Solid wire vs Stranded?

[wescaster]

I have rocket scientist friend helping me with my amp build.. Really he used to work for NASA, but he is a little cynical about musicians and tube amps.

He says there is no reason for cloth covered solid strand wire. He thinks stranded wire is best in all applications.

What is the advantage of solid wire?

[erwin_ve]

I have rocket scientist friend helping me with my amp build.. Really he used to work for NASA, but he is a little cynical about musicians and tube amps.

He says there is no reason for cloth covered solid strand wire. He thinks stranded wire is best in all applications.

What is the advantage of solid wire?

You better ask this question in the technical discussion part of this forum.
What claim is there, in the dumble part of this forum, that cloth covered solid strand wire is better? I've never seen it.

[butwhatif]

nasa probably liked ty-wraps, solid wire stays where you put it, bent stays bent

[fperron_kt88]

Nasa definitely has to deal with vibrations. Tie-wraps and stranded can be snugly dressed to the closest mass/rocket part/whatever. Less harmful vibration this way for the wire assemblies.

Stranded is also redundant in a way. Electrons mostly stop flowing when the "first strand" of a single-strand wire is broken...

[wescaster]

Yes, Floyd was mainly concerned about vibrations and simply breaking the wires while working on the amp. He is used to thinking about things withstanding liftoff.

I like the solid wire. Apparently Dumble likes solid wire. I was just wondering if there is some kind of audio advantage to it.

[butwhatif]

burroughs corp used to make wire harnesses for nasa, they would tie them with waxed woven nylon string

[Structo]

I like stranded wire as well.

If you have ever had a solid conductor wire break from one too many flexes while building or working on an amp, you know what I'm talking about.

I find the silver plated, stranded, Teflon jacketed stuff really nice to work with.
Once you find the proper stripper to use it is easy to use.

I use almost exclusively the 20 gauge stranded in amps, except the first B+ where I use 18 gauge.
Even the 20 gauge has a maximum current handling ability of 11 amperes!

A big plus is that the Teflon insulation won't melt or burn if you accidentally touch it with your iron.

A lot of guys even use 22 gauge in the preamp.

Also if you can find low pf/ ft Teflon shielded cable it is really nice because you won't melt the inner insulator when soldering and getting things a bit too hot.

www.ApexJr.com has good prices. Call Steve

[thyx]

If you have ever had a solid conductor wire break from one too many flexes while building or working on an amp, you know what I'm talking about.

Been there, done that...just this past week, in fact. There are definitely differences in working with stranded wire vs solid-core. Solid-core may be a pain at times, but it has the advantage of staying where it's put...which helps with the whole "lead dress" issue, unless you plan on tying everything up later anyway. Sonically though, I'd say solid-core has the edge. Less resistance. Electrons all repel each other, so will want to stay away from each other as much as possible while travelling down a wire. Multiple strands will invariably require, at one point or another, that electrons navigate between strands to maintain distance, as well as hurdle a complex magnetic field that varies as strands come in contact with each other and/or break away from each other. In a solid-core wire, you don't have any of this monkey business going on. The electrons all travel down the outer edge of the wire...maintaining the greatest possible distance from each other. This equates to less resistance. Now while all this is technically correct, the question remains, "Can you hear a difference?" I admit I've never done a test, but I believe this is one of the reasons why George-L cables sound so clear. Mechanical contact (that doesn't rely on solder)...and a solid-core. While I don't think changing a wire to or two in your amp would make any appreciable difference, I think that rewiring your entire amp would. Just my $0.02.

[M Fowler]

I can't hear any difference.

My 18w TW was wired with solid core 20 awg because I wanted the leads bent in certain position from sockets to the board.

I used stranded 20 awg on the filament wiring for the lazy loop look.

Often around the mini switches for bright or boost I will use solid core or teflon stranded which is thin and stays put.

[Structo]

That old stranded verses solid conductor has been argued for decades.

If you can hear the difference more power to you.

The reason George L's cable sound "clearer" is that it is a low capacitance cable so it isn't dropping the highs.

If the Teflon, silver coated, stranded wire is good enough for NASA it's good enough for me.

[BobW]

That old stranded verses solid conductor has been argued for decades.

If you can hear the difference more power to you.

The reason George L's cable sound "clearer" is that it is a low capacitance cable so it isn't dropping the highs.

If the Teflon, silver coated, stranded wire is good enough for NASA it's good enough for me.

I totally agree w/ you Tom.

[Zippy]

Sonically though, I'd say solid-core has the edge. Less resistance. Electrons all repel each other, so will want to stay away from each other as much as possible while travelling down a wire. Multiple strands will invariably require, at one point or another, that electrons navigate between strands to maintain distance, as well as hurdle a complex magnetic field that varies as strands come in contact with each other and/or break away from each other. In a solid-core wire, you don't have any of this monkey business going on. The electrons all travel down the outer edge of the wire...maintaining the greatest possible distance from each other. This equates to less resistance. Now while all this is technically correct...

Whew... my smoke detector is going off...

[greiswig]

Sonically though, I'd say solid-core has the edge. Less resistance. Electrons all repel each other, so will want to stay away from each other as much as possible while travelling down a wire. Multiple strands will invariably require, at one point or another, that electrons navigate between strands to maintain distance, as well as hurdle a complex magnetic field that varies as strands come in contact with each other and/or break away from each other. In a solid-core wire, you don't have any of this monkey business going on. The electrons all travel down the outer edge of the wire...maintaining the greatest possible distance from each other. This equates to less resistance. Now while all this is technically correct...

Whew... my smoke detector is going off...

Yeah, mine, too. I thought even the skin effect didn't really apply in the frequencies a guitar amp produces. No offense, thyx, but could you supply any real scientific basis for your claims? I've not heard of this.

[ToneMerc]

If you have ever had a solid conductor wire break from one too many flexes while building or working on an amp, you know what I'm talking about.

In a solid-core wire, you don't have any of this monkey business going on. The electrons all travel down the outer edge of the wire

Not exactly true; here's a great example of where higher frequency RF principles are incorrectly generalized as having the same effect across the entire the frequency spectrum.

TM

[Structo]

I hear the skin effect argument thrown out there all the time.

As mentioned that really is not a factor in audio frequencies.

But really, I don't care what wire anybody uses as long as it is rated for the voltage and current it is subjected to.

You can use bailing wire for all I care.

But for me the advantages of using reasonably priced mil spec wire is a no brainer.