Even MORE DIY cable questions.... (1 Viewer)

[Neil_S]

Ok
The nice folks at Have Inc sent me a 1' sample of 1694a so I could see if it would be what I wanted. I want to use this for both speaker wire and interconnects.
When I stripped the cable, the first thing I noticed was the construction:
16 gauge copper core
Teflon insulator
Aluminum 'foil'
Aluminum weave
Outer insulator
Aluminum? Isn't aluminum rather... um... bad for high end audio applications? I was told that the 1694a was some of the most high end.
Would I be better to try and find something with a copper weave also? I want to make some interconnects and speaker cable that will last me for a while so I'm willing to spend the extra money on high quality parts. Is 1694a (or some other with aluminum construction) the way to go?
Thanks!

 

[Brian Bunge]

Neil,
Your biggest issue with aluminum shield is if you try to solder it. In other words, you can't! If you're only using crimp-on connectors it will be fine. I'm using Belden 1505A for component cables and for a digital coax cable with Canare crimp-on RCA's. They work just fine and are of very high quality.
Brian

 

[Neil_S]

I guess my concern is the aluminum for the speaker wire. The 16 gauge copper core is nice but then also using the aluminum sheath has me wondering about sound quality...
I'm planning to use the technique of combining two pieces of coax to make one set of speaker wires (the core of one is combined with the sheath of the other and vise versa). There is a link to a site describing this in one of the other DIY threads.
Neil

 

[Ellen]

Neil, I believe the center conductor in the 1694A cable is 18 gauge. And the braid is tinned copper, not aluminum. At least that's what the Belden catalog says. But I'm wondering why you want to use it as speaker cable. Since you have a sample, you can probably tell that it is fairly stiff to be used in such an application. Any reason you want to use coaxial cable and not standard stranded conductor speaker cable?

 

[Neil_S]

Ellen, I believe you are correct... My mistake. One supplier had is listed at 16 gauge which is wrong according to Belden.
As for why, see this page:
http://members.nbci.com/_XMCM/jon_risch/index.htm
I don't have a problem with the stiffness. It is not too bad and with my setup I don't see a need for rope like flexibility.