Interconnects

[Chris]

For about 12 years I have been using Connex BL-AG by DH Labs, single strand of pure silver wire with foil wrap and drain wire, one end wired directly to the potentiometer in the WAD pre 2 and the other end with solid silver bullets going to an Ayon cd player.

Time for a change, really more to curiosity having only used the Connex in that position. I wanted to continue with Silver but many hi-end pure silver interconnects can be very expensive so after reading some reviews regarding the Morrow cables, not just the magazine type but reviews of people on forums who have used and bought them.

For the expense of the cables I would have thought that the plugs would have been top notch as standard, but the silver plugs come at an extra charge. May be if I get very bored I will replace with some Graham Nalty rca’s plugs.

As with the Connex cables I soldered directly to the 48 stepped potentiometer, there are 72 strands of silver plated copper for both signal and ground, each strand looks like it’s covered in an enamel the conductors are freely run inside a braided sleeve.

Straight after freshly soldering up the cables the sound was not so impressive a little heavy footed and a lot less transparency. After a few hours and still improving the next day the sound had a dramatic improvement on the Connex BL-AG, the soundstage opened up not only left and right but up and down, sitting closely with the speakers toed in the sound was perceived also from behind. The transparency that I enjoyed with the Connex had now returned with the Morrow cables, but now the sound had gained much more bass control and grunt, the sound comes across like a wave from top to bottom. It’s the first time I have heard the WAD 6550 sound so liquid, and the Kls 10’s feel that their woofer has grown buy an inch or two.

Next upgrades to follow are Mundorf Mcap Silver/Oil capacitors in the Kls 10’s. Not sure if I will build an external crossover box for them?

Chris.

[Phil Y]

Hello Chris,

I think generally, people who move speaker crossovers to external boxes report an improvement in sound.

Phil.

[Greg.]

Originally Posted by Phil Y

Hello Chris,

I think generally, people who move speaker crossovers to external boxes report an improvement in sound.

Phil.

+1.

KLS10 is a kind of bookshelf/stand mount version of KLS3 with the sub-woofer being all important in the sound mix. I use external crossovers with my KLS3's and would never go back to internal fitting. The difference to sound was a big and significant mprovement. Give it a go and let us know how you get on.

[Chris]

I was just a little worried about introducing more connections..I did google images on external crossovers, and one hi-end company had no rear speaker posts but went straight into the back, would need to make sure the cable was gripped inside to stop any pulling.

I also read that some hi-end companies pot the crossover with some kind of resin, this worries me if a component fails or there is a dry joint etc..

Thanks for both of your replies, you have given me that push to try external crossovers.

Any ideas on what is best for internal wiring of the speaker units, I guess multi strand copper for bass and solid silver for the tweeters?

Chris.

[John Caswell]

Hi Chris
"One hi-end company had no rear speaker posts but went straight into the back, one hi-end company pots the crossover with some kind of resin"
I try to keep out of interconnect discussions as I have some fairly strong ideas about them.
However you will rue the day and curse yourself to seven sorts of hell if to do either of the above. Captive cables are an abomination, someone will trip over them either damaging the drive unit connections, or pulling the l/s over completely, usually right onto a sharp corner or glass table and if you also have your x-overs potted as well this just compounds the felony. I would advise you to steer well clear of this, you are getting into audiophool/snake oil territory. I do however agree with external x-overs, they can make a noticeable difference (good or bad) but not at the amplifier end as has been mooted here.
Far better to have top quality silver/gold/platinum/rhodium connectors and good quality cables, which you can either make or buy. For the cost of good cables any dealer worth his salt should have some demo items you can borrow to try out, and forum members here have been known to help out as well

John

[Richard]

This is how I did my 3 way tri-wired xovers into external boxes with the connections colour coded. Looks a bit complex but isn't really, the boxes tucked behind the speakers and the connections were difficult to plug in wrongly

[John Caswell]

Richard's x-overs are similar to the way I did mine, colour coded, except mine were mounted on the rear of the L/S.

John

[Chris]

I've just drawn a quick plan of using the crossover inside a platform.. would be made from ply, make a template then cut from sheets of ply then glue 5 or 6 together. I have some large brass cones for the feet..

Am not sure about the distance needed to avoid the inductors from interacting with the voice coils?

Chris.

[John Caswell]

"Am not sure about the distance needed to avoid the inductors from interacting with the voice coils?"
The l/s voice coils are enclosed in a sodding great magnet, the inductors will have NO influence on them,
The magnets "might" have an effect on the inductors but as the inductors are outside the l/s cabinet I think you can forget it.
You are starting to worry about stupid silly things, that way lies the looney bin Concentrate more getting the inductors at mutual right angles to each other, getting the connections correct, getting the drive unit phasing correct, separating the crossover earth returns etc etc.

John

[Chris]

I have had the crossovers now externally for about a month, new capacitors and resistors with silver wire cable, point to point wiring...
It does not sound like the same speaker, a massive improvement, very liquid sounding the bass has a real bounce to it very 3d. Over the month the treble has become much sweeter, was a touch harsh at first on some recordings.

Chris.