AWG gauge recommendations for power leads and a speaker rewire

[Wakefield Turntables]

Hi,

Ages ago I intended to upgrade my Isotek Elite power leads with some homebrew design ;) I intended using 99.99% pure silver wire whilst making the leads with EMI, RFI and vibration protection. The silver has a Telfon dialectic. I intend to salvage the Isotek plug and "kettle adapter". My second "upgrade" is to my Celestion ditton 15XR speakers where I intend to internally rewire them, and my final project is to produce a balanced pair of speaker cables for my atc speakers which are fully active. Problem is I have no idea which AWG gauge I should use for each project so can anyone answer these 3 questions :-

1. What AWG gauge should I use for an intrinsic speaker re-wire?

2. What AWG gauge should I use for a pair of balanced XLR speaker cables?

3. What AWG gauge should I use for a power lead (for amps/powerpacks etc)?

MANY MANY THANKS :cool:

[Reid Malenfant]

1. What AWG gauge should I use for an intrinsic speaker re-wire?

2. What AWG gauge should I use for a pair of balanced XLR speaker cables?

3. What AWG gauge should I use for a power lead (for amps/powerpacks etc)?

1. Look at what is fitted as standard & make sure it's not thinner ;) Other than that the world is your oyster i'm afraid & the choice is yours.

2. I'm sure we have discussed this before :scratch: No need to worry about AWG as it's an interconnect & doesn't really carry any current :) You just need a balanced interconnect & cable which is two cores & an overall screen. Lots about from sensible to silly money :eyebrows:

3. The thicker the power supply lead cross sectional area is the better as you get a lower impedance supply, it's slight but can make a difference. As thick as possible without being silly... I use 2.5mm^2 mains cable for most stuff, figure of 8 plugs get 1mm^2 which is still a 10A mains cable.

But at the end of the day it's all personal choice, nothing is wrong unless it's underated electrically..

[MCRU]

Trouble with home brew cables is what if after spending all the dosh and soldering them all together or whichever termination method suits you, you don't like the sound?

There are 100's of ready made ones to choose from, it won't be difficult to better the isotek cable for sure.

All you need is to find a friendly dealer who will loan you a few to listen to? better than shelling out for cables and connectors surely?

tell me to mind my own business if it's not good advice...:)

[Effem]

All you need is to find a friendly dealer who will loan you a few to listen to?


Sensible advice :eyebrows:

[Wakefield Turntables]

Trouble with home brew cables is what if after spending all the dosh and soldering them all together or whichever termination method suits you, you don't like the sound?

There are 100's of ready made ones to choose from, it won't be difficult to better the isotek cable for sure.

All you need is to find a friendly dealer who will loan you a few to listen to? better than shelling out for cables and connectors surely?

tell me to mind my own business if it's not good advice...:)

I totally agree with everything thats said on this little thread and borrowing power cord leads is indeed a nice experience, I may take you up on that! :cool: My homebrew stuff probably will sound crap but I likes to fiddle :eyebrows: I also get the pleasure out of knowing that I made something and that it may (or may not :doh:) improve the sound of my system. If its all sounds crap then I'll simply eBay the cabling that I bought :ner:

[MCRU]

I simply said find a friendly dealer who can loan you some cables, is that me then????:lol:

Of course you can loan some power cords matey, I even have a pure silver one made up ready for you to try and don't forget I have a multitude of speaker cables and interconnects in my lock up....:)

[Alex_UK]

I simply said find a friendly dealer who can loan you some cables, is that me then????:lol:

Nah, you're a miserable git! :)