xtian wrote:I bought some teflon covered stranded wire, and found the jacket to be really difficult to strip. Had to use an exacto to circumcise each piece!
Is the Kimber stuff different? Can you use a wire stripper on it?
It can be harder/different than PVC. I know it sounds stupid, for something so simple, but don't give up. Try to use strippers, but cut through the plastic, then pull it off the wire in two moves, not all at once if you know what I mean. That stuff is real slippery. It may depend on your strippers. You can also cut it with strippers and then pull the insulation off with your fingers. It may just take awhile to get the knack of it.
As far as same gage wire sounding better/different/warmer/darker.....I would like to see somebody, including Ken Fischer, prove that in a blind test.
Good Luck
hired hand wrote:As far as same gage wire sounding better/different/warmer/darker.....I would like to see somebody, including Ken Fischer, prove that in a blind test. .
xtian wrote:I bought some teflon covered stranded wire, and found the jacket to be really difficult to strip. Had to use an exacto to circumcise each piece!
Is the Kimber stuff different? Can you use a wire stripper on it?
The Kimber Varistrand is 19.5 ga which is a little odd, but is very easy to strip using the 20ga notch on a standard stripper. I work with it every day and it is great wire. It solders well and sounds good. What more can one ask?
Remember, skin effect is due to increasing inductive reactance (2*PI*F*L) in the wire - the interconnect wire starts to look like an inductor at RF and the primary effect is to increase effective resistance of the wire. The skin depth resulting from skin effect is inversely proportional to the square of frequency. This author's calculations show the effect at 20kHZ to be < 3%.
This analysis is for Hi-Fi speaker wire where resistance has a much bigger effect due to low impedances of driver and output stage. Most of us aren't passing more than 10kHz through our amps (unless you have a parasitic oscillation ) and BTW 10"/12" drivers aren't known for their 20kHz frequency response. Further how many of us are overly concerned with resistance of a 6" piece of wire connecting a triode plate to a 100K resistor?
So the next time you notice your frequency response is down a few 10ths of a dB at 20Khz, skin effect might be the culprit.
I use the mil spec silver plated PTFE ( read - Teflon) stuff from Steve at Apex Jr. : http://www.apexjr.com/wire.html#Teflon. 18 stranded for power supply connections and 20 solid core for the rest of an amp. The 20 solid works fine in my experience for stringing up the last few tube heaters in the chain also. I've never had a problem stripping it with my Rat Shack strippers.
I guess i'm the only one that hates teflon wire. If i aquire any i always send it to someone who will use it. I wouldn't use it if you gave me that stuff for free.
I liked the uni-strand wire. Belden, Carol,etc lots of good wire out there. Like most things, use what you like and be happy. I like 20 and 22 ga. Depends on the amp. I still like the cloth wire,if its the real kind. No stripping,cut and push back. Long as you don't nick solid wire it usually won't break. I also like the stranded like used in marshall amps.
xtian wrote:I bought some teflon covered stranded wire, and found the jacket to be really difficult to strip. Had to use an exacto to circumcise each piece!
Is the Kimber stuff different? Can you use a wire stripper on it?
The Kimber Varistrand is 19.5 ga which is a little odd, but is very easy to strip using the 20ga notch on a standard stripper. I work with it every day and it is great wire. It solders well and sounds good. What more can one ask?
Dave
I think the other nice thing with Kimber wire is that it's not silver coded; it's simply solid copper. Supposedly the best of both worlds: solid copper for a more even tonal transfer (no silver to speed up the hi-freqs), and the protective coating is way tuffer than PVC and of which doesn't really melt. Good for me. Even though it's about 90cents a foot, what's that equate to: about $15 for hookup wire on a build. I can afford $15 for superior wire.
xtian wrote:I bought some teflon covered stranded wire, and found the jacket to be really difficult to strip. Had to use an exacto to circumcise each piece!
Is the Kimber stuff different? Can you use a wire stripper on it?
I had the same issue with it when i first used it, hated the stuff. Then i got some cheap a while back, and started looking at strippers for a result.
I found these to work excellent, http://au.element14.com/paladin-tools/1 ... dp/4132646
You simply adjust the depth of cut, and it strips perfectly. And you can use them right into tight spots.
Stranded teflon is my fave too, the stuff i use locks up when heated, brilliant!
rawnster, so Kimber wire is sort of like Litz wire? I have used the black and blue teflon in my last build and didn't notice that. I used it in the power amp for grids and screens.
I have used stranded silver plated teflon milspec wire since day 1. (From Apex Jr.)
I recently changed from 22 ga to 20 ga. (Anyone need any 22 ga?!) I know that HAD and Victoria amps used 20 ga solid but I have heard too many stories about fatigue rupture that I just never considered using it.
UPDATE: Just ordered 10 ft of every different color of Kimber Varistrand from Angela. Even though the shipping cost is $30 that's still cheaper than Parts Connexion at $1.20/foot plus shipping. Their description says it's all TCSS type so I am expecting 600V in all colors.
) and BTW 10"/12" drivers aren't known for their 20kHz frequency response. Further how many of us are overly concerned with resistance of a 6" piece of wire connecting a triode plate to a 100K resistor?
