Anybody thought about making their own audio cables?

dazzler9000 · 10-11-2009, 11:55 AM

I was looking some of my RCA and digital leads and thought why don't I make my own.

My Digital Coaxial cable is made from Belden 1694a and is terminated with Canare plugs. I know you'd have to buy crimps etc but has anybody gone down this route?

albriscoe · 10-11-2009, 1:20 PM

I`ve been making my own cables for 40 years

infact I make the best sub cables I`ve ever seen (IMHO)

dazzler9000 · 10-11-2009, 2:32 PM

Hi Al,

Love the build by the way!!

Can you elaborate? What cables have you used and any pics and other details would be nice....

Cheers

albriscoe · 10-11-2009, 8:38 PM

Sub cables

I use very high quality low noise instrument cable, its double shielded rubber cable, very flexible.

RCA`s are gold plated, insulated with cable support.

Speaker cables are 100% oxygen free copper 184 strand which even over very long runs are excellent.

there should be loads of pics on my 2 threads but if not I`ll take some if you want

thanks for the build comments btw

dazzler9000 · 10-11-2009, 10:00 PM

Hi Al,

Cheers for the info. I had a quick look on your thread but couldn't see any (those are long threads). Would you mind taking some photos?

Don't get me wrong, I can get a very nice quality Mark Grant 5 metre sub cable for £30, but I kind of like the idea of buying the bits and making them myself. Am I mad?

gareth_alien · 11-11-2009, 10:01 AM

Probably.

But what's that got to do with cables?

dazzler9000 · 11-11-2009, 10:25 AM

Good question??

dazzler9000 · 11-11-2009, 9:03 PM

Anybody else??

MitsiTurbo · 11-11-2009, 9:36 PM

Ive been considering this before aswell and have made a few cables for various things! I think to make the most of the Canare connectors you need their crimp tool which I seem to remember is very expensive! I think to do them it would cost too much for my liking despite the satisfaction factor!

dazzler9000 · 12-11-2009, 8:55 AM

Yes, I've read it's fairly expensive.....

It's a shame really, as it would great to make your own cables, as you need them and to the correct lengths.

It would also be nice to know that you're not getting ripped off by the big brand names.

Bodgit · 14-11-2009, 12:24 PM

If you can use a soldering iron, there are many companies out there that sell quality connectors ,fairly cheaply.........
I'm just about to start mocking up my system, I'll set it all up with trailing wires to check everything works before commiting to plaster and conduit in the walls, some of the cables are 'homemade', it pays to test eveything, plus some of my HDMI runs are >7m, so it'll be a good idea to check they're ok with 1080p before I can't get them out again!
Give the DIY cable a go.
Remember, heat the work, not the solder

dazzler9000 · 15-11-2009, 11:35 AM

Cheers chaps, I think I'll give it ago when I get some time.

I may check out the Canare route, as I've heard that they're a very good connector....... and they certainly look the part

Anybody made their own HDMI?

mrm3 · 15-11-2009, 12:19 PM

think there is a big thread about using cat5 cables for speakers too

deansocial · 15-11-2009, 1:20 PM

i dont think hdmi connectors are available yet

MitsiTurbo · 15-11-2009, 2:24 PM

I think you can get them from some places, but of course there will be no benefit in making HDMI leads! Seeing as a cheap HDMI lead will do the same as an expensive one of course...!

dazzler9000 · 15-11-2009, 9:45 PM

Good point, decent HDMI's are reasonably priced anyway. (£5-15)

I was having a read about cat 5 speaker cables the other day. Interesting to say the least.... especially as I work in networking!!