Silver gauge recommendations for XLR interconnects

[Wakefield Turntables]

Guys,

I'm in the process of costing the various bits and pieces needed to produce some balanced interconnects for my ATC 50 ASL's. Problem is I'd like to know which gauge is best. I've been considering AWG 10 but is this too excessive? I intend to produce a pair of 2M interconnects.

Andy

[Reid Malenfant]

You don't need a big guage as they are interconnects as your speakers are active. I'd suggest 18 or 20 guage wire (or even 24 guage). Remember it doesn't have to carry any current so in certain respects thinner is not only better due to costs but also with a thinner cable skin effect is lessened :)

Not that skin effect should have any effect at audio frequencies, but at least you'll have piece of mind :eyebrows:

[Effem]

In my experience the thicker gauges of silver wire are counter-productive when it comes to interconnects and speaker cables because to me they seem to sound more ponderous and vague sounding the thicker they are, so I would not use any heavier than 22 AWG maximum for interconnects and 20 AWG maximum for speaker cables.

[Wakefield Turntables]

GUYS!

HELP! Got my silver through the post yesterday, bought some male/female XLR connectors. Called ATC asked how these should be connected up, ATC simply stated connect

MALE FEMALE
1 CONNECT TO PIN 1
2 CONNECT TO PIN 2
3 CONNECT TO PIN 3

Great, I thought, balanced XLR interconnects in 10 minutes! I did this and low and behold now output to my speakers :steam: I'm basically soldering three lengths of solid silver from one pin to the other and then screwing the XLR's and that should be it. It's three solder connections on each pin and the bloody thing still dosen't work. I've watched more youtube videos than I can handle. Even dismantled an old pair of balanced interconnects, the pin connections are the same as the ones I have just detailed but still to no avail. Has anyone got any ideas why these arn't working???

[Reid Malenfant]

Open or short circuit connections is about what it boils down to ;) There isn't a lot to get wrong at the end of the day.

Test them with a multimeter for lack of resistance pin to pin as in pin 1 to 1 etc & shorts between other pins. Other than that i don't know what to suggest :scratch:

[Effem]

Check to see if there is a switch to change from RCA to XLR connections on the back of the amps - some do.

If you have wired pins 1 -1, 2 -2, 3 - 3 then it should be producing SOMETHING, even with one line open circuit or two pins shorting, there should still at least be a hum on one channel :scratch:

[Z-A]

Hi Andy,

Yes, as above, 10 awg is not necessary on an interconnect. Some prefer 22 or smaller, some slightly larger, but not as big as 10.

If you have soldered pins as indicated ( pin 1 is ground, 2 is signal +/hot, and pin 3 is signal return/cold) and assuming you have tested with continuity from pin to pin, and for shorts, there must be something else going on here.



What connector and conductors did you use?

[Wakefield Turntables]

HI!

Thanks for all the help. I decided to have a rest from these as they were pi$$ing me off! Just a few more details. I'm using 22gauge solid silver each encased in teflon. I'm using the standard 3 pin XLR plugs (thanks for the diagram Z-A). I think the cable must be shorting somewhere, so on Monday I'm gonna make another one up and see if we can get it working. I'll report back.