Special high Quality wires for AUDIO

Part 1) Silver Wire

Part 2) Cotton isolated wire

Part 3) Mains cable

Introduction

Silver is one of the lowest resistance conductors, with ideal contact properties.  Used in transformers and cables for the superior sound. Interesting, when silver ages, the surface gets darker, even close to black, which is mistakenly called silver oxide. This layer is composed of several materials, including sulphur, which is in the air as sulphur oxide gas, in very low concentration. Yet over the years it can collect. This dark layer is conductive, it is why high quality contacts are made of silver.

Cotton Isolation

Just look into really old equipment, and you will l see all wires have aged a lot. Plastics become brittle, causing leakage or short circuit risk.  Yet cotton does not have this problem. On the other hand, you can easily pick through a cotton isolation layer with a sharp object, so some care is needed.  Today's DIY prefer cotton for the fine looks.   We have it in several ancient colors.  Like: dark green, dark blue,  ivory white, navy blue. Etc. It looks just like vintage cable. 

Solid silver, soft out glowed 

The wire is specified as 3N7, which means the guaranteed minimum is 99,97% pure. (N is for the number of 9's).  It can be used for wiring loudspeaker cabinets, or for free wiring in amplifiers.  This wire is made on special requirement for us. It was made from a 3N7 silver cylinder to begin with. Wire pulling is done by simply pulling a wire through a hole which is smaller diameter as the wire itself. This a sapphire tool. It has to be done in many steps, beginning with the raw cylinder. Each time after pulling, the cylinder becomes smaller diameter and longer, and after a few rounds it becomes a wire. Yes would eventually makes the silver hard and stiff, so after each step it needs to be out glowed, to keep the softness. This out glowing is done under protective gas to prevent building of oxide. This becomes very time consuming when thinner wire is made. This is why thinner wire is more expensive per weight unit. 

Certificate of quality

The wire is made in Germany. We had it tested by an external company, by industry standard EN10204. Here is a copy of such a certificate, for the 2mm wire. Even when in German, you can recognise the following:

Diameter:

"Should be " 2.00+/-0.03. Tested: 1.999.

Silver purity:

"Should be": Minimum 99.97%. Tested: 99.99%.

Strength:

By this test, a sample piece is stretched until in breaks, and the pulling force for this is documented.


Storage

Our electronic components are stored in a room with air drying equipment. This keeps all materials clean and oxide free.  (Read more...

Part1) Solid silver, soft out glowed 


d=0.4mm  / AWG26 
Ordering code:
710-021-05


d=0.8mm / AWG20
Ordering code:
710-037-50  


d=1.2mm / AWG17 
Ordering code:
710-023-84


d=1.5mm / AWG15
Ordering code:
710-024-87  


d=2.0mm / AWG12
Ordering code:
710-025-09  

Ordering code is for one meter. Just order 5 units to receive a length of 5 meter. (Before final ordering you always receive a quote, to check it)

Possible Applications: 
Metric 
USA 
Ø 
mm 
Surface 
mm² 
Ohm 
per 
Meter 
Total 
ohms 
for 
 3mtrs 
speaker 
cable 
Closest 
AWG 
Ohms 
per 
foot 
Total 
ohms 
for  10ft. 
Speaker cable 
1,2 
1,13 
0,01256 
0,07533 
17 
0,0038 
0,07654 
1,5 
1,77 
0,00804 
0,04821 
15 
0,0024 
0,04898 
2,0 
3,14 
0,00452 
0,02712 
12 
0,0014 
0,02755 
 
 
Cinch Cable Solid 
Cinch Cable Litz 
Speaker Connect 
Speaker Cabinet inside 
Amplifier wiring 
Amplifier Ground bar 
0.4mm
2..4 wires 
10..30 wires Litz 
     
