User Manual

CABLE THEORY

Page 5

turning up the treble. “Dull” is often thought of as turning the treble down, even though it is usually the

result of distortions which obscure information. In most products, and certainly in cables, the amplitude

response (frequency response) is not the culprit.

Probably the biggest obstacle to predictably assembling a high performance audio or video system is

too much thinking and not enough evaluating. It is tempting to follow some logical story as to why some

key ingredient will make all the difference, when in fact, pursuing any one priority almost always means

inadequate attention to dozens of other often more important concerns. Please be careful not to get

seduced by some common myths. Simplistic and ineffective solutions are often “sold” as cures for com-

plicated problems. Dogma isn’t productive, results are what count. The best phono cartridges aren’t the

ones with the lowest tracking forces, S-video outputs are not necessarily better than composite, two

way speakers are not necessarily better or worse than three way speakers, more powerful ampliers

are not etc. The most relevant fallacy in this discussion is the one about “the more strands, the bigger

the cable, the better”.

Not Causing More Problems Than We Solve The Trouble With Strands: Since a good speaker ca-

ble needs to have more metal than a single 0.8mm (20 awg) strand, our challenge is to provide a larger

electrical pathway without introducing new problems. If we take a group of strands and put them into a

bundle, the entire bundle will suffer skin-effect. The strands on the outside present an ideal electrical

pathway, but the ones on the inside have different electrical values. This causes the same information

to be distorted differently in different parts of the cable. The bigger the bundle of strands, the bigger the

problem. If resistance is to be lowered by using a bundle of strands, the bundle size must be kept small.

Possibly several separate bundles will be needed.

There are many ways in which skin-effect

causes more distortion in a bundle than in a

single over-sized strand. Strands are con-

stantly changing positions over the length of a

cable. Some leave the surface and go inside,

others are “rising” to the surface. Since the

current density distribution in a conductor can-

not change, some of the current (particularly at

higher frequencies) must continually jump to a

new strand in order to stay at or near the surface. Unfortunately, the contact between strands is less

than perfect. The point of contact between strands is actually a simple circuit that has capacitance,

inductance, diode rectication-a whole host of problems. This happens thousands of times in a cable,

and causes most of the hashy and gritty sound in many audio cables. This distortion mechanism is dy-

namic, extremely complex, and because of oxidation will become worse over time.

Magnetic Interaction is the other primary problem in cable design, both with a stranded conductor,

and between conductors. A strand carrying current is surrounded by a magnetic eld. In a bundle,

each strand has its own magnetic eld. These magnetic elds interact dynamically as the signal in the

cable changes. On a microscopic level, a stranded cable is actually physically modulated by the cur-

rent going through the cable. The more powerful magnetic elds associated with the bass notes cause

the greatest magnetic interaction, which modulates the electrical characteristics of the cable, which in

turn modulates the higher frequencies. Because the music

signal modulates the contact pressure between adjacent

strands, it also modulates the distortion caused by current

jumping between strands.