Day 2 With The Stereomour Kit - Questions

[astroimage2002]

Hi All,

I have spent most of my weekend working on the kit. Made it to page 58 in the manual. A day or so more and the kit will be ready to turn on. After completing the input section of the Stereomour I do have a couple of questions.
  - Is there an alternate cable that I can use to go from the inputs to the selector switch that has a Teflon jacket? 
  - Will upgraded RCA's make an appreciable difference? I may need to replace mine because I don't like the mechanical connection that I got while soldering. I do not think I can get the solder that is in the RCA out.

Neither of these have stopped me... Just thinking out loud right now

Brian

 

[Paul Joppa]

I believe there are some ethernet cables - Cat 6 maybe? - which have individually shielded twisted pairs inside. These usually have teflon insulation because of the temperature specifications for plenum use. I imagine it's a b#$%@ to strip and terminate, but it an alternative in theory at least! These cables have four twisted pairs inside, one more than you need.

RCA jacks vary widely in the hole size they need - make sure any replacement will fit the hole, and has suitable shoulder washers to maintain insulation from the chassis plate. Eileen can fix you up with replacements of the original ones if you want them.

 

[Paully]

And just to add, I would challenge anyone to consistently pick out better RCA jacks from regular RCA jacks in a listening test.  Maybe it is just me, but I don't believe that the difference would be appreciable.  Now if you were building a $10,000 amp the cumulative effect of many multiple upgrades like expensive RCA jacks might very well be noticeable.  But by themselves?  I can't give a definitive answer other than to say I doubt it.  Ask Eileen for some replacement jacks that will fit the hole and go merrily on your way.  My two cents.

 

[JC]

There should also be some Teflon-insulated individual shielded twisted pair cable out there rated for plenum use.  It has been in use in the commercial sound industry for about three decades now.

Besides temperature rating, the idea is for the insulation not to out-gas noxious fumes in a fire, since inside the plenum said fumes tend to circulate quickly.  Conduit serves the purpose of containment for most power wiring, but the added expense of conduit was deemed too costly for "Class 2" wiring.  Some of the early versions of plenum-rated cable actually used a metal sheath on the outside, wrapped in a spiral.  Then, Teflon got into the act.

The idea of keeping exposed insulation out of plenums came about after a fire in a suburb of my town.  It was in a department store, thankfully before opening time on a Sunday.  The subsequent investigation showed that gas being emitted from burning insulation in the plenum not only spread the fire very rapidly, but it dropped several workers where they stood.  IOW, it wasn't the fire that killed them directly, they were dead before they could make it to the exits due to the poisonous atmosphere.  I imagine a lot of the insulation was PVC in those days, or something like it.

Anyway, I've personally run several thousand feet of Teflon-insulated shielded twisted pair; it is architectural microphone cable for plenums, among other things.  Back in the day, the trick to removing the outer jacket was just to nick it with the strippers, then it would snap off at the nick line.  I would think the usual suspects like Belden, Carol, or West Penn would have it.

 

[Paul Joppa]

Thanks, JC, for that information - very cool to know!

 

[coca]

I've used plenum grade cat5/cat6 for a number of years now, with great sucess. I use it for hook-up wire and braided interconnect. It's good stuff. Just a sidebar for Paully. Bottlehead amps are worth $10,000 in sound quality, they just cost you less. Sorry, Paully. I could not let that one slip by. It's the devil in me I guess.

Bernie.

 

[Paully]

"Bottlehead amps are worth $10,000 in sound quality, they just cost you less."  Being a dyed in the wool Bottlehead I don't think I was suggesting otherwise.  I think they are marvelous and never hesitate to say so.  But my point really was unless you are spending a bunch of money on better sockets, better wire, better resistors, better capacitors and a whole host of other items that an audiophile can go nuts on, there is little reason to upgrade the stock RCA jacks.  Maybe, and I do mean maybe, upgraded RCA jacks could make a difference when aggregated with other upgrades, by themselves I really doubt it.  That's all my point is, upgrading the RCA jacks isn't worth the trouble sound wise.  I am not married to the idea one way or the other, just my impression and if someone else has a different experience, please share.

 

[coca]

You are of course correct Paully. Just a little fun here.

Bernie.