Teflon Wire for Signal Hookup

[Maxwell_E]

I'm building a simple input-selector in a separate aluminum chassis for my SEX amp, and I don't think I'll have enough of the 3 conductor shielded wire leftover from the original build to do the whole thing. But I have tons of the Teflon-jacket wire leftover. Would that be a suitable surrogate? My instincts tell me that the aluminum box would shield the internals enough so that the wire wouldn't have to be shielded internally.

[STURMJ]

Make your own!  Use your teflon jacketed wire, twist them, shield them with copper foil tape (or aluminum from a hardware store, should be in the hvac section (heating duct sealer tape)) wrap a bare wire around that (that's the shield wire) wrap all that in plumbers tape (which is pure teflon) shrink wrap, or what ever you want to do to finish it. and you have shielded wire. Cost, about $4 with leftovers for other stuff!

[ssssly]

Could also use some cat5 if you have it laying around.

[tpatton]

I see no one asking about the nature of the wire inside the Teflon insulation.  I've found, in passive preamps with wires only about 3" long, that the wire itself makes a huge difference, and, in that application, the thinner the better.  Stereophile's Sam Tellig has (or did) a favorite passive, the deluxe version, that used the wire used in that Stereophile reviewers favorite (of years gone by), Kimber KCAG: six strands of multigauge high purity silver, not individually insulated.  In one of my passives, I compared that wire with a single strand of silver so thin that the Teflon insulation had to be burned off, then cleaned with isopropyl alcohol.  It was miles better-sounding than the KCAG wire: clean purity and fine detail as opposed to aural chaos.  Wire is not all created equal!  I like the idea advanced in this thread of making your own shielded cable, and the directions for doing so. But do give a little thought as well to the wire you put inside the shielding.

[Grainger49]

Since you are using an aluminum case the interior wire does not need to be shielded.  The case will give you good shielding from outside noise.  Just don't run them parallel and close to each other.

[Maxwell_E]

It's the standard 24 AWG (?) that comes with the kit, solid core. I also found a large supply of Belden shielded hookup wire identical to the signal wiring in the kits, but stranded instead of solid. Now I have a whole other set of choices.

[Grainger49]

Stranded shielded can be a PITA to work with.