[sprakash]

I was thinking about cables and conductivity of the signal, speaker cables in particular. Please feel free to comment, I'm trying to understand this a little better. So here goes:

Assumption: The speaker cable terminates into a connector. The connector, lets say a banana plug, is crimped onto the cable.

Observations:

#1. The contact points between them are the inner crimped sleeve and the outer surface(skin) of the cable - correct?

#2. Lets take a silver coated copper cable. Does this not mean that ALL the signal transfer is through the silver skin?

#3. And if it was a regular copper cable, the transfer would be through the 'copper' skin in this case?

#4. If 2&3 are correct, then the use of a stranded cable should have more surface area in contact as opposed to a solid-core cable, and would be superior in theory?

Question:

If, and a big If at that, all of the above are correct - a simplification - then the OCC process that I read about should offer major benefits for cabling, as well as reducing the advantages offered by coated cables by having longer crystalline structure of the copper(or silver).

Also, the pure carbon conductors having a long crystal structures from VanDen Hul should offer the same advantage.


This whole line of thought originated AFTER I ordered silver coated speaker cables and was trying to think about terminating them with Z-plugs and wondered if crimping was better than soldering.


Cheers,

SP

 

[nutt]

I don't understand what you are getting at here. As long as the contact between the cable and connecter is solid, and this can be done easily with either crimping or soldering, the differences are strictly theoretical. It does not matter if the conductors are silver, copper, tungsten or gold. Any differences will be well below the audible threshold.


Tim

 

[sprakash]

Basically I am trying to confirm my understanding that:

- Signal transfer through crimped contacts depends more on the skin than the core

- Longer crystal structure of the cable would provide more benefit than silver/tin plating

Thanks Tim,

SP

 

[Bill Lummus]

I agree with Nutt that crimping or soldering should be fine.


There are some audiophiles who don't like silver plating on speaker cables. I've never listened to any myself but they are quite common. Many audiophiles like single-crystal copper and is felt to be better than silver plated.

 

[Bigus]

Quote:

Originally posted by sprakash Basically I am trying to confirm my understanding that: - Signal transfer through crimped contacts depends more on the skin than the core - Longer crystal structure of the cable would provide more benefit than silver/tin plating Thanks Tim, SP

Signals travel through the entire strand regardless of how connection is made. Both soldering and crimping can only (logically) contact the skin anyway, so there is no difference in that regard.


Silver does not help or hurt the sound, regardless of whether it is solid or plated.


"Long crystal" and "single crystal" don't do help or hurt the sound, and is as ridiculous an idea as I've ever heard.

 

[PlasmaSquid]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bigus "Long crystal" and "single crystal" don't do help or hurt the sound, and is as ridiculous an idea as I've ever heard.

C'mon, let's play nice


Technically, there is a difference between soldering and crimping. There is also skin effect. However, yes, it is very true that neither of these have any audible effect given the vast majority of cables/connectors which are assembled properly.

 

[Larry Fine]

First of all, skin effect does not happen in audio; that's an RF phenomenon. TV transmitters use a tube-within-a-tube as coax, and it's plain ol' copper. Audio current, as with 'regular' electricity, cares about conductor area cross-section, not surface area.


Well-crimped connections are what is called "gas-tight", which theoretically precludes any oxidation in the contact area, as does soldering. Long crystals or short, electricity is the movement of electrons. Push one in one end, and one pops out of the other.


As long as the conductor is heavy enough to conduct current without a significant voltage drop, it will carry the required signal without creating undue heat (which is the product of I2R losses (that's 'current squared x resistance'). (How do type a superscript '2'?)

 

[Kir]

Quote:

(How do type a superscript '2'?)

Like this: ² (hold down the Alt key and type 0178 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt)


Kirill

 

[Michael Grant]

Quote:

First of all, skin effect does not happen in audio; that's an RF phenomenon.

Of couse it happens in audio. I doubt it has any audible effect, I agree. But to say "it doesn't happen" hurts your credibility.

I found these links which seem to provide a good explanation:
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/...ect_Cables.htm
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/...-hjohnson.html

 

[Larry Fine]

Interesting stuff, Michael. Thanks for the info. I'm not too proud to admit I'm mis-informed, or to learn something new.


Iº¡¶•R


That's what happens when I type 0178 with 'alt' held down. Is the fact that I'm a Mac user relevant?

 

[Larry Fine]

Oh, wait, the numeric keypad.


I0178R

 

[Bigus]

hmm...


I²R


Hey... neat!

 

[Chu Gai]

that's the best tweak i've seen in a long time.

 

[Kir]

Quote:

Originally posted by Larry Fine ...Is the fact that I'm a Mac user relevant?

Sorry, I should've guessed from your avatar


On a serious note - yes, it does matter, 0178 is the code for '²' in Windows.


Kirill

 

[terry deto]

ot are these codes listed somewhere?

 

[Kir]

Quote:

Originally posted by terry deto ot are these codes listed somewhere?

System tools->Character map

From there you can also copy/paste if you want.


Kirill

 

[Larry Fine]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kir Sorry, I should've guessed from your avatar Kirill

Okay, I give up. How would my avatar tell you I use a Mac?

 

[Michael Grant]

Ask Moe and Curly, they'll explain it for you---or poke you in the eye.

 

[Chu Gai]

yes, but less than a 0.1 dB at 20 kHz is hardly something that's audible.