Cables

Marco

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Nov 18, 2005
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Yes indeedy, Steve... Oh the sheerbother and the expense of it all!
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The point is, PB (a Naim user) askedif his NACA5 would sound worse going through the wall intohis garage, or not.

I (a previous Naim and NACA5user for, erm, more years than I care to remember!) have said that in my experience doing something like that will affect the sound - for the worse. I've been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt, so to speak, and have had the practical experience of testing this out, rather than relying on mere scientific theory.

Therefore, armed with this information, and the rest of the stuff that's beenwritten here,PB can now make up his mind for himself
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kennyk

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Papa Lazarou wrote:

earl of sodbury wrote:
mosfet wrote:
Loudspeaker cables are not microphonic. This can be proved by hitting the loudspeaker cable with a rubber mallet. If the loudspeaker cable is in any way microphonic you will hear a corresponding thump or noise from the loudspeaker. If you can’t get a noise out of the loudspeaker by wacking the loudspeaker cable with a mallet then you will certainly not be able to hear any effect from much smaller vibrations. Not unless you’re imagining it. This test does work with microphone cables because microphone cables are subject to microphony.

Audiophools should also try topical application of the rubber mallet to their head as this may knock some sense into them. :raoflmfao:
Sad no-lifer that I am, I scratch-built a set of speakercables from some rigid polythene tube with 3 strands of thickish wire loosely inside in an attempt to see if building something similar with PTFE tube and silver would case a problem.

When moved it sounds like a pair of maracas.

When installed in my system and shaken, thumped, vibrated by holding an electricblender next to it, and shouted at
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, even with the amps on full gain all was perfect, blissful silence. (apart from the blender and the shouting, obviously)

Thus *IME & IMHO* cable microphony, at least so far as applied to loudspeaker cables, is BOLL... er... not a major issue.

churz, sod of earlbury
I couldn't agree more Earl
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I think peeps are barking up the wrong 'un on this one.

Marco's system was Naim amps and Naim NACA5, this is, in terms of clues, neon lit with a big pink neon arrow and the word 'clue' flashing intermiitently.

It is known, on whatever they know it onout there, that Naim's amp topology is somewhat unique in its output stage . to whit, most amp designs feature a resistor/capacitor network across the terminals - known as a Zobel network - to prevent oscillation. However Naim amps lack this - opting instead to rely on high capacitance in the speaker cable to prevent oscillation.

my theory is that there was something near the skirting boards - could be twin and earth behind the wall or something, affecting the the properties of the cable.

the alternative theory is that Marco is, in fact, Totally Barking:nuts:.

Regards,

(noshit) Sherlock Houses.

 

Leonard Smalls

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kennyk wrote:

my theory is that there was something near the skirting boards - could be twin and earth behind the wall or something, affecting the the properties of the cable.
Could easily be the case...

Many years ago I had a pair of Rotel RB950 power amps. The left one blew very quickly so I had it replaced under warranty.

The new one blew almost immediately, so I thought "bloody crap Rotel amps" and had that replaced, though the shop was a bit dubious about 2 going..

So before installing this one I dug into the wall and found a large coil of mains wire right next to where the amp's transformers were...

So I straightened out the coil and put the new amp in - and no problems (until the amps and Gale 401s got nicked
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)

 

Marco

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The only problem with the T&E theory, plausible though it is,is that the NACA5 still sounded worse the time when I had it underneath the floorboards and well away from any T&E cable, than it did when I placed it in free space on the floor.

It must have been the mice
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kennyk

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Marco wrote:

The only problem with the T&E theory, plausable though it is,is that the NACA5 still sounded worse the time when I had it underneath the floorboards and well away from any T&E cable, than it did when I placed it in free space on the floor.It must have been the mice
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yeah. probaby nibbling away at that cheese you have where your brains should be...
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:peace:

 

meninblack

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Be honest though Marco - did not dumping the naim equipment and cables give you a much bigger improvement?
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E

earl of sodbury

Guest
Marco wrote:

Well, Sodders, we can only report what we hear: NACA5 in my Naim system sounded worseplaced along the skirting board than it did in free space - it's as simple as that!Microphony? Dunno, maybe not - I care not a jot what caused it. What I care about is far more imporant: my system sounding better as a result of keeping allcables clear from the walls
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Sure Marco - you'll have noted I didn't tell you what you heard, since I'm sure you heard it, just doubted that microphony had anything to do with it.

