So impressed with BLE Design speaker cables, I bought the bigger ones too!

Gentle reader,

I recently wrote about my adventures in trying a pair of unique speaker cables that are hand made in Florida. The company is BLE Design and they sell all kinds of audio cables and bits on eBay. Here is a link to the first post:

The Robb Collections: Budget option for Kimber Kable 4TC plus 3-way binding posts explained. 

Here is a link to the maker/seller's eBay seller's page: ble-design02 | eBay 

Brian is the fellows name and he read my review of his 6BC cables and decided to put a link to that post in his eBay auction page. He offers many lengths and gives you your choice of terminals for each end. The terminals are top-line too.

He wrote to me and suggested that I try his 10BC cables, they have 40 per cent more conductors and can handle more power. So I took him up on his offer and two days later, they arrived. 

As you can see, these are thicker and even more complicated looking in their weave. I still do not know how he does it. I suspect Kimber Kable has machines that weave theirs. But of course, Kimber's are MUCH more expensive. I specified NO terminals as I had plenty of Nakamichi banana plugs.

If you read his description of these cables on eBay, you will see they are made of top-line wiring. Without further ado, you will see step-by-step, the process of making them ready to install, below:

The first step is separating the white and blue wires from the weave. Doing so making them about four inches long and twisting them. 

Make sure to twist each set in the same direction and get them as tight as you can.

Next, you have to separate them for about an inch and a half. Strip the insulation from each of the ten (or six if that is what you bought) conductors.

Logic would dictate that one strips each wire's insulation the same length. But when you re-twist them, you will find that some still have insulation getting in the way. Which requires you to tease out each wire and strip some more insulation off. It takes time, but with practice, you get quicker at it. 

Below is a pair of wire strippers that work the best, are quickest and do the neatest job of not also removing some of the tiny copper strands. I bought this particular pair at Harbor Freight which has become the quickest growing tool company thanks to quality, yet inexpensive tools. Yes, many are made in China, but what isn't? Plus, if China can make a nuclear reactor and some of the most amazing buildings and bridges, they can make tools.

The jaws are shut above showing the various gauge holes. Below is the other side. That side gently grips the wire so the other side (above) can cut the insulation and slide it off the wires.

Below shows one of the cables completely terminated. One end has the bent pin terminals that I needed for my PROTON D540 integrated amplifier which only accepts bare wire or this type of pin terminals. The other end are the super conductor banana plugs that grip so well. 

Nakamichi's banana plugs silver grip/housing slips over the banana plugs from the pointed end. The pin terminals, one has to slide the grip/housing on the cable FIRST, then attach the gold-plated terminal. The terminals have two tiny set screws, one on each side that secure the copper wiring to the terminals. The the grip/housing threads (screws) on.

Now a series of photos depicting the installation process into the D540's "A" speaker terminals after removing the thick gray Monster Cable M-Series cables from the Cerwin-Vega! LS-12 speakers and the Legend speaker switch. I transferred the 6BC cables from the amp's terminals to the switches #1 terminals. Which required me to remove the pin terminals and install banana terminals.

Look's like an electrician's nightmare, doesn't it?

A closer view shows the 10BC cables now firmly attached to the D540. Note the folded Velcro pieces between the terminal grip/housings in the "B" speaker terminals. Turns out the grip/housings are in fact conductive. Good thing the D540 has protection, as the music kept cutting off and I couldn't figure out why. So, if you have to use something other than banana plugs AND they are Nakamichi brand terminals, take care to keep them apart!

Above shows the completed speaker switch's wiring. The inputs are on the right. I deliberately used double-banana plugs from Monster Cable in those inputs for two reasons: 1, The cables, in this case; Monster Cable M-Series, come in from the sides, and, B, double-banana plugs have the ability to have other banana plugs plugged into them. As you can see. 

As my little wooden former Radio Shack Minimus 7W speakers are my main speakers and are wired through the 12" subwoofer, AND as they are wired with (when new) super expensive, top-of-the-line Monster Cable Z-Series cables, they are connected thusly. I simply leave the speaker switches buttons off. If I choose to listen to the Philips speakers OR either of the pairs of speakers in THIS room (BOSE 301s and my former Radio Shack Minimus 11 speakers), I simply unplug the black cables from the double-banana plugs and choose "B" on the amp and either #1 or #2 on the speaker switch. Confused yet? 

