speaker@ttidcb.UUCP (Kenneth Speaker) (12/19/85)
What is "litz" cable and why would I want it? I installed Interlink-II for the video (not audio) and *may* have seen an improvement over cheap coax, but it was only a *may* and that was on a 78" screen! How is it supposed to work? Has anyone (D. Pierce?) ever measured or noted an improvement in either video or audio applications using this stuff? --Kne
rdp@teddy.UUCP (12/20/85)
In article <584@ttidcb.UUCP> speaker@ttidcb.UUCP (Kenneth Speaker) writes: >What is "litz" cable and why would I want it? I installed Interlink-II >for the video (not audio) and *may* have seen an improvement over cheap >coax, but it was only a *may* and that was on a 78" screen! > >How is it supposed to work? > >Has anyone (D. Pierce?) ever measured or noted an improvement in either >video or audio applications using this stuff? > Since my name is mentioned here, I guess I have to take this personally. I have assiduously avoided the speaker/signal wire fracus as best I can, for the simple reason that it seems chock-full of complete irrationality. Over the years I have been forced into arguments with the "monster cable" "litz wire" fanatics, only to learn again and again that the best way to look a fool is to argue with one. Sorry, wirophiles, but I think that the wire craze (to a very great extent) is one of the most successful snake-oil promotions ever. I can sit here and quote all the references for skin-effect at audio frequencies, the irrelavance of "cable impedance" in transmission lines whose length is infinitesmal compared to the wavelength, etc., etc., and I can sit down and both describe and demonstrate true double-blind experiments that lead to the conclusion that there is no audible or measurable difference between cables of grossly similar current carrying capacity. And I know what the result of this will be. The cable advocates will simply be unconvinced. My approach to investigation in the audio world has been scientific. Controlled, unbiased experiments. These experiments succeed in defusing the myth of the cable. If anyone wants pointers to the references I am talking about, then I will post them. But I don't think I want to get involved in any of the emotional discussion that always seems to accompany this particular question. Litz wire, by the way, is usually small gauge copper wire interwoven with and insulated by very fine cotton fiber. The idea was to provide a high degree of tensile strength in fine gauge wire. It's a bitch and a half to work with, as it is impossible to solder (because the burning cotton prevents the solder from wetting the joint properly. It exists simply because in it's heyday, insulation technology had no other way of producing small gauge wire without very thick rubber insulation. Find a REAL old telephone, it's filled with litz wire. Litz wire does have one advantage for audio use. It is very flexible, and is suitable for tone-arm lead-out wire, where the prime requirement is that the wire induce very little torque on the tone-arm. The reduction of this torque may be thge reason it got it's reputation for "great sound", it tended to load the tone arm less mechanically than vinyl-covered wire. It's electrical properties, like that of ALL wire, is not magic, and has been well documented since at least the early 1930's. Dick Pierce