Liquid metal speaker cable - technological breakthrough

[pma]

As We audiophiles know, the most important component of the audio chain that affect the resulting sound are CABLES. Take or leave, this is a naked truth. And, any good audiophile knows that the biggest enemy of the clear, fluent sound are crystal boundaries that create microdiodes in the cable structure.

Let's remind some great articles on this topic:

Copper's sound

Yesterday's post on wire gauge sparked a few questions that needed to be asked. The constant pulling of wire through tiny openings, 10, 12, perhaps 20 times to get the wire size you need must have some effect on the wire itself. And the question comes quickly. What impact does all this copper...

www.psaudio.com

Audio, Cable, Exotic Materials, and You

In the last installment of this continuing series about the materials that our High End audio toys and goodies are made of, I wrote about ultra-pure copper. That's the stuff that (as everybody k...

audiophilereview.com

I have invented a cure for this audiophile pain - let's make a speaker wire from the liquid metal!! Mercury is the best candidate, and mercury filled multi-piped foam cables are the solution. Please see the cross-section drawing below. Patent pending!

 

[restorer-john]

How do I terminate them, Pavel? Soldering isn't going to work.

 

[Purité Audio]

Already been done ‘Tara’ I believe. Teo perhaps?
Keith

 

[777]

It's a joke ?

 

[antcollinet]

*checks calendar* - No, not April.

In any case, hasn't liquid metal already been done?
https://www.materialstoday.com/metals-alloys/podcasts/liquid-metal-wires/

 

[Sokel]

That would certainty add some weight

 

[pma]

How do I terminate them, Pavel? Soldering isn't going to work.

I would greatly appreciate your advice, John. This is the only weak point of the concept. Maybe mercury filled copper tubes in the power amp with mercury-to-copper direct electron transition?

 

[pma]

It's a joke ?

What do you think?

 

[Sokel]

I would greatly appreciate your advice, John. This is the only weak point of the concept. Maybe mercury filled copper tubes in the power amp with mercury-to-copper direct electron transition?

You can always make hollow connectors where mercury can circulate freely.

 

[restorer-john]

I would greatly appreciate your advice, John. This is the only weak point of the concept. Maybe mercury filled copper tubes in the power amp with mercury-to-copper direct electron transition?

That's not a bad idea, Pavel- I like it.

What about nice clear glass tubes with large contact pins like the old mercury tilt switches we all played with as kids?

What sort of current can we push through these before they vaporize and poison us all? I seem to remember mercury tilt switches exploded if you attempted to switch too much. Actually, I have one someplace, I've had since I was a kid. I should dig it out.

 

[antcollinet]

What do you think?

I never fail to be amazed that people who understand the laws of physics so well, seem to have so little understanding of the laws of the internet.

Poe's law, @pma ... POE'S law.

 

[Sokel]

That's not a bad idea, Pavel- I like it.

I seem to remember mercury tilt switches exploded if you attempted to switch too much.

Seems that you had some fun back then

 

[restorer-john]

Seems that you had some fun back then

Surprisingly, I'm still alive.

We had so much fun with explosions, chemicals and electronics. My best friend's father built scale model battleships complete with operational main guns (.22/.177 cal). His Bismarck battleship was 11ft long, had three car batteries in it and, IIRC was 11 or 12 channels of RC (all of his design). His submarine had torpedoes made from Havana cigar tubes (aluminium) and we helped design those- and catch them in the pool before they hit the wall! Flash powder charges etc.

Back then, I could get a 1ch radio control car (forward/reverse turn) for about $6 or $7 and gut it for the 27MHz Tx/Rx and turn them into remote detonators for our 'experiments'. Many sand dunes were re-arranged with our various 'experiments'.

Fireworks were still legal and we'd have a huge amount of fun emptying them out and making them into something more 'impressive'. Being a young teen wasn't that bad 40+ years ago...

 

[antcollinet]

Surprisingly, I'm still alive.

I hear you.

We blew up many airfix models with fireworks. Or launched fireworks out of bicycle pumps. It was possible to get a tin can lid to fly over the roof of a house by dropping a lit firework into the tin, then hammering the lid on before it exploded.

We had a happy afternoon construcing mini petrol bombs in the garden with my Dad's lawnmower petrol. Until somone dipped a still lit "fuse" (Petrol soaked string) into the petrol can. It took all the sand from the sandpit to put out the result. No fire-brigade needed

My best mate of the time lived on a farm. We managed to pinch a 12 bore shotgun shell, intending to put it into a piece of copper pipe and hit the primer with a nail. Fortunately we had just enough teenage braincells to realise we didn't want to be nearby when that happened. We abandoned the experiment when we failed to find a suitable remote trigger. I am certain the result would have involved a lot of shrapnel and potential serious injury if we'd continued.

EDIT : oh yes, and said best mate managed to connect himself to 11kV (or possibly 33kV) power lines by flying a kite using electric fence cable as kite string (fortunately the nylon stuff with thin "fuse" wire in it) - thus demonstrating that the sufficiency of teenage brain cells to avoid shotgun shrapnel might have been all mine. Amazingly he survived the experience with just burns to hands and feet.

 

[sergeauckland]

Whilst at school, during our Scientific Society meetings, we made glow-plug engine fuel using nitrobenzene and alcohol, with castor oil as lubricant. Teachers knew what we were doing and either approved or at least didn't disapprove.

I also on one memorable lunchtime, used an oil-filled EHT transformer to draw a plasma arc. I sustained the arc for about 30 seconds, at which point the transformer overheated, oil expanded and burst the transformer can and showered us (mostly me as I was closest) in hot oil.

I had to spend the afternoon shirtless, as it was saturated in oil, but wore my tie, as school rules said we had to wear ties, but said nothing about shirts.

Our teachers weren't a lot better, one chemistry teacher was regularly setting off the sprinkler system in his classroom.

As to what we did in the fume cupboard...

S.

 

[xaviescacs]

How do I terminate them, Pavel? Soldering isn't going to work.

Of course with a proper supply of liquid nitrogen on the terminations to keep mercury solid. I'm pretty sure you guys have experience soldering on a liquid nitrogen medium. Nothing better than this to make people feel they have something special.

 

[restorer-john]

Whilst at school, during our Scientific Society meetings, we made glow-plug engine fuel using nitrobenzene and alcohol, with castor oil as lubrican

IIRC, it was Nitro-methane.

Somewhere, deep in my storeroom are a whole shoebox full of Cox Baby Bee 0.049 engines. My best OS/Max 7.5cc marine engine went to the bottom of the river in a mishap I don't want to talk about...

 

[Killingbeans]

Mercury is the best candidate, and mercury filled multi-piped foam cables are the solution.

I propose using NaK instead. That way you can add a self-destruct sequence with water injection

 

[sergeauckland]

IIRC, it was Nitro-methane.

Somewhere, deep in my storeroom are a whole shoebox full of Cox Baby Bee 0.049 engines. My best OS/Max 7.5cc marine engine went to the bottom of the river in a mishap I don't want to talk about...

I started with benzene, methanol and castor oil, but liked the idea of adding some nitro...It got used on the same Cox 0.049 engine on a model car. Ended up stripping the drive gear and welding the engine together.

Another kid built himself a Van der Graaf generator, about 3m tall which drew some prodigious sparks across the lab. In those days before Health and Safety (kids were disposable then) we actually learnt by doing.

S.

 

[Killingbeans]

Or rather 'learn by not dying'