Yes, your math IS correct, I have no less than FIVE pairs of speakers capable of being driven by ONE amplifier. Oh, and the subwoofer too. That makes eleven speakers. Does it surprise you that my wife doesn't even think about trying to listen to music in the "Listening Room"?

OK, now for some photos of the completed set up:

Above, the whole shebang. 

That blue stuff under the speaker switch is Blu-Tak. Great stuff for audio.

Above, on the right, you can see the black cables that descend to the subwoofer's high-level inputs. If using the subwoofer, it electronically separates the bass from the rest of the music and reproduces that portion itself. It sends the rest of the music out the high-level output terminals and up to the small speakers. If it is OFF, all the music reaches the small speakers. 

As I have pointed out in previous posts, it's easier to make a wire shorter than it is to make it longer. Thus, the coiled cables around the support posts. The right speaker is above and the left speaker is below.

Note that the "umbilical cord" cables as my wife calls them that attach to the #2 terminals on the speaker switch are not yet attached and routed in these photos. But fear not, in this reprise photo below, they are.

Those cables travel to a speaker terminal plate in the corner of the ceiling. They same cables travel through the attic to a speaker terminal plate in the ceiling in THIS room. Two pairs of Monster Cable speaker wires attach to the BOSE 301 speakers and/or the metal former Minimus 11 speakers in here. I have blogged about modifying both sets of former Radio Shack speakers and mounting the BOSE 301s too.

NOW, how do these 10BC cables sound? In a word: Fantastic! As I did all this work today (March 4, 2017) I haven't had a lot of time to enjoy them. But I did play David Sanborn's CD Up Front tonight before starting on this post. I savored the incredible clarity of each performer's music. I could clearly "see" where each stood as they played. There was width, height and depth to the music. I could also "feel" the space they played it. How? There was a real sense of ambience to the sound.

I highly recommend giving BLE Design's products a try of your own. Hand made in America. Incredible attention to detail in their design and construction. First rate components are employed. True high performance home and studio products which will give you a lifetime of enjoyment. I cannot give them a higher recommendation. I've been seeking the best sound from my music since 1975. Brian's complex 6BC and 10BC braided speaker cables have brought me closer than ever to that goal.

So, finally, these are the thick, heavy and expensive Monster Cable M-Series cables that the 10BC cables have replaced:

Will I miss them? Not in the least! 

Thanks for looking, and again, give Brian's products a try!

Scott

  

Unique PROTON D540 Integrated Amplifier has entered the Listening Room. Part TWO

Gentle reader,

I previously wrote about my buying a PROTON integrated stereo amplifier because it was genetically related to my Dynaco Stereo 200 power amplifier here:
The Robb Collections: Unique PROTON D540 Integrated Amplifier has entered the Listening Room 

Here it is, in situ as they used to say in Latin:

It now resides where the Dynaco power amp once sat. I moved the JVC 3-head cassette deck to the location the preamplifier usually sits as it's interconnect cables would not reach. This left an empty slot, so I stacked the Yamaha and Dynaco and slid them as seen below:

Yes, this photo IS different than the one above. I found that what I thought were plastic sleeves on the Nakamichi speaker terminals must not be. Two would touch and trip the amp's protection. So, I redid it all, as you can see.

What I have been able to do, finally, is use it as PROTON intended as an integrated amplifier instead of as a preamplifier as I had been. If you've read the previous post (linked above) you will know that PROTON invented a unique way to have tremendous power on demand, AKA: as needed, while still having it play in Class A mode most of the time.

Why I had to wait was because this integrated amp's speaker terminals, like the huge Technics integrated amp that I had also written about previously, are what appears to be 3-way binding/banana posts. I wrote about those type of termianls and some neat braided speaker wires I found here:

The Robb Collections: Budget option for Kimber Kable 4TC plus 3-way binding posts explained. 

