Update 1/25: I realized after reading my own article and the quotes from Kimber Kables, that I had wired up my setup incorrectly. Kimber has one conductor carrying the thicker gauge and the other conductor of the same color carrying the thinner gauge. So if you want the full Kimber effect you need to combine the conductors of the same color into one, turning a quad cable into a stereo one. However, I then realized that if you are bi-amping your speakers with a crossover splitting the high and lows, you could simply utilize the most beneficial gauge. Use the thinner gauge for the highs and the thicker gauge for the lows. This setup has worked out pretty well actually! I will let everyone know what changes when I try the way Kimber recommends.
The photo below shows two of the thinner gauge and one of the thicker gauges.
I wanted to thank Tom Hoffman for allowing me to test the XLR to RCA converter (article below this one) with some Belden 1800F “Brilliance” XLR cables using Neutrik plugs. Without Tom I would have had to wait another 1-2 weeks before testing the XLR to RCA converter. Tom gave me some other items to test out shown below, most notably the Kimber cables.
For our testing we have some “Kimber Kable KWIK-12 E120909 M 14/4 (UL) CL2 F2027013″ speaker cable which is bi-amping my Polk 70’s from one run of cable! This speaker cable has quad 14g (overall) conductors. One of the special things about Kimber cabling is that they use many different gauges of wire to make up one of the four conductors of 14 gauge (with double Teflon jackets). This is because of the fact that specific audio frequencies perform better on specific gauges of wire. A lot of this has to do with the phenomenon called the “Skin Effect”. The higher the frequency the signal is the more the signal pushes itself towards the outer limits of the conductor/s.
Info on the skin effect:
Skin Effect happens in all wire and cable (or in any metal object that conducts a signal, such as a trace on a circuit board or antennas, etc.). When the “signal” is DC, it uses the entire conductor, with the same amount of current flowing in the center of each wire as on the outside of the wire. As the signal changes frequency (i.e. is now a wave changing direction) a very odd effect occurs: the signal begins to move more to the outside of the conductor than the inside. For audio frequencies, which are pretty low frequencies in the spectrum, this effect is so tiny it can barely be measured. Table 1 below shows how much conductor is used at 20 kHz, pretty much the highest audible frequency, and compares that to various wire sizes. (If you want the actual formula for skin effect, drop me a line and I will send it to you.)
Photo Credit: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/cable-and-interconnect-construction/?page=3
Basis: Depth at 20 kHz = 18.4 mils (.0184 in.) Radius x 2 = 36.8 mils (.0368 in.) Diameter
Amount of conductor used at 20 kHz, based on conductor size Conductors Diameter % of conductor used 24 AWG 0.024 100% at 20 kHz 22 AWG 0.031 100% at 20 kHz 12 AWG 0.093 75% at 20 kHz 10 AWG 0.115 68% at 20 kHz Ref: https://www.belden.com/blog/broadcast/understanding-skin-effect-and-frequency
Long story short, wider cables are better at transmitting bass signals while thinner cables are better at transmitting higher frequencies. This obviously leaves mid-range in a middle gauge between the optimal high and optimal low gauges. I believe you could voice these speaker cables if you knew what mid-range boost or drop you wanted to incorporate to balance a system.
Say that we are using 24g and 16g as our max and min, to get a dead centered (and even) for the middle frequencies we would pick 20g. Say we wanted more of a midrange boost, then you would pick a gauge that is closer to the low frequencies gauge, say 18g.
From Kimber’s Website on KWIK-12 cables:
Premium in wall speaker cable for premium sound. Dual gauge strand construction in PE dielectric. Four conductor design to be used in hybrid braid style two conductor termination. 12 AWG / 3.31mm2. (UL) CL2 rated. One conductor of each color contains finer gauge copper strands while the other conductor of each color contains heavier gauge copper strands. When the two gauges are combined they serve to help minimize resonance within the cable stranding, thereby optimizing performance. Far superior, both electrically and in terms of sound quality, to the commonly used PVC dielectric. PE provides a smoother, cleaner and more grain free sound. The off-white PVC outer jacket is durable and pulls smoothly through studs without sticking or binding. The neutral color of the jacket is less objectionable, with regard to decor, should the cable become visible. In addition, convenient foot labeling makes it easier to track cable usage.
Kimber cables are actually pretty reasonable with regard to price for what they offer to the right amp and speaker combo. You can get 20 feet for $50 which is actually cheaper than some of the mid to high end cables found on Amazon! I will say one thing about the Kimber cable setup I have them right now on my front left Polk 70, it’s harder to drive than the Cables Matter speaker wire setup I have on the right speaker. BUT, the Kimber side sounds fuller and has more texture than the right speaker. Tom didn’t think this should happen (being lower in volume), so I am going to try running my bi-amp cable runs with two separate Kimber KWIK-12 runs, one for each amplifier (bi-amp = 2 amps per speaker: 1 amp to tweeter/highs and one amp to mids/lows).
I found this image below from https://www.newenglandwire.com/products/litz-wire-and-formed-cables/theory
The link above the photo will describe another way at trying to fight the same problem that Kimber is doing, except they are using the Litz technique where each wire that makes up the conductor is individually insulated with a dielectric before many of these are combined to make one conductor.
I am also using a Cryo treated 5x20mm HiFi-Tuning.com Fuse from Tom, for my ES9038 DAC vs. the stock metal and glass ones. This will definitely require more supposed HiFi fuse samples (I have 3 on the way) before I can say if this makes any noticeable difference in my setup. I can already tell you from other HiFi Fuse Reviews, even the people who say it makes a difference would rate it around a 1-2 level change out of 10 (so don’t blow big bucks on fuses go for below $20).
It makes complete sense to me that the kimber is more 3 d and warmer, you have to tune a amp output with resistance or it just drives the tone scale into infinity, you will get more detail in a low resistance wire, but the depth, color and “Body to each image will be to lite to have meaning”
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Question-
I want to change my power caps on my power supply in a old pre amp, this is right off the transformer it looks to me, they are 23 years old, there are polarized 330 micro farads with a 35 volt limit cap, can I change that up to 330 micro farads and 45 volts. I can’t find a 35 volt
wild sight you have, I almost smell the wonder solder cooking
Yes, there is no harm in going up in voltage. Many times you are perfectly fine changing the capacitance to within 10-20% of the original part. This isn’t always true, such as timing circuits where accuracy is crucial. In a power supply, you are finely usually if you go up in capacitance, as the capacitors are probably for filtering.
With the increase in voltage comment, according to Cyril Bateman’s work (I highly recommend looking him up) the high voltage capacitors usually have better electrical properties. Never go down in voltage, but you can always go up.