[Community of A/V Enthusiasts]
Constructing your own flat ribbon audio cables.
There are several manufacturers out there that make flat cables, which presumably have lower impedance because the conductors are not so close together. I was thinking of making some from bulk computer ribbon cable (the kind that has been used to connect computer drives inside PCs for many years). They use silver coated copper conductors with Teflon dielectric. This is similar to some commercial audio cables that are very expensive. The bulk computer cable will require some careful dissection of the insulation at the ends since there are so many conductors, but it can be done. Anyone want to try them out when I complete them? They will probably be a pair of 8 foot speaker cables with banana plugs for the terminations.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gary Walker on -
I would be pleased to be your beta tester.
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Permalink Reply by John E. Johnson, Jr. on -
OK, once I have finished making them, I will let you know and you can send me your shipping address in a private e-mail.
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Permalink Reply by Jim Milton on -
Sounds sweet...I know of several people who have converted Cat 5 cables into speaker cables. If this works and you patent the idea....well, who knows! ;)
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Permalink Reply by John E. Johnson, Jr. on
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I don't think turning SCSI cables or CAT-5 cables into use for speakers would be patentable. Secondly, even if it were patentable, the costs are very high, about $5,000 and it takes a long time with lots of paperwork. Third, Secrets doesn't sell product like some of the other mags do. It is a conflict of interest. My concern here is really just a matter of curiosity. The first problem I have run into is that the cable company wants $1,500 for a roll of the flat multi-conductor cable. That's the minimum order. I do have several rolls of single conductor wire, silver coated copper with Teflon dielectric, so I may try a different experiment. The good thing is I have a meter that will give me the capacitance and inductance values, which are the major indicators of how it will perform.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Alvarez on -
John,
There are special strippers available for a lot of those computer cables. Or there used to be for IDE and SCSI cables. -
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Permalink Reply by John E. Johnson, Jr. on
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Any idea where I could find a stripper for 20 conductor SCSI cable?
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Permalink Reply by Brian Alvarez on
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This might work.
http://www.toolsdirect.com/greenlee-45480-kwik-stripper-flat-teleph...
John E. Johnson, Jr. said:Any idea where I could find a stripper for 20 conductor SCSI cable? -
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Permalink Reply by Joel G. on -
Looks like someone in Hong Kong is doing flat cable IC's at $35/shipped...
88% Silver Interconnect RCA Flat Cable -
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