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I Bet This Must Be a Very Stupid Question on Cables (But I Don't Know the Answer!)

755 views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  derick 
#1 ·
The title says it all! OK, here I go.


QUESTION: What would happen, sonic-wise, if one removed all the dielectric/protective material out of the speaker cable runs? Or in other words, what is the purpose of the dielectric/protective material? Is it there only for mechanical reasons or is there any rationale for its presence? (Or even in other words: Would the sound be degraded should the dielectric/protective material were taken off the wire?).


I'm afraid this must be a very stupid question for all the well-lectured-on-cables-fellows that visit this forum. But I sware God I have no clue on the answer. So, please, be gentle with this server if this happens to be a truly idiotic question. All I need is a simple answer on why we need the dielectric on the cables at all.


Thanks for your answers and not making fun of me! :)


J.V.
 
#2 ·
Cub:


Thanks a lot for your reply!


...So, the ONLY reason for the dielectric material is SAFETY, right? I take then that it has nothing to do with sonics, right? Or in other words, although the application of dielectric material on audio/video cables might have some undesirable effects sonic/video-wise, it is still needed on the grounds of basic electrical safety, right?


Based on your reply, I have now another question: Suppose that one takes the dielectric material out of a set of audio (or video) cables and take great care on not touching or shorting them with each other or to the ground. Should we, then, expect a better audio/video signal transmission because of the absence of dielectric material and, ultimately, better sonics and video???


Thanks a lot, again, for your time and thoughts!


J.V.
 
#3 ·
J.V.,


I’m not sure we’re on the same page. Are you talking about speaker wire like Monster, some of which has a plastic dielectric entwined with the wire, all of which is covered by the outer jacket? There is no sonic advantage to removing it (assuming you could).


With signal cable, if you remove the insulator around the center conductor, you automatically have a short circuit with the shield.


This should be obvious, but I get the feeling this is not what you’re talking about . . . ??


Regards,

Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 
#4 ·
Wayne:


Yes, I'm talking about the dielectric material entwined with the metal wire. I assume the outer jacket is just for mechanical protection purposes, but I'm not sure about the reason for the dielectric material. Is it there just for safety reasons or does it have something to do with sonics?


Thanks for your reply!


J.V.
 
#5 ·
It does matter if it's coax cable. The outer shield keeps off air signals from getting mixed with what you are transmitting on the cable. The dielectric keeps the two seperated and is necessary to maintain the 75 ohm impedence. If you take off the dielectric, you turn it into an antenna that'll pick up off air signals. The only thing that'll happen is worse or no reception of what you are trying to send through the cable.
 
#6 ·
Can I use solid wire cable to connect up speakers?


I'm wiring my home theater and I had a spare spool of 14 gauge electrical wire. I used it to wire my speaker runs.


I wired it for 7.1 sound.


Is it OK to use solid wire for speakers?

Will there be any loss of high frequency?


Except for the flexability of the wire does it make a difference?


Corollary Question. Why is speaker wire always multi stranded?



Sorry for wasting bandwidth if this is a dumb question but I'd like to know.
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by derick

Can I use solid wire cable to connect up speakers?

Yes.

Quote:
I'm wiring my home theater and I had a spare spool of 14 gauge electrical wire. I used it to wire my speaker runs.
That should be fine. Thicker wires are desirable for longer runs in order to minimize the total resistance of the wire. Higher resistances degrade the amplifier's damping factor. I prefer to use 12 or even 10 guage, but I'm compulsive that way :)
Quote:
Is it OK to use solid wire for speakers?
Yup.
Quote:
Will there be any loss of high frequency?
Nope.
Quote:
Except for the flexability of the wire does it make a difference?
Nope.
Quote:
Corollary Question. Why is speaker wire always multi stranded?
Flexibility.

Thicker wires tend to crack and break in two after repeated flexing. The resulting loss of connectivity makes it a little hard for the signal to get to the speakers ;)


I hope this clarifies things a little.
 
#8 ·
Thanks Seldon Ball!
 
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