Hifi blew up - chance for new AV amp? Suggestions please :)

[ALBPM]

eYUP!!!!! Holy Gate Oxide Batman

Paul

[Fat Tone]

[KvHagedorn]

Does anyone want to tell us what (they think) will happen when you have a cable with extruded grain copper such as the highest end Audioquest copper cables? Some of these are so refined that a single "grain" will run the whole length of the cable. Please expound upon what you think a "grain" might be, as well. Paul?

I make no claims upon being a physicist. I got an "A" in high school physics, but that was about as far as I got.. and I did a brain dump after the final..

[Greebe]

Best analogy I can think of for peeps to relate to is a grain of wood... if it runs the entire length the wood is much stronger than if it's full of knots (tho not the only important aspect). This is very true when looking for Aircraft grade spruce used in wing spars... electrically in wires (and the like) this reduces the impurities and incongruent structure that much further and thus has even less resistance than your standard oxygen free high grade cables that are anamorphic.

Another example also applies to titanium used in jet engine rotors... greatly improves strength and thus reduces micro fractures which if not in the end will destroy an engine

[ALBPM]

I haven't done much research on this except that it is "supposed" to lower impedance, reduce the "skinning effect", etc...

The "oxygen free" thing just means the exposed copper won't oxidize as fast.

They're doing all kinds of things to wire these days (Extruded Single grain, Cryogenic treatments,alloys, silver plating, etc.)

Hmmmm....Is this like single grain - nope that's single malt scotch

Paul

[agallag]

I sure glad my ears aren't good enough to hear the difference with all this crap. I've got my B&W DM601S2s hooked up with Home Depot 16 gauge lamp wire ($39.99/500' spool), and they sound mighty fine to me.

[Marshmallowman]

I think when you talk about "grain" in copper it means it is a single crystal of copper. Yes it does sound weird but when all the copper atoms pack together in there crystalline structure its said to be a grain. the boundaries of these "grains"are imperfections in the crystal structure , usually steps and spiral dislocation of a layer copper atoms.

But the thing is they may very well make a copper cable with one grain, but as soon as you bend the cable you are inducing those dislocation that break up the "grain".

The same thing is dong with steel/iron. work hardening (or shot peening) introduces heaps of the disloactions etc. the thing with steel and most metals is that when you add the dislocations it increases the "hardness" of the material (but it becomes more brittle). These disloactions do interupt electron flow,
in a semiconducter a desloaction can actually trap electrons

the oxgen free is all about the purity of the copper, oxygen and all other impurities will break up the crystalline structure.

skining of current to the surface of a conducter only occurs at high frequency (think MHZ), at thos frquencies current only travels on the surface of the conductor. I can't see how it caould be even remotely important at audi frequencies. even tho the cables might be "oxygen free" the will have an oxide layer on the surface of the copper wire(a minimal one since it is coated in plastic)

[Wombat]

No, it's not talking about a single crystal. Despite (likely) prohibitive costs, even if its possible, it would be impractical, if not useless, to have a single crystal structure of copper in your audio wiring. The whole thing would be undone the second you turned a corner and shattered the structure.

Skin effect does indeed happen at all frequencies, but it's not important for most people, and acts differently depending on what you're focusing on. In uP, we care about it all the time. So do your power companies, of all people. Those big power lines? Aluminum wrapped in copper. The copper provides the best place for the electricity to flow, and the aluminum reduces weight and cost.

[Marshmallowman]

All normal metallic copper does have crystalline lattice structure(poly crystilline). The largest "crystal" of a soon was in physics department at uni, it was a one inch diameter copper puck(on display with caption), just looked like a lump copper to me but it was very pure. The were using similar stuff for some experiment

crystalline but not brittle

I think you are right, the trouble of trying to produce that for just speaker wiring is rediculous, any good gauge copper cable will do the job(to match the current output of your amp), your connectors can make more difference, as they are the "weakest link"

[Fat Tone]

user report:

Last night I watched Moulin Rouge, using the DTS soundtrack. It was fantastic! The film was really goog (IMHO), and the audio experience was superb. Buying this amp & a centre was definately the way to go

I also watched Sixth Day (which was what you would expect from one of Arnold's films) and was quite impressed by the audio track. Proper 5.1 is so much better than the Pro Logic I've 'had to put up with' (aka been using) until now.

T.

[dave m]

Hoorah!
Glad your pleased
Any other tweaking you can think of to give further/substantial improvement?

Dave

[Fat Tone]

A SUBstantial improvement? for a boomBASStik sound? Nope. Got me.

[Jammrock]

Glad to hear your HT is sounding good!

I watched Star Wars: The Phantom Plot last night with me pappy. He wanted the volume cranked, for a true theater experience. Talk about a killer sound track, even thought it's ONLY in Dolby Digital EX There were parts where my 9NT's were pushing so much bass that I could feel the air exploding from the bass ports from 2 m away! I can only imagine what it would sound like with a real sub...for now

Jammrock

[Fat Tone]

Can anyone say SUB?

I'm running out of time to get a sub (19.5 weeks - 8 weeks confinement ) So can anyone suggest a decent one for under £100.

I see Richer Sounds now have the Aiwa TSW37 for £36 - even cheaper than their own Gale SW5 at £50. I'm guessing the proverbial broomstick will be mentioned here, but the next option is £100+.

TIA

Tony.

[Fat Tone]

I can say SUB!

My b'day treat is a Yamaha YST-SW105, which should go nicely with the amp. Should be arriving today Cost £125 mail order.

T.