Cat5 cable use in hifi

[overkill]

Seen a lot of posts regarding the use of Cat5 cable. One or two users besides myself have asked for a breakdown of the whys or wherefores of using it. Is it Cat 5 as in a new cable, or Cat5 as in IT cabling? Can someone give the reasoning for using it in hifi and any links to tests?

Thanks

[Knightshade]

It's CAT5 as in the network cable.
The reasons for using it are it's cheap and meets all the specifications to act as speaker cable. There are a few different recipes on the market. TNT audio, zerogain, VHAudio, etc all have info on it. Most of these people know what they are talking about and I would tend to listen to them over a magazine that has a substantial interest in keeping the high profile cable companies in business.
Can't give you any links to official tests. Maybe CJRoss can? He has been using it for a lot longer than I have and probably knows all the CAT5 hangouts.
Once you can get past the 'How the hell can it work it's network cable and doesn't cost £100 per metre' stage it's a whole new world.

[Nic Rhodes]

R, C,and L done cheaply, simple as that

[overkill]

Cheers gentlemen. Must admit, having worked with, and suffered with Cat5 for many years it's going to be a long leap for me. Hopefully CJ can come up with some links.

[shezzy2k]

I made this one using Cat5

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/triple_t_e.html

had a lot of fun making it and there was a noticeable improvement in sound.

[CJROSS]

OKill :

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showp...87&postcount=4

As this site keeps all posts stored on its server, I would search the cable forum & hifi forums for mentions of CAT5, there are some intricate descriptions of construction, techniques and types of CAT5 that will be of great interest if your unfamiliar.

There were loads of posts on these cables on other hifi fora, but they have not been stored or those forums have changed name etc. The stuff stored on this forum, is the best resource on the net IMHO. As for tests, well this cable is so cheap, its generally made by someone in the event that due to its cheapness, they can discard it if it does not work for them. Ultimate test is how well its thought by its end users. A very high ratio of CAT5ers here I would say.

FWIW I have always used a different mode of CAT5 than the "TNT Mode", called the "CC Mode" or Colour Code Mode, you may wish to search for that in the search facilities and read up on that to gain more insight about CAT5.

As Nic says, a better type of cheaply available cables that covers LRC perfectly well you will be hard pressed to find.

[overkill]

Cheers CJ. Will have a trawl when I get a moment.

The reason for asking, is that four lengths of CAT5, even 'good quality', works out much cheaper than quality speaker cable for a long run - which is what I will need to add some extra speakers.

[cosmicma]

i remember the same issues coming up with 5 amp twin n earth as there is now with cat5 cable
iv'e allways thought that interconnects / speaker cable is a rip off ( my post is in general to do with the whole cat5 debate ) but there are some things to consider
i few things about speaker cable in general that i have noticed over the years i have played with hifi
back in the early 80's we purchased a pioneer a9 amp ( anyone remember those ) and it started it's life driving some kef coda 2 speakers all was well
the speakers was then upgraded to a pair of AR 915's using qed 79 strand speaker cable the amp still coped quite easily with the speakers and all was well
the speakers were then upgraded to a pair of AR 98LS same amp same speaker cable the amp started to struggle a bit but not too badly
finaly along came some AR 9LS ( i used to like AR back then ) and then things started to go down hill the speakers wanted too much current from the amp and the amp eventually fried because of it so the amp was repaired and the qed 79 strand was replaced with literally bell wiire to reduce the amount of current the speakers could draw and this actually worked
the amp was soon sold and replaced
what i'm trying to say is it's all relative to what your driving if it's a pair of bookshelf speakers then there not going to produce really low frequencies so arn't going to draw as much current as a pair of monster floor standers ( like the 9LS ) it's all right saying a pair of 8 ohm speaker only draw 3.5 amp at 100 watts but at what frequency are we talking about not to mention that quite a few speakers are 4 ohm and are capable of working as low as 2 ohm at low frequencies
speaker impedance is given as nominal because it changes some crossovers are designed to try and keep the impedance as close to the nominal as possible to present an easier load to the amplifier but not all
it's horses for courses in my view i would not be putting thin speaker cable onto a pair of speakers that were capeble of working down to 18 hz unless i wanted my bass to be " light " because beleve me it would be on the other hand i wouldn't be using super thick cabe to connect to a pair of boockshelf speakers there would be no point and might even cloud the top end

i see no reason why cat 5 cable shouldn't be a good alternative the only reserve is it's mass produced and not really made to a very high standard ( maybe it is i only presume ) and maybe using some other cable made to a better standard in the same manner ( aka kimber ) may give better results

[huwg]

Do all cat5 users use solid core? can decent results be had from stranded?

I've read many posts on this, and I'm still undecided which method to do.
I want to biwire bookshelf/stand mounters with 4m of cable per speaker, my amp has 2 sets of binding posts specifically for ease of biwireing, probably best asked in the cable forum, but hey....

[CJROSS]

Originally Posted by huwg

Do all cat5 users use solid core? can decent results be had from stranded?

I've read many posts on this, and I'm still undecided which method to do.
I want to biwire bookshelf/stand mounters with 4m of cable per speaker, my amp has 2 sets of binding posts specifically for ease of biwireing, probably best asked in the cable forum, but hey....

Huwg

Ive tried solid, multistrand – they sound identical. I prefer solid to work with as I find it easier to strip off the individual insulators, where as I usually nick a multistrand wire here and there. Purely a connection preference for me, sound wise they are indentical. This for me woukld pre-clude the skin theory of electron flow in each type. YMMV.

Ive also tried, Teflon-Plenum, Maplins VB20W Polyehethlin, PVC, and a few types of I don’t know what they were, again all sounded identical. The Teflon-Plenum variety was held as the GTI of CAT5 by US based DIY cablers, in truth it sounded the same as any solid cored CAT5 we can get a hold of in the UK.

As for your query re. single wire to biwire break outs. Its very simple you can either make the cables up as such or make a single run, then “cable jump” from bass to treble terminal. This is what I would do TBH. But then Ive never bought a pair of biwire speakers in my life :D.
Do a search on the cable forum for Cable Jumpers for more info, and go for the CC Mode, quite simply the easiet way and safest wasy to CAT5 without fear of mixing up conductors.

[Knightshade]

I use stranded cable for the opposite reasons to CJROSS, I always find it's easier to work with stranded cable.....
I used to think there might be a slight sound improvment using stranded cable but I couldn't say for sure now. If there is it's miniscule.