Speaker Wire

[Privateer]

from crappy home depot wire to a good multi strand no-oxygen cable..

Right? Now you are way off and I think everyone can agree with me on that.

 

[MDS]

Agreed. Home Depot wire IS multi-strand and oxygen free (99.99999 %). It is impossible to buy speaker wire that is NOT oxygen free nowadays.

The only thing that really matters for speaker wire is that you use the proper guage for the distance it will be run.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Home Depot wire IS multi-strand and oxygen free (99.99999 %). It is impossible to buy speaker wire that is NOT oxygen free nowadays.

Well, not sure about all those 9s in the decimal places but Steve Lampen at Belden(used to post on the net at RAHE, I believe) indicates their copper is 99.95% as most wire is and to get more 9s is costly and difficult

 

[HookedOnSound]

You're telling me if you cut the positive wire back an inch and re-twist it, it's as bright as the negative side? C'mon. 25 years? It will lose it's shine after 6 months. I bet your dad notices a difference in the high notes if you do this to one speaker and not the other. Perfect time for an experiment since you don't believe us. He knows his speakers. Let him decide. If your father doesn't want banana plugs after he does notice a difference, put some Dielectric Grease around the new twisted tips. That will keep the wires from oxidizing so quickly. Audioholics also recommends this product for the other interconnects.

I don't quite undertand this post.

Dielectric Grease for speaker wire? as far as I know it's non-conductive, sure it stops oxidization but if you coat the wire before inserting into the binding post how can you achieve conductivity?

Please explain, I am really confused about this post, I must be reading it wrong. Was it suppose to be sarcastic?

Thanks,

 

[Nick250]

since you don't believe us. .

US? "Us" who? As far as I can tell, you, Crutchfield and Monster are hanging out there all by your lonsome. Not exactly good company.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I don't quite undertand this post.

Dielectric Grease for speaker wire? as far as I know it's non-conductive, sure it stops oxidization but if you coat the wire before inserting into the binding post how can you achieve conductivity?

Please explain, I am really confused about this post, I must be reading it wrong. Was it suppose to be sarcastic?

Thanks,

HookedOnSound,

I was not being sarcastic at all. Dielectric Grease is absolutely conductive. Otherwise it wouldn't be called "Dielectric Grease." Audioholics wouldn't recommend it in their "Connection Tips 101" if it wasn't conductive.

Ray Adkins recommends it with rca's here:

"Connectors and Connections
Modern Interconnect heads are most often designed to grab or lock onto the input terminal of your equipment. This is a good way to make sure they don’t come off or work loose; but, can be a real problem when you need to remove them and will sometimes scar or even break off at the interconnect cable, or break off the input terminal of your equipment. When installing this type of Interconnect apply a small amount of Dielectric Grease to the shell of the input terminal and install the Interconnect by pushing it on and turning it (clockwise) at the same time. When you need to remove it pull and turn (counterclockwise) at the same time. Dielectric Grease can be found at most auto-parts stores."

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

US? "Us" who? As far as I can tell, you, Crutchfield and Monster are hanging out there all by your lonsome. Not exactly good company.

Nick,

Have you read anything in this forum? Do you know who Roger Russel is?

This quote was taken directly from the guide right here at Audioholics.

"The only other thing that is important is that the cables are properly terminated so they don't become noisy, and that the shield is of good quality and provides complete protection from external interfering signals. Terminations will normally be either soldered or crimped, and either is fine as long as it is well made. For the constructor, soldering is usually better, since proper crimping tools are expensive."

Finally, read post 21 again.

 

[Nick250]

Nick,

Have you read anything in this forum? Do you know who Roger Russel is?

This quote was taken directly from the guide right here at Audioholics.

"The only other thing that is important is that the cables are properly terminated so they don't become noisy, and that the shield is of good quality and provides complete protection from external interfering signals. Terminations will normally be either soldered or crimped, and either is fine as long as it is well made. For the constructor, soldering is usually better, since proper crimping tools are expensive."

Finally, read post 21 again.

I read the contents of this board just fine thank you for asking. I just happen to disagree with you and you seemed stunned and outraged that such a thing is possible. I agree with Roger Russel that terminations should be well made, but you do not need to crimp or solder to accomplish this. Bare wire works just fine too. Using bare wire is in fact "crimping" only you are using the connection on your amp/receiver/speaker as the crimping agent. Also I find your use of the royal "we" as puffery. So think what you want to think, it matters not to me. I have said what I have to say and I am done with this thread, it's time to move on.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Nick,

You just said "I agree with Roger Russel that terminations should be well made, but you do not need to crimp or solder to accomplish this. Bare wire works just fine too. Using bare wire is in fact "crimping" only you are using the connection on your amp/receiver/speaker as the crimping agent." Apparently you don't agree with him, because post 21 and Roger said:


The connection between the power amplifier output terminals and speaker input terminals is almost always a pressure device of some sort. It's unfortunate that these important connections are determined by to how tight you can turn a binding post or screwdriver or by the pressure of a spring which holds the speaker wire against the metal of the terminal. The metals that are forced against each other are often different. They might be brass or steel but plated with other metals. The wire could be copper or silver and perhaps coated with solder containing tin. They expand and contract differently with temperature. They can also become oxidized over time and the connection can become bad to the point where the resistance is significant compared to the resistance in the rest of the circuit. Dissimilar metals can also promote corrosion with action like a battery when they are in a humid environment. This eventually causes not only higher resistance but also clearly audible distortion as if a diode were inserted in series with the speaker and amplifier.

You are welcome to disagree with Roger all you want. Thank you for moving on.

 

[claudermilk]

HookedOnSound,

I was not being sarcastic at all. Dielectric Grease is absolutely conductive. Otherwise it wouldn't be called "Dielectric Grease." Audioholics wouldn't recommend it in their "Connection Tips 101" if it wasn't conductive.

Ray Adkins recommends it with rca's here:

"Connectors and Connections
Modern Interconnect heads are most often designed to grab or lock onto the input terminal of your equipment. This is a good way to make sure they don’t come off or work loose; but, can be a real problem when you need to remove them and will sometimes scar or even break off at the interconnect cable, or break off the input terminal of your equipment. When installing this type of Interconnect apply a small amount of Dielectric Grease to the shell of the input terminal and install the Interconnect by pushing it on and turning it (clockwise) at the same time. When you need to remove it pull and turn (counterclockwise) at the same time. Dielectric Grease can be found at most auto-parts stores."

Just remember what's it's intended for: use on battery terminals and spark plugs to prevent corrosion and help with a good conductive connection--just what you're looking for using it in this application.