Simple Question. Simple Answer?


Istead of using jumper cables on my bi-wireable speakers I stripped 3" on the ends of my Kimber cables and ran them through the LF post and on up to the HF post. I took the flat connector plate off. Did I do the right thing using one unbroken wire to complete both circuts? Would making a seperate jumper from the same wire sound better, worse or the same? I could try it of course but this would require stripping an additional 32 individual wires. I did it with a medium sharp box cutter before because both of my strippers had a tendancy to damage some of the individual strands, it took a long time and that was for only 16 wires. I have read previous posts on the subject but they do not address the one wire method that I used. I would also be up to trying a seperate silver wire jumper if I could make it myself on the cheap. Could I use a solid core silver wire for this in one run with no insulation or connecters? If so what gage would I want to use? My mono amps for bi-amping did not come in on a shipment as expected so I would like to experiment with this in the meantime. This is why I would rather put more thought than money into the project other than the fact that I am cheap. Thanks.
128x128dekay
SF: I basicaly just did a doughnut today and ended up where I started. I screwed up the end of one of my cables and decided to make a jumper out of the the same cable instead of stripping another 3" off the end and threading it throught the LF post on up to the HF post which acted like a one piece jumper (one continuous wire). Sonicaly either way is the same to my ears (I have done it and now I know). Either way is also a big improvement over the stock plate jumpers that were supplied with the speakers. I hopefully will take it up a notch by bi-amping, but the catch is that I have not yet gotten the blinkin amps (not available in this country anymore), but I will. In the meantime I would still like to take it up another notch and with the sound advice in this thread I can now justify picking up a second pair of cables to try out a shotgun bi-wire setup. The new cables will not go to waste regardless of what I do with either system. I did not get this part of it before and admit to be incredibly dense on this point. Now I will re-read the old bi-wire threads with gusto . Swampwalker my usual feeling is - forget the spades and use bare wire. But on other hand I just crammed 8 bare wires (not certain of the gage) into a single hole post and it was a challenge. It might be more feasible if you used a split round receptacle clamp on spade to corral all of those wires. I have a pair of Kimber bananas with this type of end (it's a ring with a break in it so that it can be expanded and compressed). Oh, and the 45 feet is 4 ten foot lengths plus enough left over to hang myself.
Dekay, You could purchase silver cable 99.999% from homegrown, to use as a jumper. They would know what to advise you to purchase and the best way to do it. Larry
Yes, Homegrown, or a jewelry supply house for silver. Silver wire is $8.95/ounce for 4 - 18 gauge. $9.25/ounce for 20 or 22 gauge. Just for reference, 1 ounce of 10 gauge wire would be 2 feet, 12 gauge would be 3 feet(both certainly more that what would be required for jumpers). I don't think you could do any better than that route.
Thanks for the info Lakiraly and Trelja: Now I understand your old post on gage/feet Trelja, before it was over my head. For around $10.00 (if I can purchase this minimum amount) I will have to try it. I am still fascinated by little inexpensive things that can be done to improve the sound of a system. I realize that many people do not have the time to spend on DIY stuff and just buy finished products (like in this case the jumpers from Pure Silver Audio that are relatively inexpensive but around $100.00 more than this recommendation). I am also intrigued with using silver as a conducter after trying silver interconnects.
I am happy for you Dekay. This field is one of those where prices are set by emotion, rather than logic. Of course it is supply and demand. But, as many in this hobby are fools, we all end up paying more. By fabricating your own jumpers, you can save boatloads of money. There are many examples of this type of thing in our society, not only in audio. That's why if a company like HomeGrown Audio, Pure Silver Sound, Axon, or others(whom I cannot think of right now) are going to offer cables that others charge hundreds or thousands of dollars for for $70, I am going to blow their horns. My motivation? Maybe the more demand that is out there, the more companies will spring up, and the more choices we will have. Maybe we can also eradicate my favorite excuse, "I would love to charge $100 for this cable, but I have to charge $1000 for it to be taken seriously." And maybe even one day, companies who will offer $20 cables for $2000 will be in the minority, instead of the majority. Then we can ALL have good sound.