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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 20:26:30 GMT
AH !! I forgot you have fixed the monos to the back of the Frugals so only need short speaker cables . How are the Frugals sounding now mate ? They are sounding lovely. Just switched the speaker cable to solid core mains cable (not 6A, but higher) and will see how that goes tonight, once the littl'un is asleep. |
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Barry
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Post by Barry on Jul 18, 2015 23:09:32 GMT
I've just designed a fully balanced hybrid phono stage with zero feedback actually.... not that there would be any demand for that! Sounds interesting to me.. And to me. My objective is to have a fully balanced system, source to speaker. Have achieved this so far with the CD player, preamp and poweramps. Next up is vinyl playback: cartridges are essentially balanced devices. Balanced phonostages cost between £600 and £2,500. How much would yours be Jez? |
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Barry
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Post by Barry on Jul 18, 2015 23:15:07 GMT
Peter Walker was know for his bluff no-nonsense approach to such things. When asked what makes a 'good' speaker cable, he is famously said to have replied: "There are only two things a good speaker cable need have - first, and most importantly, it should be sufficiently long enough to connect between the speaker and the amplifier, and secondly the colour of the insulation should ideally match that of the carpet." It is also rumoured that once when Quad were setting up their gear at an audio show, they realised they had forgotten to bring any speaker cable with them. Undeterred, someone went out to the local B&Q store and bought some 10A cable as used with lawnmowers (with an orange coloured outer cladding). Visitors to the show though that this was some special cable Quad had made and asked about it. When told it was conventional and commercial 'lawnmower' cable they followed suit and it caught on! (The properties of said cable were discussed later in an article in Wireless World, where it was indeed (or coincidentally) shown to have the desirable properties expected of a speaker cable. When it comes to both interconnects and speaker wire a great deal of snobbery and outlandish claims are made. 6 amp mains cable is perfectly suited for speakers. In choosing 10 amp Quad were being a bit over the top. Years ago bell wire was happily used by millions. The cable in discussion was this:  Two core 10A rated cable, having a core cross sectional area of 0.75mm², has a typical loop resistance of 52mΩ/metre. As a rule of thumb, speaker cables ought to have a loop resistance of no more than 5% of the nominal impedance of the speaker. Assuming this is 8Ω then that is 400mΩ. A typical speaker lead might be 5m long, making the loop resistance 260mΩ; this is comfortably within the 400mΩ requirement. Of course the orange colour of the cladding improves the sound quality enormously! |
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 18, 2015 23:18:50 GMT
My tip is to use a mower to burn it in first.
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Barry
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Post by Barry on Jul 18, 2015 23:27:32 GMT
My tip is to use a mower to burn it in first. Or a strimmer or hedgetrimmer! |
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 18, 2015 23:28:19 GMT
A paint stripper could work too!
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Post by brian2957 on Jul 19, 2015 8:58:11 GMT
AH !! I forgot you have fixed the monos to the back of the Frugals so only need short speaker cables . How are the Frugals sounding now mate ? They are sounding lovely. Just switched the speaker cable to solid core mains cable (not 6A, but higher) and will see how that goes tonight, once the littl'un is asleep. They'll get even better mate . I've sent the Maplins solid core and the other copper wire in Teflon ( 1m of each ) . If you need any more just let me know . The second wire was from a site called wires.co.uk ( The Scientific Wire Company ) and is sold as pure copper and is 0.6mm thick I think . I'd be intrested in how you get on with these . Bet you didn't think you'd be writing that last sentence this time last year  |
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Post by Eduardo Wobblechops on Jul 19, 2015 13:33:33 GMT
Sounds interesting to me.. And to me. My objective is to have a fully balanced system, source to speaker. Have achieved this so far with the CD player, preamp and poweramps. Next up is vinyl playback: cartridges are essentially balanced devices. Balanced phonostages cost between £600 and £2,500. How much would yours be Jez? Yes indeed, that is also my goal. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2015 14:54:57 GMT
