Bottleneck DIY speaker wire comparison (MD/VA/DC/DE/PA)

[earwaxxer]

How cool! - I always wanted to see the wizard.

 

[castlesteve]

  The meet is going to be on Sunday the 28th of October and we will start the proceedings at 10.00 am. Please bring all new and old equipment you want to and cables of course. I will supply some basic snacks and drinks but if you want beer etc please feel free to bring some. I thought we might do 1/2 a day on the cables and the other 1/2 as a free for all. Everyone is welcome, let me know if you need directions.

 

[dbishopbliss]

I will have to be there closer to 11AM.

 

[RayP]

For those who are bringing cables, could you please nominate what you are bringing and what parameter will be different between the two.

I will be bringing
1 - barbed steel wire
2 - unbarbed steel wire -
test 1 v 2 - do barbs (raising above ground) make a different

3 - unbarbed copper wire - no insulation
test 2 v 3 - does copper sound different from steel

If I can find some
4 - aluminium wire - no insulation
test 3 v 4 - does copper sound different from aluminium

I will attempt to make the gauges of all wires similar.

ray

 

[dbishopbliss]

My nominations are above... parameter will be different geometries. 

 

[castlesteve]

  I have all sorts of copper and aluminium wire we can play with. i also have cat5 and tstat wire and some coax and also some shielded cabling. If anyone needs any wiring let me know.

 

[dbishopbliss]

The Cat6 cable arrived today.  My fingers are already starting to ache.  Thanks Lee.

 

[RayP]

I have returned from Oz and am now constructing my barbed wire speaker cables. Since I haven't been able to find 64 feet of barbed wire so far without buying a huge roll of the stuff, I am going the DIY route and have made my own barbed wire.

Photos and brief description at
http://bottlenecksaudio.blogspot.com/2012/10/speaker-wire-comparison.html

ray

 

[Grainger49]

Ray,

You crack me up!  Loved the pictures!

 

[earwaxxer]

I have returned from Oz and am now constructing my barbed wire speaker cables. Since I haven't been able to find 64 feet of barbed wire so far without buying a huge roll of the stuff, I am going the DIY route and have made my own barbed wire.

Photos and brief description at
http://bottlenecksaudio.blogspot.com/2012/10/speaker-wire-comparison.html

ray

Looks cool Ray!

Dont forget to cryo those babies before you twist them... Very important. Of course you want to put them through the cable cooker for no more that 3 days before a good listen.

god speed! - Eric

 

[RayP]

I was thinking about the cryo treatment, but I was leaning towards a rub down with Laphroaig whisky http://www.laphroaig.com/ or even Pierre Ferrand cognac http://www.pierreferrandcognac.com/en/ to bring out something extra in the imaging.

ray

 

[RayP]

By the way, I have been building a breadboard version of Jim Dowdy's 6V6 amp that unfortunately did not work at the competition. Hopefully some parts will arrive tomorrow or Friday.

ray

 

[Wanderer]

..... but I was leaning towards a rub down with Laphroaig whisky http://www.laphroaig.com/ ....... to bring out something extra in the imaging.

ray

Sounds like alcohol abuse to me.

I am a Laphroaig fan but have only had the 10 year. I'd love to try some "Cask Strength" but the description, "emphatic, full bodied", makes me wonder if a respirator is required if you open it in an enclosed space. I find 10 year pretty damn "emphatic" already.      

I am betting that applied to cables it would make the image smokier.    

 

[Grainger49]

Kevin,

You are right, it goes in the mouth.

 

[dbishopbliss]

I plan on attending the meet on Sunday but I have not been able to complete my cables.  First I was ill (just a virus that wiped me out).  More recently I have been helping my father which, unfortunately, is quite serious.  I will be able to bring a pair of Cross Connected 89259 cables and a Bottlehead powercord.

 

[balancedtriode]

Hey guys,
I am looking forward to hearing the results from the comparison. I am going to be building my own speaker cables soon,
the results may affect how I build them.
thanks,
Coltrane (and yes that is my real first name...)

 

[earwaxxer]

yeh, well my middle name is Soultrain...... Pronounced just like they did on TV!

 

[RayP]

Steve and I have exchanged emails and we have decided to call off the meet on Sunday due to the approaching hurricane. The forecast is looking 'pretty grim' for our area. We will reschedule the meet to a later date.

Now I will have time to burn in the cables.

ray

 

[castlesteve]

  Sorry about the meet guys but i figured that the subtle differences in the various cables wouldn`t come through too well if the power is out. Hey it gives me more time to build things! Maybe now i can finish my preamp also.

 

[Paul Joppa]

Batten down the hatches, don't park under any trees, and stay safe!