Groomlakearea51 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Doing research on wiring for a new room and came across this company: http://www.ghostwiring.biz It's 99.99% OFHC, has a trace of silver in the alloy (CA101/110 type), and is 100% conductive (IACS conductivity rating and this alloy conforms to ASTM B133, SAE J461, SAE J463, QQ-C-502C, QQ-B-575 standards). I spoke with the technician at this company. They have been making this product for many years for third party transformer manufacturers, electrical component companies, including several audio companies. Recently, they started marketing it for home theater speaker wire due to the extremely low profile for use on baseboards, along walls, under carpeting and under wood/ laminate flooring. It comes in 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 equivalent gauge. What makes this neat is that it is "paintable" for runs above baseboards, and has an adhesive backing if you are so inclined to use it. I obtained a sample piece, and it works very well. I decided that this was very reasonable and versatile for applications where you don't want to drill holes, run permanent cabling, wall plates, etc., etc. The tech was (interestingly) familiar with Klipsch speakers, and advised that runs of 30' would nominally use 14 or 16 equivalent gauge of this product. He advised that 12 gauge for my application was certainly overkill. It's a little pricey, but 200' of 12 gauge was $180. That price included connectors, etc. and it sure beats the $20,000 speaker wires..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I'd use it in a heartbeat. Looks very convenient. I can't tell any difference between wire. Right now I use Home Depot 12 gauge. Hasn't turned green yet and its been about 3 years. I also have different lengths. One is about 20' and the other about 12'. Sounds good to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 That's in an excellent form factor to go under carpet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Me Loves Khorns Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I too use run of the mill 14 guage. Can't see spending thousands for more expensive wires. These wires do look like a great option. Great WAF to boot! Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 Positive WAF Alert: [] Trust me.. The WAF is worth $20,000... WAF just walked in and looked at the pictures. Approved,.. and then said, "I hope you also got enough to get rid of those stupid speaker wires all over the place in our bedroom and the living room that you've been calling the "walls of voodoo".." [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 This is an intriguing idea. Do yo have any sense of how much abrasion the wires could take. For intstance, could they be under a carpet or a rug? Good Luck, -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted October 11, 2007 Author Share Posted October 11, 2007 The surface which is paintable is supposed to be fairly "slick". The tech I spoke with advised he uses the wire under his laminate and in one room under his carpeting without any issues. I would suspect that unless there is some type of a very heavy loaded edge that would "grab" quite deep into carpet or rug and catch an edge of the tape, there would not be enough friction to wear the top, or cause the tape adhesive to fail and the tape to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 What'll they think of next? Looks pretty cool. Right now I'm with Gary......I use Home Depot 12 ga. outdoor low voltage lighting wire.....designed for landscape lighting. Works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I think that is a pretty nice option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 If you ran those wires under a carpet, you'd want to make sure they don't get stepped on by any spike heels or similar pointy objects. Even regular foot traffic couldn't be good for any cable. The cables do look interesting. Do they have to be terminated at the factory, or can you put on your own connectors? It looks like it might be difficult to cut them and add connectors at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Seems very close to the Mapleshade ic's! http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/interconnects.php. I find this flat wiring unique to say the least[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Seems very close to the Mapleshade ic's! http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/interconnects.php. I find this flat wiring unique to say the least[] sorry kaiser but the first sentence made me not care too much about the wire "just like your speaker cables, the wires that hook your CD player to your amp (the interconnects) can make as much or more difference than your speakers" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 If you ran those wires under a carpet, you'd want to make sure they don't get stepped on by any spike heels or similar pointy objects. Even regular foot traffic couldn't be good for any cable. The cables do look interesting. Do they have to be terminated at the factory, or can you put on your own connectors? It looks like it might be difficult to cut them and add connectors at home. I also asked about that problem... Tech said that unless a conductive object pierced both strips, there would be no "problems". I can see an instance of where someone put it behind a baseboard, stapled the baseboard with each prong of the staple going through each strip respectively, but that's what we call the "Darwin's Law of Audio".... As far as the strips, since they are "flat" and have a very low friction surface, realistically the amount of surface pressure required to sufficiently deform a strip would probably be enough to go through the carpet and likely dent the floor/ or crack the pad.... It's too early in the day to consider that bizarre scene .. say 500 pound "person" in spiked heels doing the Macarena...