Finishing Touches...

TonyPTX

I went ahead and started a bi-wire project this weekend. Ended up going with 3 runs (each doubled up for the bi-wire) of 14 gauge Monster XP to my RTi70’s and CSi40. I used spades on the speaker end and doubled up each wire into a common banana plug for the receiver end. Haven’t done much testing and honestly, I don’t think I can tell the difference (I probably need more power). Anyway, I’m looking to do some finishing touches on the wire runs. I’d like to put an outer jacket on the dual 14 gauge runs to clean up the wiring a bit. Anyone have any suggestions on where to get this type of material from. I’m interested in a pull through woven material (no split PVC cable conduit please!) Size would be 3/8” internal ID. I’d finish everything off with some shrink wrap tubing on the ends. 25 feet of material would do nicely.

Thanks.

Negative-Pulse

Hi TonyPTX, just finished the same project Yesterday!, I have CSI40 and RTI 70's. I just cut about 1" of the insulation off each wire, started from the end closest to where the insulation starts and twisted tight and evenly. I had no probs getting the wire to fit my Denon 3802. I also ran new a new sub cable. Thanks to Doc Speck and Tourma, and others, I was told I had my sub hooked incorrectly. I had it connected to the filtered left and right inputs, and needed to get a single sub cable to hook it up to the unfiltered input jack. When I fired it up, I did notice a signigicant difference. The sub has more of a even rumble, and the speakers seem much more distinct and accurate. I too used Monster XP and I love what it has done. My speakers are still set to small, and the sub crossover is set to 80 Hz. I am now playing with the LFE versus LFE + Main settings. Peace!

Tour2ma

Tony,
Only cloth material that springs to mind would come from a Lab supplier like Fisher Scientific. Should be in Yellow pages under Lab Supplies/ Suppliers.
They sell rolls of tubed insulation (thermal) for test tubes, etc. Should come in various diameters. Stuff I've seen is actually kind of "pretty", a golden-tan color.
Here's two links I found to the same 25' rolls of 1/2", unfortunately no pix:
https://www1.fishersci.com/catalogs/details_page.jsp?catalogParamId=664521&catalogParamType=I
http://www.chemical.net/cn_store/product.asp?dept%5Fid=500908&pf%5Fid=13265149&sku=13265149%2D001

At ~$50 a roll, not cheap... but with the Chemical industry not far from “Norlens” (probably some in your area, Baton Rouge should have one or two for sure) you should be able to see it at a supply house.

If you've got a good electronics store in your area, you might try there as well. Never seen any at mine, but haven't looked either. They tend to carry a lot of unusual stuff.

Good luck...

N-P,
Glad you're enjoying your re-rigged sub. Be sure to let Doc know via your old thread... He's da man bass-wise, I'm just a pupil, but glad I contributed.

TonyPTX

FYI for anyone interested in future uses

http://www.action-electronics.com/jtxsleev.htm

Just ordered some materials. Should make my DIY Monster Bi-Wires look like professional stuff when done.

Tony

Tour2ma

Good lookin' stuff Tony... Saved as a Favorite and I'll keep it in mind.
Thanks...

TonyPTX

Will do...

TonyPTX

Well it took some time to get the items in. Action Electronics screwed up the order and sent me 30' of 1/8" sleeving which isn't worthless, but too small for the job. No problem. Called to complain to their customer service and they sent me 30' of the 1/4" sleeving at no charge and they told me to keep the 1/8" sleeving.

The sleeving is pretty basic stuff, very stiff, but extremely expandable by up to 150% of its orginal size. I believe the picts will explain the rest of the story.

This is the sleeving as it shipped:


Pretty thin stuff...


Before the project started, this was what my bi-wire for the center channel looked like:

God, isn't that an aweful sight and mess....

With a little elbow grease and some love, the end product was very clean and professional looking:


Some details on the end connections:

At the receiver end, I went with some Radio Shack twist-on banana plugs. The green stripe denotes that this line is for my center channel. (Back of the receiver is color coded and it makes my life easier when I try to manage the wires).


On the speaker end, I also went with some Radio Shack crimp on spades. Once again, the green stripe to denote the center channel, and the blue band to denote one pair of leads from the other.


For 3 runs of 8' bi-wire 14-gauge Monster XP speaker wire, the total cost for the project was about $80 in material and 6 hours of labor. Not a bad afternoon well spent.

Some tips if you decide to do this yourself:

• Pick a sleeve size one size larger than what you need. The wire became very stiff once I inserted it into the sleeve.
• Measure twice, cut once......worth repeating.....Measure twice, cut once. Be sure to give youself extra length and if at all possible, feed the wire into the sleeving directly off of the spool. Expanding the sleeve to a different diameter causes considerable shrinkage in length. (8.5 feet became 7 feet)
• Heat shrink tubing is your friend. On general policy, most shrink tubing reduces size by 50% so remember that when you select your tubing size.
• The sleeving tends to fray at the ends. Not always a concern since you'll shrink wrap some of the ends, however it makes for difficult work when sliding the tubing over the frayed end. Good tip is to cut the sleeving to length, then use a lighter to smelt the end of the sleeving ever so slightly to keep it under control. Don't want to burn it too much because then the harden ring won't expand at all and you'll have to trim it off and start all over again.
• Use silver bearing solder where possible.

TonyPTX

phuz

Those are some pretty 'effin good looking cables. I bet they sound good too. Nice job. I'd buy some.....

Tour2ma

Ditto phuz... Very nice work Tony

polkatese

Tony,
Great looking bi-wire! great job....

Dr. Spec

Wow - very professional job! You could charge for these cables. Nice work!

My bi-wire rig looks like your BEFORE photo (with the exception of the Monster banana plugs).

HBombToo

Good Stuff here Tony! I think I'll have to do a copy job for my center.

Bombed

TonyPTX

Thanks for the compliments folks. Like the wires myself, granted there is nothing really special about 'em other than the fact that they are closer together and i have signal flow in opposite corners (positives and negatives diagonal from each other to reduce inductance as the cable now has a "square" shape.)

What really has me in for a curveball is this itch I've been having to upgrade my Onk 600 to something better. Been hearing lots of good stuff about the Rotel 1055 surround receiver. I seriously think that has a much larger improvement on my system then speaker wire.

mantis

Nice job Tony.The rsx1055 is a wonderfull receiver.I could go on and on why I like it.