Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Wiring

bug: possibly!!! But, other wire was just fine. Humidity could have contributed.

It sure was hot and muggy yesterday with showers all afternoon long. Forecast is more of the same for today.

Copper oxidation can occur but only with the exposed sections of copper. It actually forms a protective coating around the copper core thus preventing further 'attack' by the world of oxygen, sulphur, moisture.
Oxidized copper is often used on historical building roofs for the very reason that it won't decay. It turns a lovely shade of green called a patina.
Although the ends that attach to the binders should be clean, the wire itself does not degrade any further within the core. The film of oxidation is really quite thin, more than ppl realize. Most speaker wire is sold as 99.99% oxygen free, but none of it stays that way for long unless it is sealed in an airtight skin which has been pre-washed in some extraordinarily clean solvents and assembled with the wire in a non-oxygen environment.
Perhaps that is what paying $1000 a foot gets a person? Perhaps not.

Welcome to the wonderful world of chemistry.

I am having it done because I am horrible with any type of tool in my hand. I do not want to injure a family member or myself! LOL.

Everytime I put something together or attempt to fix something, I end up making it worse. And, my father was a mechanic. Go figure.

I want to make sure that the walls do not get messed up. I do not want to run cables up the walls for my qs8s. They are going to put the wire through the walls.

You should see the wine rack I put together. The bottom row was put in backwards!

Mike

chess: good description of copper oxidation.

I doubt that the wire charlatans do anything special to their speaker wire, but you never know (black magic???).

LOL!!

Rat,

Just pulled this off Outlaw boards.

"As an aside, the planned Model 790 will reportedly be able to achieve 300Wx7 with all channels driven. It, of course, has two separate power cords, and to achieve 2100W of output it would presumably require two dedicated 15A outlets to draw from."

Are you running dedicated lines to your HT? I may have to. I'm testing now but it seems all my wall outlets on one floor of the house are on one 15 amp circuit. Current HT (receiver, plasma, etc) and 3 computers and printers on circuit already.

bug: you pose an interesting question.

If you wanted to test 7 channels, all at the same time, at a single tone to 300 watts each, you certainly would need more than a 15 amp circuit. No doubt about it!!!!

But, is this a realistic test for the HT environment?

My answer is NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you look at the decibel sound pressure level example link that Ajax posted, for 100 dB, for 91 dB/ watt speakers, you need less than 10 watts per speaker. For sound pressure of 110 dB, you only need less than 100 watts.

It all depends on how loud you are going to listen. Even though I may get the 300 watt amps, I'm certainly not going to listen at 110 dB. Remember that I posted that 80 dB was very loud for me and I had to turn NASCAR down when it peaked at 87-88 dB? I really don't think that I would listen at 100 dB.

Very high instantaneous power peaks that are found in some music are handled by the capacitors in your power supply. That why some manufacterurs like to claim more capacitance in their power supplies than their competitors.

You probably do need to see how much equipment is tied to your HT circuit. You could turn off the circuit breaker and see what turns off with it. That might be the easiest way.

I suspect that the "true" test is to use all of your equipment (TV and loud HT) and see if the breaker trips. If it does, then, of course, you have a problem.

It you are going to wire another dedicated circuit, I'd go for a 20 amp circuit. It probably won't cost a lot more, and it will give you some additional capability.

Hope that this explanation helps.

LOL Mike,

I put a shower in once, with the shower wall panels. Problem was I put the panels in upside down, so know the bottles of shampoo don't have a place to sit, as the bottom of the shelves had a curve to them, ha ha

Rat,

Thanks for the reply.

I wondered about the high current requirement that forum members talk about. Outlaw's literature says separate circuits are best. Their high current amps should not be on circuits with TV's and computers.

Right now I'm listening to radio. Great stereo sound and plenty of bass from the 80's. Spl is around 85-90 in HT room, but 70-75 in the computer room where I am.

bug: I really do not believe that many forum members/ users fully understand the concepts of duty cycle, power supplies, listening levels, and how they interact with one another. I do believe that the manufacturers take big advantage of this lack of knowledge. Of course, the specifics can be quite complex and technical.

Yes, I believe that it would be "best" to have separate circuits for your amplifiers. No doubt about "best."

But, then, again, what is OK or what will work??

I think that is the question that you are asking!!!

If I get one of those 790 amplifiers, I'm going to try plugging it into the same 20 amp circuit that I have the rest of the gear powered from. If it works, it works! If it doesn't, I have plan "B." The breaker box is in the back of my HT room and I have an attic opening to the crawlspace in the ceiling. Shouldn't be too difficult to add another 20 amp circuit.

Bernard, maybe not "black magic", but at least "Black Label" for those who choose to take up "Mr. Fields and the chief technician" on their wondrous $30,000 wires and cables.