DIY cables

[diamondjoequimb]

Does any one DIY cables as well? I just finished up my Statement monitors and picked up some used Parasound gear to run them and need to get XLR and speaker cable. Planning on making my own. Just curious if you guys have any preferred methods or parts?

[Hdale85]

I have, but don't generally talk about it much here in respects to the forum sponsor and owner.

[kvardas]

http://www.venhaus1.com/diycatfivecables.html

[Face]

Blue Jeans 10ga cable with either Neutrik Speakon or WBT termination.

[diamondjoequimb]

I have, but don't generally talk about it much here in respects to the forum sponsor and owner.

noted

[vlad335]

I made a pair of these.

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Power/Low-Inductance-DIY-Speaker-Cables/

First time I ever really heard a difference with speaker cables.

[DS-21]

I like mil-spec wire for speakers, but only because the insulation is generally Teflon and thus thinner than most speaker cables, allowing for a thinner cable for a given copper cross-section. (The insulation does make them more annoying to strip, though.) Also, it's usually tinned (i.e. the individual strands are plated with tin or silver, the only material difference being that it's harder to solder to tin) so it doesn't get ugly discoloration if exposed to air.

For terminations, anything less than a Neutrik Speakon won't do for DIY projects. It's just a vastly superior solution to the "binding post" kludge. I once bought some Chinese Speakon knockoffs, but the mechanism was vastly inferior, with the screw used as the wire-clamp rather than the screw acting on a lever that clamps down on the wire. The real Neutrik ones are cheap enough that there's no reason to buy knockoffs.

[Steve Manning]

Here's what I did for speaker cables, I think this would be comparable to the Kimber Kable 4VS since the aggregate wire size is two 13 awg conductors which is what the 4VS's have. The biggest issue was figuring out out to braid that many wires.

[diamondjoequimb]

I like mil-spec wire for speakers, but only because the insulation is generally Teflon and thus thinner than most speaker cables, allowing for a thinner cable for a given copper cross-section. (The insulation does make them more annoying to strip, though.) Also, it's usually tinned (i.e. the individual strands are plated with tin or silver, the only material difference being that it's harder to solder to tin) so it doesn't get ugly discoloration if exposed to air.

For terminations, anything less than a Neutrik Speakon won't do for DIY projects. It's just a vastly superior solution to the "binding post" kludge. I once bought some Chinese Speakon knockoffs, but the mechanism was vastly inferior, with the screw used as the wire-clamp rather than the screw acting on a lever that clamps down on the wire. The real Neutrik ones are cheap enough that there's no reason to buy knockoffs.

I've used Speak-Ons at work and agree. However, I currently have binding posts on my Statement Monitors, so I'll either go bare wire or spade.

I'm thinking either a braided variety or trying a cross connected coax type for speaker. I'm going to try a shielded mic cable for interconnects.

[AdelaaR]

If by "DIY cables" you mean "cut generic speaker wire to length" ... then yes.
If you mean "do all kinds of weird stuff which makes no audible difference" ... then no.