Picked up some Grover SX interconnects based on reading some reviews here.

[BobM]

Analysis Plus has oval wires that are rather flat. But they're hollow as well (filled with a dielectric in the center), so does that count?

[richidoo]

I was thinking it might be similar because hollow tube doubles the surface area.  I didn't know it has a dielectric inside, that's cool. Their webpage suggests hollow performs better at highest audio freqs than plain flat ribbon, and rounds. But I don't understand the physics.

[Carlman]

I never understood how the AP's were 'oval'.. they look like flat braided copper wires... and that's it.  I didn't see any dielectric inside the ones I used.  I can't remember which model I had or used.. but it had 'oval' in the name... and they were purple.

Round wires are likely easier to produce.  The sonic advantages of flatness are probably easily overcome with other methods.  Besides, like everything flat doesn't necessarily guarantee any specific type of sound.  Just like every ribbon tweeter doesn't sound good.. Every flat cable doesn't.. Cables are just so full of variables, trying to define them gets exhausting.

[BobM]

I cut down a longer pair of AP's into some shorter lengths and reterminated them. You're right, they are basically multi stranded, braided copper shielding that has been flattened with a dielectric in the middle, so they call them hollow. I have no idea about the physics of the oval. I do know that they sound pretty nice though.

I've also experimented with some DIY cables using flat multi computer hookup wire (the flat white stuff inside). As you can imagine there are a myriad of ways to hook up the multi strands of this to reduce capacitance or reduce inductance and increase shielding and such. Each has its drawbacks and advantages. It was fun to play with and I did come up with something that sounded damn good, but I couldn't make a firm connection to the RCA and give it any kind of strain relief. They were pretty fragile. Ohn and you do need a tinning pot to do it right because they don't strip very well at all.

[Deton Nation]

Is tinning when you put solder on the end of the wire?
M

[richidoo]

Yeah, plain solder is tin + lead, ~60/40

[BobM]

Yeah, but a tinning pot is something else. It's a ceramic (usually) bowl that is very hot and full of molten solder. It's for tinning wire ends that are difficult or impossible to strip first, usually very fine gauge. So you dip the insulated wire end in the pot. it burns off the insulation and tins the wire beneath it. Of course over time the solder gets polluted with melted insulation.

[Deton Nation]

What is the smallest wire good for interconnects that I could strip myself.. and I suppose 4 is better than 2 (wires)... ?
M

[richidoo]

Signal is only 1V with <100 mA of current, so any insulated wire you can find will handle the signal power, but something bigger might sound better, or not. 4 is not necessarily better than 2. It's a black art, you just have to experiment see if you can find a secret recipe. Tear apart commercial wires that you like for clues. Hey don't forget your friends when you buy your first Audioquest mansion.  Pictures of ocean cliffs and crashing waves might be nice for your first print ads. Or maybe butterflies? 

[Deton Nation]

Signal is only 1V with <100 mA of current, so any insulated wire you can find will handle the signal power, but something bigger might sound better, or not. 4 is not necessarily better than 2. It's a black art, you just have to experiment see if you can find a secret recipe. Tear apart commercial wires that you like for clues. Hey don't forget your friends when you buy your first Audioquest mansion.  Pictures of ocean cliffs and crashing waves might be nice for your first print ads. Or maybe butterflies? 

lol!!!!

[BobM]

Actually there's a lot of science that suggests a combination of different guages, as well as solid vs stranded combo's might be best. So combining a solid cors with a stranded return lead consisting of different guage wires could be quite a combo. I know that's what Jon Risch recommends for his 89259/89248 twisted pair (and I used them for a long, long time). It looks like Jon's site on Geocities is gone now. Not sure if he's moved it to some other location. There was a lot of good stuff there (too bad).

Here's a link to my question on where he moved it all. Hopefully he did put it somewhere else, but if not then a search on the Cable Forum at www.audioasylum. will get you a lot of info on these cables:

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/cables/messages/14/145417.html

[shep]

I've been listening to the SX for a few days now. It's better than I thought or maybe it did one of those 300 hour + changes. Way better than I thought. It's a tiny bit soft in the bass but very nice sound-stage. A tad forward in the mids but otherwise very even-handed. be sure to give this a long burn in!

[Deton Nation]

will do! sounds interesting. look forward to listening. Right now Ive got an amalgamation of Wireworld & Blue Jean cable from pre to Superbam to Power. And a  MAC Palladium on source. Im leaving the source and changing the other two.
So we will see.
Its not bad right now, some of the highs are tinselly, not really forward sounding or bright and even though theres lots of texture I think it could be smoothed/refined and extended in both directions. Soft bass worries me a tad.

Bass is not loose, but the Manleys are definitely not as buttoned up as the Nuforce, but definitely not quite mud. This is going to drive me nuts!

M

[richidoo]

Mike, don't forget to make yourself crazy with tube rolling. Wire nervosa can be multiplied many times if you add in tubes for another variable. Actually, just get you somedem Gold Lion EL84s from Jim McShane and be done, they are best current production el84 bar none. JJ makes the lowest distortion 12AT7 ever made, but it is only JJ quality so have a spare. I don't like vintage warm tubes.

[Deton Nation]

Received these yesterday.... Now to be fair Ive had a tweeter issue with my Merlins.. Should be fixed in a couple days (i have to replace a resistor)(My Nuforce blew and took out the resistor.. but not the tweeter)

So in its place are Epos M5 plus Velodyne HGS-12 sub. Replacing Blue Jean Cable... the sound difference is obvious. Instruments sound more realistic, everything in the musical landscape is put together better. I cant really tell below say 60Hz... since the M5 dont go that low. Natural sound and I think they have quieted my system. But Im not positive since the M5s are less efficient and may be holding back the tube amp/ slight buzz.
More when I get the Merlins running again.
M