DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread
Feb 2, 2015 at 4:01 AM Post #3,331 of 10,566
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MS-Audio-Pure-Silver-Litz-Structure-Headphone-Replacement-Cable-/301489290142?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4632297b9e
 
hi guys.I'm about to get myself to cable DIY.Its going to be a balanced cable for Alpha Prime.Since the stock cable is already a copper,I want a silver ones just to see if I can hear any difference with my too-tone-deaf eat,so going for a custom $300++ is an investment I'm not willing to make at this time.After some googling,I found this 'MS audio pure silver litz structure'.Would this work you guys think?Its $20 for a meter with $3 shipping.
 
Thanks guys
 

 
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Feb 2, 2015 at 5:18 AM Post #3,332 of 10,566
tepet08
That's actually a pretty interesting cable. The price is definitely right of what they say they are offering is correct when you compare similar offerings from other vendors. There are a couple issues.

1. They don't give any additional stats on the wire material purity or how it was cast.

2. Here is a quote from the listing, "Each filaments are independent signal transmission line. Electron only travel on surface of conductor>"
First of all, that isn't really true in this case as far as I understand conduction in this setting.
More importantly, if this statement were true, then why bother with pure silver over cheaper silver-plated copper or plated brass? According to this both would only transmit on the silver anyway. Either way, the difference between silver and copper is very small. If you hear any difference, it will likely be due to a slight increase in volume with the silver. Make sure to volume match.

Also, litz wire is made to reduce the "skin effect" that can occur in larger wires conducting a good amount of current, like power lines. Pretty sure it's not an issue for the very small gauge wire that's used in our cables. More of a marketing tool than anything.

Probably* nothing wrong with the cable , but the information seems odd. I might try some for fun.
 
Feb 2, 2015 at 7:06 AM Post #3,333 of 10,566
  http://www.ebay.com/itm/MS-Audio-Pure-Silver-Litz-Structure-Headphone-Replacement-Cable-/301489290142?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4632297b9e
 
hi guys.I'm about to get myself to cable DIY.Its going to be a balanced cable for Alpha Prime.Since the stock cable is already a copper,I want a silver ones just to see if I can hear any difference with my too-tone-deaf eat,so going for a custom $300++ is an investment I'm not willing to make at this time.After some googling,I found this 'MS audio pure silver litz structure'.Would this work you guys think?Its $20 for a meter with $3 shipping.
 
Thanks guys
 
 

 
Seriously, $20/m is quite a lot for a cable that you yourself isn't quite sure of the benefits it's supposed to give. Let alone, it's used for speakers. AFAIK I'd guess the requirement for a decent speakers placement should make it min. 2m cables needed for each speakers. Stereo speakers placed too close to each other won't give a good spacial sound anyway. 2m each would make it 4m = $80. Quite a lot for a speaker wiring cable. Yeah, I know there are a lot of way pricier cables, which I don't really think they worth their weigh in gold either. 
 
Besides, unlike headphones, there are a lot of other factors that come into play for speaker systems to sound good. Something like placement, furnitures around the room, and wall damping will make a more significant difference than a cable upgrade, IMO. Even with cheap styrofoam sheets roughly placed on walls could change the sound quite a lot. 
 
Feb 2, 2015 at 10:55 AM Post #3,336 of 10,566
  Can I use AWG26 speaker wire for making a headphone cable?

 
Yes. But keep in mind, AWG26 wires are very very small, only 0.405mm in diameter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge)
 
I made one for my HE-400, but ended up not using it, as it looks very ridiculous. Small wires plugged into a big over ear headphone. 
 
Most of the time, it wouldn't be a problem other than aesthetic (very small wire vs big headphone). For particular insensitive and current (ampere) hunger headphones, such as HE-6, 26 AWG might not be big enough to deliver the amount of current needed
 
Feb 2, 2015 at 12:13 PM Post #3,337 of 10,566
Yes. But keep in mind, AWG26 wires are very very small, only 0.405mm in diameter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge)

I made one for my HE-400, but ended up not using it, as it looks very ridiculous. Small wires plugged into a big over ear headphone. 

Most of the time, it wouldn't be a problem other than aesthetic (very small wire vs big headphone). For particular insensitive and current (ampere) hunger headphones, such as HE-6, 26 AWG might not be big enough to deliver the amount of current needed

What about for alpha dogs?
 
Feb 2, 2015 at 12:28 PM Post #3,338 of 10,566
Seriously, $20/m is quite a lot for a cable that you yourself isn't quite sure of the benefits it's supposed to give. Let alone, it's used for speakers. AFAIK I'd guess the requirement for a decent speakers placement should make it min. 2m cables needed for each speakers. Stereo speakers placed too close to each other won't give a good spacial sound anyway. 2m each would make it 4m = $80. Quite a lot for a speaker wiring cable. Yeah, I know there are a lot of way pricier cables, which I don't really think they worth their weigh in gold either. 

