Cutting long interconnects and putting on new term

There's good information here on tools and techniques, with links to tutorials.

I agree with Tvad, beyond the basic soldering pencil and materials, one of the stands with dual, adjustable clamps is the single most important thing to have. I'd suggest buying a few cheap RCA plugs and practicing first before you tackle the expensive ones.

Here is a tip:

Insert the new interconnect plug into an old component input or output jack to hold it in place while soldering. It makes it stable and sinks some of the heat away. An old VCR works well.

it's not hard to do - though the advice above to practice is good. It's easy to overheat your connectors which will ruin them, so start wiyth cheap ones until you have the hang of it. Parts Exresss is another good source for parts (shrink, connectors, solder) and tools.

I've cut long ICs down and made multiple shorter ICs. I also purchased bulk cable and did some DIY. The latter is a cheaper way to go I expect since you pretty much will destroy the resale value of any cable you cut on yourself. An option here is to ask the original manufacturer to reterminate them for you (at a handsome fee), or sell them and do true DIY as TVAD illustrated.

>>Insert the new interconnect plug into an old component input or output jack <<< an excellent idea!

Keep an eye on your shielding ... you may want to tie (solder) the shield at the source end and float (do not connect/solder) shield at load end.