0.8mm
 
2..4 wires Litz 
     
1.2mm    
x
 
1.5mm    
x
 
2.0mm      
 

Specifications: 
  • Solid-Silver-04  (Ø=0.4mm / surface= 0,13mm² /  ~AWG26)
  • Solid-Silver-08  (Ø=0.8mm / surface= 0,5mm²  / ~AWG20)
  • Solid-Silver-12  (Ø=1.2mm / surface= 1,13mm²  / ~AWG17)
  • Solid-Silver-15  (Ø=1.5mm / surface= 1,76 mm² / ~AWG15)
  • Solid-Silver-20  (Ø=2.0mm / surface= 3,14 mm² / ~AWG12) 

Click image to see a classical example of 1920's wiring.  You can wire your tube amp like this, using 1.2mm or 1.5mm solid silver!  Invest a small amount of money in 2 meters of wire, and get this beautiful result. I think we lost this art of wiring today! 

Same amp from the Front.  Siemens & Halske mobile power amplifier 1031n, with 2x RE134. 


Ordering code:
610-007-76

How to terminate nice

Silver Flux.

This is a flux for silver solder, but of course you can also use it for lead based solder. This is an acid free flux, which means the residue will not damage the electronics, and may be left of.

When using lead free (silver) solder for the first time, you are probably very disappointed. The solder joints look not nice, and you need to change the way you are soldering.

Here is the difference. With lead solder, as soon as it melts, the flux becomes active, and will do it's job.

Not so with lead-free solder. It is only this shirt moment ( where the flux burns away) the solder flows nice, and after that is stops doing so. This combines actually well with the higher melting pint of silver solder. It is just, the moment of good soldering shorter. So you just need a lot more flux, and this much may not be present in that the standard solder core . If you need to solder a larger item, like solder lugs, or thicker wires, you simply need to apply extra flux, and heat up the solder joint a lot more, as you were used with lead solder. For best optical results, you can remove the flux residue later with alcohol, and it will look nice and clean afterwards.

 

Part2) Cotton isolated silver wire

0.4mm / AWG 26. Solid Silver + Cotton cloth outside



Solid silver wire with cotton
Core Diameter: 0.4mm = AWG26 
Outside diameter 0.7mm 

Ordering code Black
710-020-35

Ordering code Blue:
710-040-07

Ordering code Yellow:
710-018-70

Solid Silver Wire, with 1mm outside diameter, and inside is a solid 0,4mm /AWG26 silver wire. The cloth is cotton.  All colors we use, are from the color chart,  and are chosen like  the colors you see in old  radios.   This thin and fine woven cloth will make the cable flex with a very good "feel", and it is ideal for making DIY phono cinch cables from it.  Also very nice for complete wiring inside amplifiers. The cloth has no high voltage isolation properties.  It can only be used for audio input signals. 

The cotton is solder iron proof. 

Application: 

For making interlink small signal cables, and similar applications.   Must be put inside a sleeve when you have high voltages around.  Also nice for wiring of Moving coil transformers. 

Colors are "antique" like found in old radios. We use "old gold" for YELLOW, "Brownish-Black" for BLACK, "Ivory" for WHITE, etc.

0.8mm / AWG 20. Solid Silver + DOUBLE Cotton cloth outside

Solid silver diameter: 0.8mm / AWG20 
Outside diameter 1.8mm


Ordering code White:
710-033-90

Ordering code Black:
710-039-70

Ordering code Red:
710-036-90

Ordering code Blue:
710-045-87

Make your own silver speaker cable with this!

Solid Silver Wire, with a solid 0,8mm /AWG20 silver core, soft out glowed All colors we use, are from the color chart,  and are chosen like  the colors you see in old  radios.   This cable is double isolated, and the resulting cotton isolation is very strong, and will not damage when you walk over the cable.

Application: 

For speaker wires. You can use it single wired, or twist a double wire. When you twist it, order 5% more length because you loose this from twisting.