Besides, unlike headphones, there are a lot of other factors that come into play for speaker systems to sound good. Something like placement, furnitures around the room, and wall damping will make a more significant difference than a cable upgrade, IMO. Even with cheap styrofoam sheets roughly placed on walls could change the sound quite a lot. 


Actually the cable is effectively four individual conductors. You'll notice the cable is two connected together. Within each of those are two individually bundled groups.
So for a six foot cable with four wires you would need two meters of that cable, $40 worth.

If you tried to buy twenty-four feet of pure silver litz wire from a cable maker, it normally runs almost $10 per foot so a total of almost $240. That's why I said this is a good deal from that perspective: However, I'm not convinced the product is legit considering the exceptionally low price point.

If I had to guess, it's probably mislabeled silver-plated copper. Although, I could be wrong.
 
Feb 5, 2015 at 7:44 AM Post #3,339 of 10,566
Hey guys, I was thinking of recabling my own IEM. But there are couple of question I would like to ask some well info Head fier about the cable. Which cable is suitable for making IEM cables? AWG26 or AWG32? Some cable are rated 4n (which means 99.99 oxygen free right?), http://www.ebay.com/itm/15Ft-4N-occ-Silver-plated-Headphone-Cable-DIY-Replace-Repair-Upgrade-Cable-/111383361282?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item19eef73702 Something like this. But how do i differentiate which channel is to which cable? What i meant was, example I have a superlux HD381. When i disconnect the wire from the driver there is 2 strand, 1 in red, another in copper colour. As the ebay's pic only show 6 strand of the same colour (silver). How do I know which channel is going to be? As for solder, is 60% tin 40% lead good enough for solder the wire end at the driver? Or do i need a solder with small amount of silver in it? I have read about that silver does't increase the conductivity. It only prevent the wire get oxidized. My source may not be that correct but do hope you guys could correct me. 
 
Feb 5, 2015 at 11:51 PM Post #3,340 of 10,566
@Kamakahah thanks for all the support along the way. I finished my first cable, pics on this link:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/71148/diy-cable-gallery/14370#post_11282669
 
cheers
redface.gif

 
Feb 7, 2015 at 3:57 AM Post #3,341 of 10,566
Anyone got a lead on chunky multi-strand DIY 22AWG (litz) cryo up-occ copper ?
 
The ready-made retail cabling is just too much for me right now.
redface.gif
 
 
Feb 7, 2015 at 5:12 AM Post #3,342 of 10,566
  Anyone got a lead on chunky multi-strand DIY 22AWG (litz) cryo up-occ copper ?
 
The ready-made retail cabling is just too much for me right now.
redface.gif
 

 
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2/index1/Litz-Wire-Supplier.html
 
Feb 7, 2015 at 9:46 AM Post #3,343 of 10,566
 
  Anyone got a lead on chunky multi-strand DIY 22AWG (litz) cryo up-occ copper ?
 
The ready-made retail cabling is just too much for me right now.
redface.gif
 

 
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2/index1/Litz-Wire-Supplier.html

 
this site has Litz wires cheaper than air, have you used any of them, are they good?
 
Feb 7, 2015 at 10:59 AM Post #3,344 of 10,566
  this site has Litz wires cheaper than air, have you used any of them, are they good?

 
I bought and used a 100-foot spool of the 100/46 wire in three HP cables and a few 12-inch interconnects.  Aside from needing to remove the coating prior to soldering (been covered in this thread), I had no problems with it.  Sound quality-wise I have no complaints, but I didn't compare it to other cables, other than decide that the jobs were all worth it.
 
I'd probably get heavier gauge wire for interconnects, if I had to do it all over again, but the 100/46 threaded through 95-lbs. paracord from Paracord Planet makes for seriously light, supple braided cables; far more so than stripped out Mogami wires, e.g.
 
HTH.
 
Feb 7, 2015 at 11:04 AM Post #3,345 of 10,566
 
  this site has Litz wires cheaper than air, have you used any of them, are they good?

 
I bought and used a 100-foot spool of the 100/46 wire in three HP cables and a few 12-inch interconnects.  Aside from needing to remove the coating prior to soldering (been covered in this thread), I had no problems with it.  Sound quality-wise I have no complaints, but I didn't compare it to other cables, other than decide that the jobs were all worth it.
 
I'd probably get heavier gauge wire for interconnects, if I had to do it all over again, but the 100/46 threaded through 95-lbs. paracord from Paracord Planet makes for seriously light, supple braided cables; far more so than stripped out Mogami wires, e.g.
 
HTH.

 
Do you burn the coating with a lighter?, please give me the link to this thread, if you know the page no
 

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