft has 6/9s Jupiter 26awg. In all honesty, I don't care for homegrown audio's silver (harsh) and their copper as far as I can tell is not much better than what you can get at Home Deport or Radio shack - all i see is 'OFHC' and that could mean anything (yes, I've tried all these wires). The purer the copper the smoother the sound IMO.

I only use solid core now for speaker wire. for DIY, I like pairing 20awg and 18awg together or thereabouts for similar reasons, smoother sound and more defined soundstage and imaging.

If you like dynamics, clarity, and attack, Chris VenHaus'(of VHAudio and V-Cap) interconnect recipe is top notch and cheap. It works for copper and silver.

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

[chlorofille]

Im using some diy silver in cotton interconnects and silver speaker wire. I'm still searching for an even brighter combination!!

Anyone know what kind of wire/interconnect provides an extremely bright and detailed sound?

[wushuliu]

Im using some diy silver in cotton interconnects and silver speaker wire. I'm still searching for an even brighter combination!!

Anyone know what kind of wire/interconnect provides an extremely bright and detailed sound?

er, what's up with your setup that you need to get any brighter than that?!

[Photon46]

A couple of months ago, I sent my Luminous Audio Synchestra References back to the manufacturer to get an intermittent hum looked into. I couldn't stand the sound of anything else I had in the house, so for burps & giggles, I thought I'd try making the DIY packing tape & magnet wire interconnects that Greg Weaver gave instructions for back in '98 at Soundstage.com. I really couldn't believe how great they sounded! Not as good as the Synchestras, but not that far off the mark either. I used the inexpensive Switchcraft rca connectors that Shindo uses in their silver interconnects, so it was ridiculously cheap. That pair sounded so good, I ordered some 26 gauge silver wire and will see how that sounds when I get a chance to build another set. They are fragile and they are subject to picking up stray RFI signals though.

[corndog71]

I was thinkin about geting some solid copper in cotton to make some rca's and speaker cables what do you guys think? Can i get the same gauge for the rca's and speaker cables, and how many wires should i use for the speaker cables? http://www.homegrownaudio.com/bulk_wire.htm

I've been a fan of HGA since they came out.  The cotton/copper wire would be nice for interconnects but is a bit small for speaker wires.  You want at least 16awg for speaker wire.  That would mean at least 8 wires per speaker cable (4+, 4-).  There'd be some labor involved to keep them tidy but it's not impossible.

I like their cotton/silver wire for internal wiring of my tube projects.

Don't knock their teflon jacketed wire though.  I use that all of the time too.

[siava1018]

Whats a good place to get copper in cotton? Also im ordering some stuff from parts express could i get some coax from there and make some connects on the cheap for now?

[corndog71]

You can get cotton insulated copper or silver from homegrownaudio.com.

[PaleRider]

  This tv-coax from Vivanco has been my reference for years, in double configuration/paralell. It also makes a superb digital coax.

 http://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/MainSearchProductCategory.html?q=Vivanco+PS+KX+710 

  Speakerwires? If you can`t afford monoblocs, make up some real thick massive copper. Bi- or triwire if possible. NB: the copper needs a short but "hot" burn-in. Btw; I don`t waist my time on stripping the copper clean

   Powercables; avoid extensioncables. Massive shielded powercables are the ultimate solution.

  All these solutions has one thing in common; no audible degrading of the signal.