posted
How do the sheilds on rca cables work? Are they wrapped in foil and grouned at both ends? grounded at one end? not grounded at all? how far should the foil be? closer the better? sorry so many ?s thanks,
blake
------------------ Alpine PG PPI Tube Driver Oz Audio Phaze Audio = The tools of my obsession...
posted
Use a good twisted pair and shielding becomes unnecessary. To answer your question, on a good directional cable the shield is usually foil, 'grounded' only at the end that attaches to the upstream component.
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And that's the bottom line, cuz: LORD DUKK SAYS SO!
The Big Show The Dukk says: Know your bass: PORT your damn box!! Have HoleSaw, Will Travel!
posted
Generally, shielded cables CAN be noisier than non shielded cables. The foil actually becomes a conductor for RF noise. Use twisted pair cable, and forget about system noise.
------------------ STILL waiting to hear a GOOD pair of HLCD's!!
If it dont fit, force it... if it breaks, it needed to be replaced anyway...
posted
well.....the PG pro reference that I have are twisted and triple sheilded I'm more concerned about my speaker wires....I want to twist them and wrap foil tightly around them...them wrap the whole thing in wide electrical tape. I was going to run the speaker wires, rcas, and my changer cable all straight up the middle of the car and wanted to use a single plastic housing(i'm not sure of the actual name of these....slipped my mind temporarily) and sheild it too.....basically.....overkill.
------------------ Alpine PG PPI Tube Driver Oz Audio Phaze Audio = The tools of my obsession...
posted
So dukk in sheilding my speaker wire....I would wrap them in foil, and ground the foil to the amplifier chassis or the amplifier ground input? As for sheilding the entire set of cables.....Will I induce noise because of the different current directions that the cables are traveling? If not, where would I ground the foil at? thanks again for the help you guys. I'm sorry I have so many questions, but I bug my local shop way too much and I feel bad.
------------------ Alpine PG PPI Tube Driver Oz Audio Phaze Audio = The tools of my obsession...
As (not really) argued before, the merits of actually twisting speaker cable are miniscule compared to those of twisting RCA's.. Should you be stuck on it, simply wrapping them at a continuous 90^ bend and possibly enscapsulating them in shrink wrap would be great, foil-ing speaker (shielding) is an excersize in patience and in most cases futility
ShadowStar
------------------ Computers are a lot like air conditioners.. Open Windows and they become useless..
The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck is the day they make vacuums.
Posts: 2578 | From: Somewhere In the Northeast | Registered: May 1999
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posted
I don't see any practical reason for twisting or sheilding speaker wire. Although I am planning on trying to DIY some speaker wire that looks like the Kimber Kable stuff because I like how it looks. Because of the high signal voltage on the speaker wires, the small amount of noise picked up probably won't be audible. Also speakers are differential devices, (I don't know if that is a real term but work with me) the speaker will only reproduce the voltage difference on the terminals. So even if you introduce a noise that is 1 volt RMS on both cables it won't matter because the speaker won't move. Twisting cables basically makes sure any radiated noise is picked up equally on both wires so if you have a differential device the noise will be cancelled. Sheilded wire will reduce the noise that is picked up but that noise will still be transferred to the next component.
posted
Part of the reason why twisted RCAs work is that most current style amps have differential inputs, meaning they specifically compare the center pin signal to that of the outer ring and subtract the difference, cancelling out common mode noise. Your speakers aren't this smart.
I agree that shielding speaker wire (or power wire for that matter) is an exercise in futility. Spend that time where it will pay off.
------------------
And that's the bottom line, cuz: LORD DUKK SAYS SO!
The Big Show The Dukk says: Know your bass: PORT your damn box!! Have HoleSaw, Will Travel!
posted
Whoahhh!!!! Kimber is doing 16 strand braided wire??? Damn. That's one thick bundle, no matter how small each individual strand is! Imagine braiding 16 16ga cables... then try stuffing it under the carpeting!!!
------------------ STILL waiting to hear a GOOD pair of HLCD's!!
If it dont fit, force it... if it breaks, it needed to be replaced anyway...