How can I tell if my Cat5 Ethernet cable has teflon-insulated pairs?

[StattlichPassat]

I have that 1000' reel-in-the-box of LG Electronics UTP cable from Fry's ($40-70) and was wondering if it had teflon insulated pairs- there is nothing on the LG site about them even making cable, let alone its features. I want to know because I'm actually hoping to be using it as high-end speaker cable for my home theater system. Cat5 with teflon insulated pairs is supposed to be awesome for this application.

 

[Oaf357]

My knowledge of copper cabling is this:

Thinner the conductor the greater the resistance, thicker the conductor lesser the resistance.

I would think CAT5 would absolutely suck for sound due to its small amount of actual conductor.

As for teflon coating, I don't see how that would make a difference whether it was or wasn't.

If it works (and works good, say better than Monster Cable's Speaker Wire) please let me know.

 

[ScottMac]

First: UTP, by itself, sucks in the most major way for use as speaker cable. No two ways about it. SuX DeluX(!)

Second: Teflon has not been used for wire insulation for many years, due to the ban on flourocarbons (like freon ... Teflon is ptfe). Thank you, spongehead twit tree-huggers.

When the substitution began (other substances instead of ptfe), they started by migrating (some pair ptfe, some pair with the substitution. Then someone figured out that the velocity factor, per pair, would be different (it was), and they flocked to the Lab (including our Lab) to run tests to see if the new mix (ptfe/non-ptfe) would violate the skew of the cable (some signals arriving in a different time frame from the same source).

Happy news! Skew was within acceptable limits. Now there is no teflon insulation, it's all the substitute stuff, and the skew is still wunnerful.

So there ya go. Go out & buy some nice tire-chain speaker cable for your box.

Scott

 

[StattlichPassat]

DIY Cat5 Speaker Cables

 

[Oaf357]

Originally posted by: NightFlyerGTI
DIY Cat5 Speaker Cables

GOOD LORD! That would be a massive pain in the arse. 56 pairs, holy cow! I've got a spool of 25 pair cable sitting next to me and it's barely pliable. With 56 pairs though there is enough conductor to go around and spliting each pair off positive and negative also makes sense. The true question is, would it work with only four pairs over long lengths. I think I already know the answer but if someone wants to try I'd love to hear the results.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Yeah, it will be a lot of work. So do you think I'd get the same results with the Cat5 I have over the Belden cable he recommends?

 

[Oaf357]

I'm gonna have to say yes, you'll get similar results. Whether there will be an actual improvement in sound quality I don't know. Good luck.