Wire again

[drz400]

Well I want to see if I can hear a difference on the solid wire since I've noticed most of the humbles are solid wire (but not teflon)

Seems like some of the solid 20 is 300V
I did find some Teflon 20 that is 600V rating and 18 for the heaters is a little harder to find but doable.

The question
Are you solid wire guys using 99% silver? Very expensive and some audio people think it is harsh
Or are you using the silver plated copper?
Using Teflon coated or not?
300V or 600v?
What sources?
Thanks

[krash]

solid 20ga silver-plated copper & teflon insulation for everything including heaters. these are el84 amps or low-watt amps without big heater draw and SS rect.

i get the wire from apex jr.

they also have some killer 20ga teflon shielded wire. i love that stuff.

[mlp-mx6]

I have used solid 600V PVC-coated Alpha and Belden wire in the past. I now use solid Teflon-coated 600V (or is it 1000V?) from Apexjr.com. 20 or 22 gauge.

[drz400]

So no one is bothering with the fancy 99% $ilver stuff?

Besides the routing ease of having the wire stay put does anyone think they can hear a difference?

[krash]

I don't think anybody can hear a difference. The humidity of the room you are playing in has more of an effect on tone, particularly in a tube amp. IMHO of course.

[drz400]

I don't think anybody can hear a difference. The humidity of the room you are playing in has more of an effect on tone, particularly in a tube amp. IMHO of course.

I'm with you on that BIG TIME
I think maybe the only reason to use solid core is the ease in regards to no fray and no tining before wrapping, that might be worth it

[David Root]

You are referring to the effect of humidity on the paper speaker cone, I assume. Might there be any others, eg on the paper in old and reproduction transformers?

[krash]

yeah lots of effects of humidity (and temperature).

It affects the speed of sound through air, thus affecting the resonant frequency of the speaker & cabinetry.

different air density also affects the speaker damping.

both of these get back-fed into the amp through the OT.

the tube amp is a high-impedance device from front to back. there is meaningful capacitance throughout an amplifier which is made clear by layout-induced oscillations and other tone issues. you change the humidity or air temperature (or both) and you change the dielectric constant of the air inside the chassis, thus change all of this parasitic tuning. this is not just in the transformers but also air space between wires, components, tube socket pins, you name it.

all of this is in the noise floor of course, but orders of magnitude more important and audible than solid vs. stranded wire.

given the high-impedance nature of tube amps, i would think teflon vs. pvc insulation on the wire is more important than solid vs. stranded. that is an interleaved dielectric and ptfe has different dielectric properties than pvc. but it's still not audible.

IMHO of course.

[David Root]

Thanx Krash! For expanding my perspective on the interrelationships involved.