DIY cables

if its on the internet it has to be true.

Do yourself a favor and check out my system. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Don't just look at the pictures. Read the description. DIY turntable. DIY rack. DIY DBA. DIY acoustics. DIY power center. And even the stuff that's not DIY is modded.

Got it? Okay. So I am mega into DIY. Highly experienced, highly skilled- did you look at that turntable?? The subs?? And yet, notice there are no DIY cables. That's because I always and everywhere try things out and go with whatever is the absolute best for the money. If I can do the same or better for the money DIY then its DIY. Nobody nowhere no how gonna match the Miller Carbon for anywhere near what I have into it. Ditto subs, rack, etc.

So if you're following along then you know, "always and everywhere try things out" means I must have tried DIY cables. Yet notice, no DIY cables. Now why do you suppose that is? Take a minute. Study the system. No DIY cables. Hmmm...

My attempts at DIY cables pale in comparison to this one audiophile who had a whole basement lab bench devoted to building DIY cables. Dude had 30 years building DIY cables. Every material, every construction design, every reverse-engineered overpriced (in his eyes) highly regarded cable he could find. 

One day he comes over all excited to show off his masterpiece, the One Cable to rule them all. He copied some megabuck wire and his copy sounded identical (in his system) to his DIY. Finally he is gonna glow in pride and watch me eat crow for doubting him. 

Oh and btw when you start following my posts you'll learn a lot and know this stuff and then be able to concentrate on comparison contrasting as my writing style relating these repetitive stories improves.

So anyway we listen and his DIY is so much flatter, deader, grainier, and all around awfuller that even he has to admit it. Total fail. 

Now here is the kicker. Notice above where I said he couldn't hear the difference? In his system. So now let that one sink in. Got it? The dude had so much awful DIY it had messed up his system to the point he couldn't even tell these obviously different wires apart. Despite the fact this is a guy who for years and probably to this very day regards his system as more "revealing". Even though its incapable of revealing even as huge a difference as this.

So go ahead, drink the Kool aid. DIY cables if you want. Its your money. Your ears. Your life. "I Did It My Way" is popular for a reason. Do they even have a song about the guy who does it the best way, even when it means doing the same as everybody else? Maybe they should.

I'm a fan of DIY cables. I think you can build quality cables if you use high quality raw materials, careful construction including high pressure crimping of connections, and good design. 

That said, building a speaker cable using cheap copper wire and then adding inductance and capacitance and soldering the connections fails on all counts.