How to twist? Before you start, straighten the cable mostly. No need for perfection when straightening it, but of course it should be no mess before you start. Take an electric drill, and while pulling the drill back with reasonable force, start twisting the cable. Go on until you notice suddenly the cable starts to get shorter much quicker than in the beginning. You can't oversee this moment, it happens suddenly, and you can see it and feel it. When you stop now, you have lost about 7%. Don't take it out of the drill, but pull the cable firmly, so it straightens, and while doing so, rotate the drill in the other direction. From this the cable gets longer again. Stop at a length loss of 5% or at any point where you think it looks nice. When you stop now, the cable will be tension free, have a very professional"feel" and is as nice as any ready bought silver cable! If you have no drill, you can also use just a small stick, and rotate the cable with that by hand. Just takes you longer.

With the 0.4mm cable you can also make nice speaker cables, but you need more wires then. For this, drill groups of 3...5 wires together, and then drill those groups these together in the opposite direction. That gives a nice, tension free, flexible cable.

Good luck with it!

As said before.. You can also use a single 0.8mm silver wire. Up to 2 meters that is fine also.

All colors are "antique" like found in old radios. We use "old gold" for YELLOW, "Brownish-Black" for BLACK, "Ivory" for WHITE, etc.

Part3) Mains cable

Version with ADDITIONAL PVC cloth shield


High resolution image

Ordering code:
710-047-69


Mains cable

3x 2.5mm

This cable can be used to make very high quality mains cables yourself.   This cable is designed to have high flexibility, and yet very resistant against stepping on it or other accidental abuse. The PVC shield is very strong, and flexible still. So any wear out at the position where is is mounted into the mains connector, sure is not happening. The inside the cable is with many soft cotton fillings. You will be surprised about how pleasant this cable is to work with!

Maximum voltage 230V AC. The three internal mains wires have an isolation of high temperature rubber. (So not PVC isolation)

High Resolution image
Product Review by Dr. Klaus Mayer  (in German Language)

 

Conversion AWG to Metric system.
AWG Number Ø [Inch] Ø [mm] Ø [mm²]
4/0 = 0000 0.460  11.7  107 
3/0 = 000  0.410  10.4  85.0 
2/0 = 00  0.365  9.26  67.4 
1/0 = 0  0.325  8.25  53.5 
0.289  7.35  42.4 
0.258  6.54  33.6 
0.229  5.83  26.7 
0.204  5.19  21.1 
0.182  4.62  16.8 
0.162  4.11  13.3 
0.144  3.66  10.5 
0.128  3.26  8.36 
0.114  2.91  6.63 
AWG Number Ø [Inch] Ø [mm] Ø [mm²]
10  0.102  2.59  5.26 
11  0.0907  2.30  4.17 
12  0.0808  2.05  3.31 
13  0.0720  1.83  2.62 
14  0.0641  1.63  2.08 
15  0.0571  1.45  1.65 
16  0.0508  1.29  1.31 
17  0.0453  1.15  1.04 
18  0.0403  1.02  0.823 
19  0.0359  0.912  0.653 
AWG Number Ø [Inch] Ø [mm] Ø [mm²]
20  0.0320  0.812  0.518 
21  0.0285  0.723  0.410 
22  0.0253  0.644  0.326 
23  0.0226  0.573  0.258 
24  0.0201  0.511  0.205 
25  0.0179  0.455  0.162 
26  0.0159  0.405  0.129 
27  0.0142  0.361  0.102 
28  0.0126  0.321  0.0810 
29  0.0113  0.286  0.0642 
AWG Number Ø [Inch] Ø [mm] Ø [mm²]
30  0.0100  0.255  0.0509 
31  0.00893  0.227  0.0404 
32  0.00795  0.202  0.0320 
33  0.00708  0.180  0.0254 
34  0.00631  0.160  0.0201 
35  0.00562  0.143  0.0160 
36  0.00500  0.127  0.0127 
37  0.00445  0.113  0.0100 
38  0.00397  0.101  0.00797 
39  0.00353  0.0897  0.00632 
40  0.00314  0.0799  0.00501