Always happy to be proven wrong by T&E.

churz, eofs

 
U

Umberto

Guest
The only degredation in soundI heard once with speaker cable was when I accidentaly bent the cable at an acute angle. Bear in mind that i use solid corecable and that the action of bending the cable may have caused some strain or the like on the conductors.

I have just tried moving my speaker cable away from the walls and can hear no difference. I have also tried shakingthem and again no difference in sound.

Maybe the effect you are hearingis one of the plugs going into the speakers or amps becoming loose or disloged slightly when you move the cables. The WBT sockets on my speakers grip the plugs firmly and likewise the sockets on the amps are pretty tight aswell

 

Marco

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Umberto, again I can only report what I heard at the time with the NACA5. However, the situation is exactly the same withthe Transparent cable I use now, and all plugs and sockets are (and were)super tight...

When you moved your speaker cable, did you pull it out completely and reposition it so that it leads from the back of your speakers out into the room,to thefront of the speakers, andinto the middle of the room into free space, then feed itinto the back of your amps, making sure that the cable was nowhere near the wall whatsoever, or did you just pull the cable out a few inches from the wall andthen hada quick listen?

If it was the former, fair enough, but if it waslatter, then I'm not surprised that you heard no difference
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Polarbear

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curtis wrote:

ClassikFan wrote:
Hide the cheap cable away in the garage and get some hose pipe and paint it to look like real high end stuff and have that on show instead.
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Hide the wife in the garage and listen to some bloody music

Curt
I have already sorted that one, I am single again
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Polarbear

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Marco wrote:

Yes indeedy, Steve... Oh the sheerbother and the expense of it all!
tongue.png
The point is, PB (a Naim user) askedif his NACA5 would sound worse going through the wall intohis garage, or not.

I (a previous Naim and NACA5user for, erm, more years than I care to remember!) have said that in my experience doing something like that will affect the sound - for the worse. I've been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt, so to speak, and have had the practical experience of testing this out, rather than relying on mere scientific theory.

Therefore, armed with this information, and the rest of the stuff that's beenwritten here,PB can now make up his mind for himself
smile.png
Hi Peeps,

Pb has been a Naim owner for more years than he cares to remember and does know how to set up a naim system. H also knows how to dress cables and has none of his cables, speaker, burndey or power cables touching the walls or skirting boards. Its a bit messier than I would like because I have been playing around with speaker placement but the basics are still there.

The initial question was an honest one and steve was the first to pick up on the point of the speaker cables touching the walls. Now I don't actually know how running throught he wall will actually affect the performance, will this be as detrimental to the sound as merely touching the wall, I don't know. To find out I am going to have to bite the bullet and get two holes drilled to run the cable through, not something you can really go back on if you don't like the result.

Its one I am going to have to think about before actually doing it,

Regards

PB

 
U

Umberto

Guest
Marco wrote:

When you moved your speaker cable, did you pull it out completely and reposition it so that it leads from the back of your speakers out into the room,to thefront of the speakers, andinto the middle of the room into free space, then feed itinto the back of your amps, making sure that the cable was nowhere near the wall whatsoever, or did you just pull the cable out a few inches from the wall andthen hada quick listen?

If it was the former, fair enough, but if it waslatter, then I'm not surprised that you heard no difference
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I just put on some choons and listened to them instead
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Polarbear

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Marco wrote:

Haha, nice one! Now, more to the point, what have you decided to do with the freakin' NACA5?
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erm, you do know I am using chord Epic Marco?

 

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