Here is a photo of them, empty. Note, no metal tube inside the holes.

Here are two photos from previous blog posts showing 2-way binding/banana speaker terminals. Why 2-way? Because they also will not accept spade lugs:

The photo above is a close-up of the amplifier at the bottom in the photo below. The one on top, is of course my Dynaco power amp. Clearly you can see the metal tubes I wrote about that accept banana plugs which are my favorite speaker cable/wire terminals.

Since copper can oxidize, I don't like using it bare. So I needed pin plugs, but not straight ones. Ones that I could only get directly from China. Here they are below in two photos.

The reason they are bent is to fit around the curved post and make better contact.

Now, here is a view of the speaker terminals from a higher angle showing the opening on the top-right portion of the black plastic behind the red and black plastic "nuts" that tighten down.

One unscrews the plastic nuts, they don't come all the way off, and slides the wire, or in this case, fancy bent pins into the opening sliding the curved portion (think the letter j) in and down then tightens the nuts. Below shows them attached to the braided wires. I went ahead and used the banana terminals on the other ends of these wires. So much for those spade lugs.

Those banana terminals came from the ends of these huge Monster Cable M-Series speaker cables that I use as jumpers to the speaker switch.

Below shows all eight terminals in place. Kind of annoying that they stick up, but I found out they break easily. Yes, I did.

Let's talk about, OK, let ME write about, conductor girth. No, not orchestra director's size, the diameter of wires as they conduct the signal or electricity from one end to the other.

These braided wires, which sound fantastic, are comprised of six 18 gauge wires cleverly braided to resist RF interference and also get the music dizzy on it's way to the speakers. I jest. When I stripped them and twisted them together, they were still quite thin. 

I had bought brand new, two reels of Monster Cable speaker cable and wrote about them here:

The Robb Collections: Some tweaks to the Den stereo system + Monster Cable MCX

I had found that they lacked bass significantly. An A/B comparison with the thicker cable as seen above, clearly showed that. So, I bought used Monster Cable Z-Series which is their top of the line, and sold the small stuff on eBay.

Despite these braided wires thinness, I have not found any lack of bass. So far. So perhaps Monster Cable miscalculated something. Fear not, I intend to listen critically as time permits.

So, this last photo shows the PROTON D540 fully loaded and ready for use:

All of the interconnects in the image above except the lighter blue ones, which are the last of the Liberty Cable units and the black ones which connect the cassette deck, are various Monster Cable units. NOTE that the Liberty Cable ones replace the simple U shaped pins that connected the preamp portion to the power amp portion of the D540.

I redid the speaker switch as mentioned at the top of the post. I made feet from Blu-Tak to secure it to the top of the amp which also prevents it from letting the amp breathe and cool itself.

I now have all four pairs of speaker cables attached electronically to the amp most via the switch. The black cables are the Monster Cable Z-Series cables which are my default littlest speakers. If I wish to listen to other pairs, I slip the black ones out of the switch's inputs and choose #1 or #2. The big Cerwin Vega! LS-12 speakers are attached to speakers "A" and gray jumpers are attached to speakers "B". I continue to really enjoy the new braided wires.

 

So, how does it sound all by itself? At first, I wasn't sure. This was last night and I couldn't turn it up much because my wife was watching TV and reading in the living room. So, rather than making a rash decision. I put in a really well made CD and listened exclusively to the smallest speakers and the subwoofer. 

The design works and it doesn't generate heat. Crescendos were loud and crystal clear, bass was excellent, wide, deep and high soundstage. I could point to unique musicians locations. Since I hadn't played a cassette in a long time, I chose a MCA HQ cassette of Acoustic Alchemy performing their first album called Red Dust and Spanish Lace.

There was one piece where it was just the two of them (both play acoustic guitars, one has steel strings, the other nylon) playing something very Flamenco like and I was hearing echoes and really felt like I was IN the recording room as they played. I have NEVER experienced that without some form of surround speakers and multi-channel playback. 

Does this mean I am going to pass on the Dynaco Stereo 200 power amplifier? No, but maybe the Yamaha preamp will find a new steward to house it.

Thanks for looking,

Scott