Fantastic
Well-Known Member
I remember mentioning that I will try out regular enameled wire as a speaker interconnect. I can't find where I posted that so I thought that maybe if the subject title mentioned enameled wire it will be easier to find it again !
Speaker manufacturers like Allison and others have used single core wires in their speakers . The speakers did sound good but I never experimented with it seriously.
Looking at the effect of skin depth , it appears that for full 100% area utilization to just beyond 20 Khz the wire should not be over 21 swg .
Resistance of a single pair of wires ( +/-) of 1 meter is 0.0664 ohms ( measured in series). I used 2 meters so it will be 0.1328 ohms. This will reduce the damping factor of the system to say , 3 ohms ( approx dc resistance of a 4 ohm speaker ) / 0.1328 = 22.6 ignoring contact resistance and amp output impedance.
This figure is acceptable but I'd rather double the figure. So I used a pair of 2 meter wires in parallel for each of the +ve and -ve lines.
The speaker was a Rogers GS-1 ( rather small bookshelf). Original wire was a standard Taiwanese 2.5 sq.mm OFC multi strand copper cable .
The difference. It basically cleans up the sound. Transients come across with a snap ! Looks like the sounds are more distinct. Need a proper test to define the differences. I did it at night for a short while . Better for you to try it out to hear the difference. It should be better on my larger speakers. However I don't have time to do a rigorous test for another 4 weeks or more. The last part of this year is jam packed with events which can't be shifted to a later date.
Hope others will try this and report back on their findings. My speakers are near the amp and so I didn't require more than 2 meters . For longer lengths one could use 4 wires in parallel for each line ( + and - ) .
I twisted together the two wires first and soldered the ends together. Then I twisted ( rather loosely ) the + and - wires together. The wire is a standard enameled wire used for winding transformers so it isn't even OFC. Better to use new wires to ensure that the enamel isn't damaged anywhere , causing a short between the + and - lines. You could use sleeving ( cotton ?) on the + and - lines to avoid this.
Wonder what finer wire with more parallel sections would sound like ! Could get worse at some point. One will have to braid them.
Inexpensive weekend fun !
Speaker manufacturers like Allison and others have used single core wires in their speakers . The speakers did sound good but I never experimented with it seriously.
Looking at the effect of skin depth , it appears that for full 100% area utilization to just beyond 20 Khz the wire should not be over 21 swg .
Resistance of a single pair of wires ( +/-) of 1 meter is 0.0664 ohms ( measured in series). I used 2 meters so it will be 0.1328 ohms. This will reduce the damping factor of the system to say , 3 ohms ( approx dc resistance of a 4 ohm speaker ) / 0.1328 = 22.6 ignoring contact resistance and amp output impedance.
This figure is acceptable but I'd rather double the figure. So I used a pair of 2 meter wires in parallel for each of the +ve and -ve lines.
The speaker was a Rogers GS-1 ( rather small bookshelf). Original wire was a standard Taiwanese 2.5 sq.mm OFC multi strand copper cable .
The difference. It basically cleans up the sound. Transients come across with a snap ! Looks like the sounds are more distinct. Need a proper test to define the differences. I did it at night for a short while . Better for you to try it out to hear the difference. It should be better on my larger speakers. However I don't have time to do a rigorous test for another 4 weeks or more. The last part of this year is jam packed with events which can't be shifted to a later date.
Hope others will try this and report back on their findings. My speakers are near the amp and so I didn't require more than 2 meters . For longer lengths one could use 4 wires in parallel for each line ( + and - ) .
I twisted together the two wires first and soldered the ends together. Then I twisted ( rather loosely ) the + and - wires together. The wire is a standard enameled wire used for winding transformers so it isn't even OFC. Better to use new wires to ensure that the enamel isn't damaged anywhere , causing a short between the + and - lines. You could use sleeving ( cotton ?) on the + and - lines to avoid this.
Wonder what finer wire with more parallel sections would sound like ! Could get worse at some point. One will have to braid them.
Inexpensive weekend fun !
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