Speaker cable sleeving DIY

[Johk]

As requested, here is a quick guide to help people make good-looking speaker cables (in my opinion at least).

Here are the tools needed:

- Cutter (knife)
- Wire cutter
- Wire stripper (or you can use the cutter)
- Scissor and lighter (or heated scissors if you have some)
- Heat gun
- Ruler, tape measure
- Marker if needed



And here are the supplies I used:

- 12 AWG in wall CL3 speaker cable
- Techflex PET 3/8 sleeve Carbon
- Heat Shrink ½ Flexible Clear
- Open-screw banana plugs from monoprice






Naturally, you can use any cable, sleeve, heat shrink and banana plugs you want. Sleeves come in many colors and are manufactured by companies like Techflex . By the way, the F6 Flexo Wrap is really great to organize you cables (you just unwrap, hold it, pass the cables, let it go and and it’s done and it looks really great! Way better than the plastic one I used in my other setups (which I will probably upgrade).

I got the sleeves and heat shrink from Audiyo since I’m from Canada… In the US, you can try Cableorganizer.com. The only thing you have to figure out is the color and the diameter that you need for your cables.

1 - The first step is to measure the length of wire that you need for a particular spot (you can use a string if it’s easier for you). Then cut the required amount of cable with the wire cutter (a sharp one will make a nice effortless clean cut without damaging the copper strands). I recommend that you start with doing one small cable for your first time so if you mess something up you won’t be throwing away a big length of wire.

2 - Then you need to cut the sleeve. If you purchased the Techflex PET sleeve you must know that you need to seal the both ends of the cut if you don’t use heated scissors (you just use a lighter to melt the end and it’s done). If you don’t seal the ends the cable will fray and you will end up with a big mess in the end.


You won’t have to do this if you get the Techflex cleancut, but it’s really not a big issue.

To cut the sleeve to the proper length, you will need to know how much wire clearance you need to make your connections (for me it was 2” to 2.5”) and to take into account the sleeve expansion required (for example a 3/8” will expand from 3/16” to 5/8”, this means that if you place this sleeve on a ½ inch cable the length of the sleeve will shrink once you put it on the cable). This isn’t dramatic for short runs but for longer runs you could end up with a shorter sleeve.

The easiest way to determine the length that you need is to slide the sleeve on the cable. To slide it easily I recommend that you use the push-pull technique instead on just pulling on the sleeve to get it on (when you pull on the sleeve it will tighten on the wire and when you push it it will loosen up). So slide your sleeve on you cable and leave 2 times the required clearance to make your connections (and a bit more to make a clean cut) For me it was like 4”. Next pull a little bit on both part of the sleeve to tighten it on the cable. You can then mark when you need to cut the sleeve and cut it already! Use your scissors (or heated scissors it you have some) to cut it and remember to seal both cut ends with a lighter (do not burn the whole sleeve :P). Once you have the correct measure you can use it for cables of the same lengths. For short runs you don’t necessarily need to do this unless you want everything perfect.

3 – The third step is to cut your heatshrink tubing. I used 1” cuts for both ends. Try to cut it straight since you don’t want to do an ugly looking job… Also if you use closed screw banana plugs or pins or some other termination, you can put another heatshrink for the connector this will provide a nice look and a more solid connections. Since I used open screw banana plugs, I couldn’t really put heat shrink on it (when I placed my order they were out of closed screw banana plugs). As a side not I think that the closed screw banana plugs are better for the connection to the speaker but the closed screw ones are better for connections to wall plates and to you receiver / amp.

4 – Next you need to slide the sleeve on the speaker cable (using the push-pull technique described before) at the proper position on the cable with your required clearance on both sides. Be sure to pull on both ends of the sleeve to remove the slack.

Then if the speaker has already a plastic sleeve like mine you will need to remove the end parts for your connection clearance. You have to be careful to not cut the sleeve on your conductors when you do this. I found out that doing a slight incision with a cutter only at the surface of the sleeve (not perforating through) allowed me to remove the sleeve without risking damaging the conductors and I was doing one incision are the wire and one incision to the end of the wire.







Then you can remove the insulation if any.

If you use standard cable in most cases you would only need to separate the cables for the clearance length.

In the end you should end up with something like this at both ends.



5 – Then you can put the heatshrink 1” section that you cut at one end of the sleeve.



If you use clear heatshrink like me you will notice that it’s better to cut everything straight and clean so you don’t have any defects showing.

Then you can start your heat gun (put it in the vertical position). I used a Jobmate heat gun (25$) at the low temperature setting 250°C (482°F). Be sure to use a low temperature setting since PET starts melting at 230°C (446°F) therefore if you use a high temperature (like 450°C (842°F)) you will melt for sure the sleeve. So adjust the temperature to a low setting (if you can use a temperature below 230°C then go ahead).



Once it is hot (about a minute), pass the shrink tube above it (be careful not to displace it from the correct position) and turn it around so you get the heatshrink tight around the sleeve and the cables everywhere.



At 250°C, it’s instantaneous and it doesn’t melt the sleeve unless you really want it!

Do the other end the same way.

6 – The next part is to remove the sleeve at the end of the conductors without damaging the cooper strands. I had two wire strippers at my disposal and both did a crappy job at doing this (one had difficulty to cut the conductor sleeve and the other one cut through the sleeve and a part of the strands) so I ended up using a cutter to cut around the circumference and then removing the plastic by pulling it. This worked well for my part but if your wire stripper is better than mine than it will probably be easier and faster.



7 – And finally you can put the connector if any, I used open-screw banana plugs so I didn’t put heatshrink at the junction of the wire and the plug but with other connectors you could use heatshrink to get a cleaner and even more solid connection.



In the end it should look like something like this:



It may take a bit of patience for the first one but after you made a couple of cables and figure out exactly how you want yours, you will be able to make them pretty easily!

Let me know if you need more explanations or if I made an error somewhere!

Also as a side note, you could use this for other cables. There are a lot of parts available that will help you make great custom cables!

Check out other great DIY guides for sleeved cables that help me get started for my cables!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=776636
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/w...moonshine.html