Sounds interesting to me.. And to me. My objective is to have a fully balanced system, source to speaker. Have achieved this so far with the CD player, preamp and poweramps. Next up is vinyl playback: cartridges are essentially balanced devices. Balanced phonostages cost between £600 and £2,500. How much would yours be Jez? It was pretty much rhetorical when I said I'd designed one.... I wasn't expecting any interest! It would be between £1000 and £2500 depending on spec but I have no plans to produce any. It exists only in computer simulation at the moment. I can't compete on price at the sharp end of the market as everything is hand made and I don't have any economies of scale. As price goes up and equipment becomes higher end then VFM increases dramatically as there are no dealer and distributor margins (if you buy a £3000 unit from a dealer then around half of that goes to the dealer and distributor!). In the unlikely circumstances of someone wanting to commission one then I could make one to order to the customers own specification as regards casework (within reason! Or customer could have casework built to his own spec elsewhere and I could then build the amp into the case), valves used, power supply quality and number of separate supplies (regulators), make and type of capacitors and resistors etc. The thing that makes it really rhetorical is that you couldn't try before you buy as it obviously wouldn't exist before being built.... I can't afford the money or the time to build one at my own expense purely on the off chance that someone may like it!!! I can make just about anything as a commission in the above way, so long as it's analogue electronics i.e phono stages, power supplies, turntable power supplies, headphone amps, line level preamps, power amps in class A, AB etc in single ended or push pull and all of the latter items in valve or solid state or hybrid and in balanced or unbalanced (where applicable). Just ask. Same applies though, I am in no position to spend hundreds of pounds and several weeks labour (potentially) just so someone can then decide if they like it or not! Hence it will all probably remain vapour ware...... This is why I'm looking for the most saleable things to make as "production" items with a demonstrator unit etc. In a poll I conducted on pfm some time ago phono stages were definitely the most popular hence that's the direction I'm heading in. If enough people think a fully balanced hybrid phono stage is the way forward and express serious interest then this could change of course... If anyone fancies becoming a small scale hi fi manufacturer as some sort of partnership then I could be open to discussion on the matter but I have no money to put into it, just technical expertise. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2015 19:14:10 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2015 13:16:33 GMT
Van Damme speaker cables arrives.  I cut it to length and stripped back the wires and terminated them with the ever excellent Mitchel plugs.  Tightest fit available they are so strong they stop the cable oxidating without the need for solder.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2015 13:18:09 GMT
When it comes to both interconnects and speaker wire a great deal of snobbery and outlandish claims are made. 6 amp mains cable is perfectly suited for speakers. In choosing 10 amp Quad were being a bit over the top. Years ago bell wire was happily used by millions. The cable in discussion was this: Two core 10A rated cable, having a core cross sectional area of 0.75mm², has a typical loop resistance of 52mΩ/metre. As a rule of thumb, speaker cables ought to have a loop resistance of no more than 5% of the nominal impedance of the speaker. Assuming this is 8Ω then that is 400mΩ. A typical speaker lead might be 5m long, making the loop resistance 260mΩ; this is comfortably within the 400mΩ requirement. Of course the orange colour of the cladding improves the sound quality enormously! The Van Damme looks alarmingly similar!!! |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2015 16:48:59 GMT
Van Damme speaker cables arrives. I cut it to length and stripped back the wires and terminated them with the ever excellent Mitchel plugs. Tightest fit available they are so strong they stop the cable oxidating without the need for solder. Why not just use the cable into the speaker binding plugs directly? |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2015 7:52:18 GMT
My tip is to use a mower to burn it in first. Ha ha ha ha good one. |
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Post by nrg on Jul 27, 2015 7:57:15 GMT
Van Damme speaker cables arrive I cut it to length and stripped back the wires and terminated them with the ever excellent Mitchel plugs. best fit available they are so strong they stop the cable oxidating without the need for solder. Why not just use the cable into the speaker binding plugs directly? Exactly, I have these and they don't stop the cables oxidising. They also seem to work loose over time and need retightening. |
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Post by roxbrough on Aug 8, 2015 15:03:01 GMT
The beauty of making your own inter connects, it that they are exactly the right length. I made these up today.    They are the Roxbrough 15ii 0.83m, made from RG6 with gold plated plugs, they sound very good. |
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Post by roxbrough on Aug 8, 2015 15:06:16 GMT
For a different application I then made these;    they are the Roxbrough 15i 0.63m again 75ohm shielded RG6 with Rean gold plated plugs they sound even better. |
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Post by MartinT on Aug 8, 2015 15:46:30 GMT
What made you choose 75 ohm cable for (presumably) audio frequency interconnects, Roxbrough?
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Post by roxbrough on Aug 8, 2015 16:24:34 GMT
One was it's ability to carry signal.
If it's good enough for pictures as well as sound it should be coasting on sound only, [well that's my reasoning anyway]
The second was the solid centre making a much more secure connection with any plugs.
Thirdly the diameter making the plugs fitting on the cable really tight.
Finally the additional foil shielding, as I am using the cables on the first floor and didn't want radio interference.
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Post by roxbrough on Aug 8, 2015 16:25:35 GMT
The shorter of the two was signal to a cassette deck.
The longer was signal from a valve pre-amp.
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