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Walt says that their air dielectric, plenum-rated stuff took his system to another level:
http://kvantefir.com/assets/files/pdfdownloads/Andrew_cable.pdf

Tells us more about using this as a speaker wire, Walt.? Which model exactly? Where did you get it from?

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Walt

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Walt

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Walt

I bet they sound great playing the blues...

Roscoe

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I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you.

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Walt

I tried some 1/2" heliax for interconnects and speaker cable. Now, that stuff is hard to work with. Bend radius is like two feet.

I didn't like it. It is all copperweld. Don't think they make any with solid copper center conductor. The copper outer "foil" is pretty awesome though. I tried using two runs, only the outer but that was absurd, mechanically. Kudos to Walt for being nuts enough to roll with it.

I also thought it sounded too dry with what I was using for speakers in my office at the time (Altec 755A)

There is German cable that is like Heliax but solid copper center, called Aircom Plus, I think. Haven't tried it.

I found a similar sort of cable, not hardline though, called "Aircell 7" that worked really really great as speaker cable and interconnect, but mainly speaker cable. Oxygen free copper center, foam PE with high air content, and copper foil outer. It was imported by SSB Electronics from Germany. Now obsolete and replaced by copperweld junk, I believe. I still have a run on the speakers in my bedroom.

A German audio dude I know who is also a ham says he can still get Aircell 7 in Germany.

These days I use recycled used Belden I bought on ebay from a dude who stripped it out of casinos in Vegas. Gettin' too old for crazy stuff. I'll leave that to you nerds! ;op


PS--Just checked the name...there is another cable from Germany called "Ecoflex" (SSB Electronic) that is stranded copper, highly foamed out PE, copper/PE foil and copper braid. Never tried it but my bud said it is a lot like Aircell 7.

Germans use a lot more solid copper center conductors than we do. Most intriguing RF cables turn out to be copper plated steel or aluminum.

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Walt

I wouldn't doubt that the plenum version sounds different from standard Heliax. And it is always a question of system synergy, taste, whatever.

But I'm out due to the mechanical issues. Not user friendly. These days, I'm happy with 2 cond Belden or whatever is easy.

I'm also put off by aluminum but I recognize that this is due to some mental picture, not experience based research and testing.

I found that, especially for interconnects but speaker cables too, wires with hard plastic sounded hard and wires with soft plastic sounded soft. Got to really like PE, foamed or low density solid and soft outer jackets, even PVC.

For example,I tried many LMR series cables. Found these sounded a lot better stripped out of the hard outer jacket.

The Aircell 7 and Rg-223 I like both have soft PVC jackets, which helps with damping (or something). They also have a lot of copper inside. and I think the dual shield on these also helps with damping.

What constitutes "editorializing" is an open question. The sort of dry-ass sound that is typically lauded as "neutral" is editorializing to me! Semantics. Language. Can't let that get into the way of good music.

Used surplus Belden....now there is a neutral wire, neutral in the sense that nobody cares.

I also really like the WE 16ga AIW wire (tinned/PVC/cloth outer) that has been hipster trendy lately. I got turned on to this stuff the top WE guys in Japan 10-15 years ago. This wire is the reference for the folks at Tube Kingdom magazine. For the kind of speakers I use, that stuff seems to get out of the way, so to speak.

For horns and WE/Altec speakers, I like tinned. I used to use the WE/AIW wire a lot when it was dirt cheap. Now they sell it by the inch.

I think PVC is due for a come back. Teflon never convinced me.

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Walt