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DIY CABLES Need Advice, Opinions, Supplier Info

I am interested in making my own interconnects and speaker cables and could use some help from those who have experience doing this and have compared them to some of the popular name brands. Given my skills with a soldering station, and the known fact that most high end cable companies do not actually make the cable they use in their designs, I would rather spend my money on those audio items I do not have the skills or experience to make. Here's a list of items I could use some help with:

1. Cables you have tried and where to get them. DH Labs is one that I have read very good things about. I have done a number of searches on this site and others such as Audio Asylum. At this time I am not interested in labor intensive projects such as CAT5 speaker cable, but rather high quality cables(both interconnect and speaker) ready for termination.
2. RCAs, XLRs, Spade Lugs. Recommendations on what you've used and where to get them at the best prices. Cardas are easy to find, but is it necessary to spend that much to get a good connector? Anyone tried Canare F-10 RCAs for example?
3. Silver solder. Where to get it. Also shrink-wrap and any other items I've not thought of.
4. Your listening experience and comparisons with other cables and the systems you've used them in.

Thank you for all your help. And thank you to Bob Crump, Hdm, and Dbui1 for your kind response to my previous query on locating the supplies for Bob Crump's power cable design.
tswhitsel
hueske
124 posts
 
1. Use John Risch's recipe for speaker cables and IC's. http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/index2.htm
Amazing stuff, easy to build, and cheap. All Belden wire. Get the wire from Anixter or your local Belden supplier.

2. I use Cardas SLVR RCA's because they're cheap and readily available, not to mention extremely forgiving (a whole lot of working room). For locking RCA's, I like Supra Cables. For spades and bananas, there is no substitute for WBT.

3. Get parts from www.partsconnection.on.ca or similar. User Kester 44 solder...I find it is easy to work with and sounds great. For heatshrink and techflex (to make your cables look pretty) go to www.heatshrink.com. Over my twisted pair, I use 1/4" Black Techflex directly over the shield, which gives the cables a black mesh over copper look. Very cool.

4. My IC's have spanked Tara Labs Prime Master Gen II's, DH Labs, VDH Ultimate One's, and Homegrown Audio Silver Lace. Amazing sound, they just take a while to build. If you give up on rounding up parts, you can pay a finder's fee and get a kit from www.diycable.com. Cheers!
tswhitsel OP
126 posts
 
Jeffcott...go to 'more chat' at the botom of the chat page and then go to Cables. You will find my post 'Bob Crump DIY Power Cable Help' dated 02-22-02.
cousindupree
23 posts
 
I had some friends over just last nite. They were quite impressed with my system, and were incredulous that they were listening to home-brew cables, much less my home-brew cables. Their skepticism was well founded. What do I know about cables? Well, that’s easy. I know as much as I've read and heard. You're right, almost no cable "manufacturers" actually use in-house fabricated conductor/dielectric, and if they do it's probably not as good as what comes from a few primary sources. You can make it yourself, but like most things you'll probably do a better job in the future than what you'll wind up with after your first attempt. Read Jon Risch’s page carefully. Someone’s already provided the link. Be patient, and pay attention to your soldering technique, it's important. Here's what I've tried.

I've used XLO 26 ga & Kimber SF23 based twisted pairs ala the Jon Risch recipe. Both of the selected cables are solid, very high purity copper conductors with TFE Teflon dielectric. They're terminated with Neutrik NC3F/MX-B's. The "F/M" designates either female or male respectively. Whether to choose RCAs or XLRs is very system dependent. Mine sounds better with the balanced cables. The cables sound outstanding, and both of the guys who were over last nite placed orders for some of their own. They both have $500+/pr audioquest ICs. I can warn you, they're not all that cheap to build. However, they're a great value compared to retail. I'll be building Jon Risch's recommended Belden 89248/89259 combo as soon as my delayed 89259 arrives.

I bought the Kimber & XLO cable & solder (Kester 44 is usually recommended for beginners, but WBT and Wonder Solder are also good performers) from Michael Percy. Great fellow to work with. http://www.percyaudio.com/

The Neutrik connectors & Techflex I bought from Full Compass (very cheap). I work with John x1140 whom is always helpful and puts up with my small orders very graciously. http://www.fullcompass.com

Give it a try. Best of luck.
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