[6] Yes you can use your own connectors. Cutting is simple. Scissors, and peel back approximately 1"; fold to the size of the receptacle, insert and screw tight. The company recommends terminating the strips to either their barrier plate, or a wall plate, etc. Then use normal wire (maybe a 1' or so) from the plate to the speaker, or amp dependent on which end. I will use an 8 terminal barrier block on the wall where the amps will be, each amp will be connected to the barrier strip with 12/2 CLP-3 rated wire pieces of about 1'-2'. Each speaker strip (8) will terminate to an indivdual terminal block in the specific area where the speakers will be, on the wall, behind the speakers. These terminal blocks will be screwed through the drywall into the vertical studs. From there, a piece of 12/2 CLP to each speaker, respectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 Seems very close to the Mapleshade ic's! http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/interconnects.php. I find this flat wiring unique to say the least[] I also looked at that site in my search (not for very long...) Certain things caught my eye[:|], starting with "The festive-looking copper foil inside a skinny baggie"; A baggie!!!, Really!!! A baggie!! Now talk about a WAF problem.... [:#] And let's not overlook: "The perplexed look on your face will evaporate the instant you hear the excitement the Ribbon adds to your music: startling energy, all kinds of new instrumental details, thunderous bass, and remarkably-articulated, endless treble." Endless treble... just what we need, when will it ever end. And I really don't want looks on my face to evaporate, that cannot be good for anyone's face... Theres much more to our interconnects than meets the eye. The conductor is high purity, proprietary metallurgy copper ribbonmuch thinner than any existing cable (including competing flat-wire designs). The insulation is a handmade, super-thin polymer sheath for lowest dielectric absorption. Each interconnect is given three separate chemical and electromagnetic treatments". Proprietary metallurgy? I would agree that the source from which they obtain that alloy probably uses their own proprietary method of making it..... Three separate chemical treatments? I have spent some considerable "quality" time reading about copper alloys, and payed particular attention to the impedance, conductivity, etc when used in electronics application. Well yes, the alloy has to be prepped after casting, and before it's extruded, or whatever method they will use to produce the products for distribution. Electromagnetic treatment? That's interesting. Degaussing? Somebody out there may know something, so please chime in here... but I've not heard of any such EM treatment for any CA101/102/11000 series copper alloy used in speaker wire. But what really killed me on this was $120 for 39" of one type and $240 for 39" for the other type. Let's see, 8 strips (one for each possible speaker), each approximately 18' long = 160 feet, or about 50 meters total... At their cost (without their interconnects), and giving them credit for the discount on 2 meters at $160, that would be at least 7 x $160 = $1100+...... Nope, not gonna' happen; just like the other $20,000 wires ain't gonna happen. My total cost for the "Ghostwire", consisting of 61.5 meters (200 feet), 12 gauge equivalent, insulated, paintable, with adhesive (and with terminal blocks...) was only $180. That's enough for the project with enough (11 meters) left over for the Klipschorns in the old "wall of voodoo" room (6 meters total on wall), and Michael's (my son) Klipschorns (5 meters on wall)..... Huhm... Idea... As soon as I finish my project room, I will custom cut 1 meter/ 1 yard strips from the remainder, put on nice banana connectors with shrink tubing, and sell them to people for $99.95..... For an extra $25.00, I will degauss the strips, and using a "proprietary process", will electro-magnetically align the copper atoms; but wait!!, for an extra $30, also I will cryo-treat it with special crystals at each end to suck out any bad extra electrons... Any takers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WS65711 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=10770 This is what I used. Yes it's on the expensive side, and I normally would just recommend plain old Home Depot wire.But if you need flat wire to go under carpet, this stuff is great. And you can attach it directly to your speakers or otherequipment without having to use some type of terminal blocks or other adaptors to transition to "normal" wire, as youwould when using those flat foil-type cables. I have 200 feet of this Monster cable in my family room . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 me me me me me cyro treatment, how can I go wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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