EC as in Electrical Conductivity

[kongwee]

Not the silver or teflon parts particularly, tho.

yes it is, it is just 2 or 3 dollar per meter overall copper PVC.

 

[Chrispy]

yes it is, it is just 2 or 3 dollar per meter overall copper PVC.

See what I mean?

 

[Chrispy]

yes it is, it is just 2 or 3 dollar per meter overall copper PVC.

eh?

 

[kongwee]

See what I mean?

eh?

Cheap, because I DIY my cable. Of course, it is expensive if you can't afford.

 

[Chrispy]

Cheap, because I DIY my cable. Of course, it is expensive if you can't afford.

Still more expensive than necessary for no benefit was the point. I can afford it, I just don't spend money on silly things that make no difference....

 

[MAB]

A majority of the people who believe that the different materials make no audible difference, have never actually replaced their expensive copper cables with one made of the ferromagnetic metals such as iron, cobalt or nickel, because if they actually did, they'd be begging to go back to non-ferromagnetic metals after hearing the hysteresis distortion.

OK. I've seen iron vs. air core inductors. I've seen binding posts made from old nails. And they do have measurable effects that are predictable But the impact is like 0.1dB, at frequencies we can barely hear in the first place. So negligible.
I admit, I haven't seen data on something like replacing the speaker cables entirely with ferromagnetic wire, perhaps fence wire. Has anybody done that?

 

[Chrispy]

OK. I've seen iron vs. air core inductors. I've seen binding posts made from old nails. And they do have measurable effects that are predictable But the impact is like 0.1dB, at frequencies we can barely hear in the first place. So negligible.
I admit, I haven't seen data on something like replacing the speaker cables entirely with ferromagnetic wire, perhaps fence wire. Has anybody done that?

How about Mark Henniger's (avsforum) use of crumpled aluminum foil in a speaker wire test?

 

[sq225917]

We had a guy on one of the uk forums did an IC test and replaced the cables with his house keys, coat hanger wire, aluminium foil, paper clip and a few others. No one could reliably pick the original interconnects..

 

[syn08]

Like 10 years ago, on the other forum, a team of moderators replaced audio connections with coat hanger wire, using bananas, potato, mud, and other exotic materials as conductive media. Nobody was able to hear any differences. SY (@SIY here) can provide details. They must all be stone deaf.

 

[Speedskater]

Like 10 years ago, on the other forum, a team of moderators replaced audio connections with coat hanger wire, using bananas, potato, mud, and other exotic materials as conductive media. Nobody was able to hear any differences. SY (@SIY here) can provide details. They must all be stone deaf.

"Fancy Interconnects? How about a potato, or even mud?"

Fancy Interconnects? How about a potato, or even mud?

OK, we've all heard or read the sales pitch for interconnects of fancy materials and geometries, I've got them all beat. Did you know that you can pass a line level audio signal thru a banana? How about a sweet potato or even a bucket of mud? You can, quite easily. No joke, it really works...

www.diyaudio.com

about 350 posts.
* * * * * * * * * *
or as Stephen Colbert would say:

Is Potato

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[jschwender]

Two cables, same length and one of silver, the other of aluminium with 1.3 times the diameter. So both have the same resistance. Nevertheless, there is a difference! The silver cable is thinner, and therefore it has a higher inductance (given the same isolation). You can measure that. Is this audible? I don't know of any proof for that, and i personally don't think it is. The silver cable is by factor 1100 more costly, so if money is not a limited resource you gain a slight measurable advantage and the good feeling that you are on the safe side.

 

[DonH56]

Two cables, same length and one of silver, the other of aluminium with 1.3 times the diameter. So both have the same resistance. Nevertheless, there is a difference! The silver cable is thinner, and therefore it has a lower inductance (given the same isolation). You can measure that. Is this audible? I don't know of any proof for that, and i personally don't think it is. The silver cable is by factor 1100 more costly, so if money is not a limited resource you gain a slight measurable advantage and the good feeling that you are on the safe side.

A smaller wire has higher inductance, not lower, but at audio frequencies it is almost certainly not audible. The problem with aluminum wire is making good contact (initially and over time) to some other material (e.g. copper, silver, whatever), plus it tends to be more brittle (easier to break) despite higher tensile strength IIRC (may not).

 

[jschwender]

A smaller wire has higher inductance, not lower, but at audio frequencies it is almost certainly not audible. The problem with aluminum wire is making good contact (initially and over time) to some other material (e.g. copper, silver, whatever), plus it tends to be more brittle (easier to break)) despite higher tensile strength IIRC (may not).

uups, you are right! Of course, and higher would not be an advantage, sorry for the mess. I will correct that in my post…

 

[MAB]

uups, you are right! Of course, and higher would not be an advantage, sorry for the mess. I will correct that in my post…

And the overriding good news is that while these are measurable effects, the change in inductance is negligible, and does lead to a predictable change in frequency and phase response of the speaker. These changes are on the order of 0.1dB or less, and occur gradually at the outer edge of human hearing.
I like to quote this experiment, with antique nails as conductors:

Different Binding Posts - is it audible?

The influence of BP on the sound of loudspeakers has often been controversially discussed. It even goes so far that individual voices describe the influence of binding posts as immense and recommend only very high-quality BPs - That made me curious. The full mini series: Capacitor...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Suffolkhifinut]

A smaller wire has higher inductance, not lower, but at audio frequencies it is almost certainly not audible. The problem with aluminum wire is making good contact (initially and over time) to some other material (e.g. copper, silver, whatever), plus it tends to be more brittle (easier to break) despite higher tensile strength IIRC (may not).

The size of the conductor has is related to resistance, has nothing to do with inductance.

 

[syn08]

uups, you are right! Of course, and higher would not be an advantage, sorry for the mess. I will correct that in my post…

FWIW, the delta in inductance between 3m long, 1mm dia conductor and a 1.3mm dia conductor, placed far away from a ground plane, is a whopping 50nH, under 1% of the wire inductance (about 5uH).

The size of the conductor has is related to resistance, has nothing to do with inductance.

Wrong guess.

 

[Suffolkhifinut]

FWIW, the delta in inductance between 3m long, 1mm dia conductor and a 1.3mm dia conductor, placed far away from a ground plane, is a whopping 50nH, under 1% of the wire inductance (about 5uH).


Wrong guess.

Don’t be silly conductor size has has nothing to do with inductance unless you mean conductor length? That’s why inductors are usually in the form of solenoids. A long length of conductor in a small volume.

 

[syn08]

Don’t be silly conductor size has has nothing to do with inductance

Wrong.

I can provide a phenomenological explanation if the above formula won't persuade you. Has to do with mutual inductance.

 

[MAB]

Don’t be silly conductor size has has nothing to do with inductance unless you mean conductor length? That’s why inductors are usually in the form of solenoids. A long length of conductor in a small volume.

Actually, a length of straight wire has inductance, and can be calculated.

edit: as @syn08 just showed!

 

[Suffolkhifinut]

Actually, a length of straight wire has inductance, and can be calculated.

edit: as @syn08 just showed!

Any current carrying conductor has inductance.