YAHTT: Finished my first set of DIY speaker cables

[EvilYoda]

So yeah, I've had the parts laying around for a while, other than the banana plugs...so I went ahead and built the cables and just waited for the plugs to arrive. Next time I'll wait for everything to be together so the overall look is more professional. I also bought a heat gun halfway through, so no more lighter burns

But that said, I love these cables, they're a nice improvement over generic 12ga I had been using, sound and looks. Say what you will, but I'll test them properly over the summer...at least they're nicer to look at. I never thought I'd use banana plugs, but hey, whatever.

Here they are! I realize that they aren't the most beautiful cables you've ever seen, what with the burn marks and the crappy heatshrinking, but I love them nonetheless.

Details -
Wire - Canare 4S11 Star Quad (wanted to start with something cheap)
Banana plugs - These are silver plugs and 18K gold threads. They can be unscrewed halfway up and replaced with spades, but I decided to go with bananas.

 

[mugs]

Where'd you get the banana plugs and how much did they cost? I can never find a good price on them. You'd think they'd be pretty cheap.


Edit: That speaker wire is cheap?

 

[waggy]

not bad actually. i have seen worse.

 

[Koing]

Looks good to me!

Koing

 

[Hyperlite]

nice

 

[Lemodular]

those are nice, Canare is not bad, congrats. I can't tell, are those two pairs or are you bi-amping?

 

[imported_Baloo]

http://www.partsexpress.com/

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: Baloo
http://www.partsexpress.com/

hehe...have you actually looked at their banana plug selection before posting? I looked long and hard for these and I'm not giving up my secrets without a fight.

I actually got the wire from Blue Jean Cables, tech flex from PE and heat shrink from Cable Organizers.

Tight fit on my Dynaudio/WBT posts...I'll be going with spades from now on.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: Lemodular
those are nice, Canare is not bad, congrats. I can't tell, are those two pairs or are you bi-amping?

2 pairs, I can't bi-amp/bi-wire with Dynaudio's.

 

[spidey07]

Not to shabby. Watch for oxidization on that exposed copper.

How do they sound?

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Not to shabby. Watch for oxidization on that exposed copper.

How do they sound?

Honestly, I think they sound great...I haven't done a proper A/B yet and won't have time to do so until summer, but the mid-bass to bass sounds fuller, punchier. Haven't noticed quite as dramatic a difference with the highs.

As for the exposed copper, that's been covered with heat-shrink now...might use teflon next time, all around, underneath the tech flex.

 

[effowe]

Are you going to wrap the cables to the end or just leave the wires exposed like that? The only thing that detracts from the look, for me, is those wires hanging out of the tubing.

 

[EvilYoda]

See the post above yours.

Next time, I'll get everything together, measure and cut everything precisely and use red/black tech flex on the branches and then heatshrink at the termination.

It actually looked pretty good w/o the banana plugs, just heat shrink up to bare wire.

 

[spidey07]

Not going for some Cat5 speaker cables? Give 'em a try.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Not going for some Cat5 speaker cables? Give 'em a try.

Yep, come summer time I will...right before the speaker upgrade. Probably try out a few different VenHaus designs...maybe some power cables if I have the scratch.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda

Originally posted by: spidey07
Not going for some Cat5 speaker cables? Give 'em a try.

Yep, come summer time I will...right before the speaker upgrade. Probably try out a few different VenHaus designs...maybe some power cables if I have the scratch.

Meh, stay away from the distortion boxes and come over to the planar side.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: EvilYoda

Originally posted by: spidey07
Not going for some Cat5 speaker cables? Give 'em a try.

Yep, come summer time I will...right before the speaker upgrade. Probably try out a few different VenHaus designs...maybe some power cables if I have the scratch.

Meh, stay away from the distortion boxes and come over to the planar side.

Well if I had the room to properly use a 7' tall pair of Maggies, I would in a heartbeat...I have a Velodyne DD-12 so low-end reinforcement and blending would not be an issue.

All in due time

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Well if I had the room to properly use a 7' tall pair of Maggies, I would in a heartbeat...I have a Velodyne DD-12 so low-end reinforcement and blending would not be an issue.

All in due time

You don't need a huge room. Just a well sized room. Plus it takes tons of power with a large room. I know.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Well if I had the room to properly use a 7' tall pair of Maggies, I would in a heartbeat...I have a Velodyne DD-12 so low-end reinforcement and blending would not be an issue.

All in due time

You don't need a huge room. Just a well sized room. Plus it takes tons of power with a large room. I know.

Don't have a well sized room ^_^ It's constraining as it is with my "distortion boxes", let alone having to place the speakers 3-5 feet from the rear and side walls.

 

[b0mbrman]

Nice. If you want some bits to make the finished product look a bit more...finished...get terminals from MCM.

And congrats...I've been making cables for years

 

[Viperoni]

Nicely done

Anybody know where to get banana's or spade (solder on prefered actually) that'll accept 8g wire?
And don't cost an arm and a leg

I've got some THICK cat5 speaker wire to terminate in a more permanent fashion then a screw-down banana.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Nice. If you want some bits to make the finished product look a bit more...finished...get terminals from MCM.

And congrats...I've been making cables for years

What do you mean? Like, on the receiving end? Otherwise, these bananas are top of the line, cost me a lot of time, research and money...they should do fine.

 

[Fiat1]

Banana Speaker Cable Plugs

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: Viperoni
Nicely done

Anybody know where to get banana's or spade (solder on prefered actually) that'll accept 8g wire?
And don't cost an arm and a leg

I've got some THICK cat5 speaker wire to terminate in a more permanent fashion then a screw-down banana.

These suckers will...they'll take up to a 6ga wire I think, there's plenty of space left with my cables and they're approximately 11ga.

 

[Viperoni]

I should have been more clear, I'm looking for a solder on banana specifically. Although I could be wrong, I feel that the solder will keep the actual point of contact from corroding as much as a regular screwdown banana/spade.