Building audio interconnects.

[Remo]

Recently decided to give it a go to make my own interconnects. Here is a practice piece I made today.

Neutrik Rean NYS352G RCA Plug
Seismic Audio Bulk White Microphone Cable Cord 22 AWG (2 conductor shielded)

I'm a bit disappointed with the cable, it's doesn't have very good coverage in it's shielding 50% at best. I'll make a pair and use them before I make a full set for the theater. I do like that the cable is really flexible with the rubber jacket instead of stiff PVC jacket like most. I'm sure this cable would be fine for XLR, not so sure for single ended though. I'll find out soon enough.

The solder joints are quite strong, the wife and could not pull it apart in a game of tug of war.

[Remo]

Did not work well. There was some hum, there just isn't enough shielding. I ordered some Canare LV-61S. It will be stiffer than I wanted but it will have plenty of shielding.

[Remo]

The Canare LV-61S came in today. Made one interconnect thus far. I am impressed by the flexibility of this coax cable. I think I will be happy with this. Will make one more tonight for a stereo pair and test tomorrow.

[Remo]

The other...






Both...

[slimdude]

To save yourself a lot of time and money, I think it'll be better to go out and buy your audio cables, that's already made professionally by an A/V equipment accessory manufacturer. Companies may use better quality materials in their products, that's not available in local electronic stores, to make their cables superior than homemade, DIY cables. The time and money that you had already spent trying to make your own audio cables, it would've been cheaper if you had bought them from a store anyway... Make it easy on yourself, just buy your cables and be done with it because, time is valuable.

[Remo]

Originally Posted by slimdude

To save yourself a lot of time and money, I think it'll be better to go out and buy your audio cables, that's already made professionally by an A/V equipment accessory manufacturer. Companies may use better quality materials in their products, that's not available in local electronic stores, to make their cables superior than homemade, DIY cables. The time and money that you had already spent trying to make your own audio cables, it would've been cheaper if you had bought them from a store anyway... Make it easy on yourself, just buy your cables and be done with it because, time is valuable.

Lol. I have plenty of commercial cables. This thing we do that we do not have to do , it's called a hobby. It's fun. Oh and by the way the cables I built last night work perfectly fine, and my total cost for the bulk cable and RCA ends is so low it's ridiculous. I'm building these for $3 each. The parts I souced are far better than most commercially available cables , say from monoprice,Amazon branded ECT..


Good try sh1tting on my thread though.

[stevo]

Hi Remo,
You are so right …..at the end of the day this passion that we have is for most of us a hobby after all . And if you want to build your own cables go for it. I myself built the same interconnect cables with Canare cable and ultralink RCA jacks ! I had them for years until I got a wicked deal on 4 pairs of Nordost Blue Heaven interconects ! Did I really need to change...probably not but they sure look cool in my rack ..Lol

[solarrdadd]

cables look good, will be waiting to hear the results of these over the first one with the hum.

nothing like a sense of accomplishment when trying something for yourself, crafting it with your hands, skill and wit. succeed or not, it's a good feeling to have tried. having said that, it's going to be an even better feeling once you have succeeded and gotten that hum out.

please keep us posted.

[Remo]

Originally Posted by stevo

Hi Remo,
You are so right …..at the end of the day this passion that we have is for most of us a hobby after all . And if you want to build your own cables go for it. I myself built the same interconnect cables with Canare cable and ultralink RCA jacks ! I had them for years until I got a wicked deal on 4 pairs of Nordost Blue Heaven interconects ! Did I really need to change...probably not but they sure look cool in my rack ..Lol

Exactly, I didn't need to make these. It was for fun-enjoyment.

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

cables look good, will be waiting to hear the results of these over the first one with the hum.

nothing like a sense of accomplishment when trying something for yourself, crafting it with your hands, skill and wit. succeed or not, it's a good feeling to have tried. having said that, it's going to be an even better feeling once you have succeeded and gotten that hum out.

please keep us posted.

Thanks solarrdadd. These cable workgreat, the sheilding works exactly as it should, no hum or any other interference. Sounds great, no change from commercial cables that they replaced.

Now to make the other 5 cables, might be a week or so before that happens. I don't have all the necessary colors of shrink tube to match the color codes for home theater channels, but they are ordered!

[Remo]

Made three more today Green(Center),Blue(Surround Right) and Yellow(Height 1 Left). I am now waiting for the other shrink tube colors to arrive. I need light blue (Surround Left) and Orange(Height 1 Right).


I think I'll make a pair for the turntable also, next time I get the soldering stuff out that is.

[stevo]

Looks good....Awesome

[Remo]

Finished the surround set. Will install and try out tomorrow.

[Remo]

Another new cable build. This one is for a subwoofer I built. It uses speakon connectors. This is a no solder job, the speakon connectors have screws inside that you tighten down, super easy. It's just 2x 12awg copper wire (mono price in wall wire) and some braided sleeveing, and shrink tube at the end to hold it in place.

[yellowcakeuf6]

I learned long ago, when working live sound, how to work up cable needs and how to terminate them. These days I only make my own for stuff that is not readily available fairly cheap, such as DB25 type cable for my older Dolby Cinema Processors. The old models also require Phoenix connectors, and I like to make sure the individual wire colors match the Dolby standard when possible, so I've lopped off ends of those (DB25s, I've got boxes of them that I've picked up here and there over the years) more than a few times, to match up and terminate the Phoenix.
I got an old CP45 last fall, and hadn't had to make any new cables for about a year, so it was nice to get back to it. The processor cables take me about 2-3 days to finish.

I really can't beat Blue Jeans Cables for the other stuff I need. Their terminations are superb.

[Remo]

Bought a new TV/AV stand. I'll be moving the AV receiver /amps, DB player, media players ect.. from a vertical flexy rack to horizontal shelving below the TV. This will require a new set of interconnects , as the length needed is loner than my current set.

I'll be constructing the exact build cables as before, other than length. I am very happy with my previous results.