• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

looking at diy cable

They look awesome very neat.
I've read on the Kimber cable web sites that the weave itself will reject r.f.i and other forms of interference. Bet they sound great I think I'm going to try interconnects soon I've just bought a new maplins soldering station with variable heat setting's. I realy like your usb cable I didn't know that you could get the parts to build usb cables I bet its a complicated build though

Martin
 
The parts for the USB table are actually pretty easy to source. Soldering the conductors to the connectors is a bit fiddly though!
 
pete_mac said:
The parts for the USB table are actually pretty easy to source. Soldering the conductors to the connectors is a bit fiddly though!
Click to expand...

I'll bet it works a treat though it definitely looks a lot better than the ones you buy from the shop's
 
Finished another power cable this morning but this time with better plugs. Quite pleased with them so far:-)
 

Attachments

  • 2015_08_03_14_57_27_OneShot.jpg
    2015_08_03_14_57_27_OneShot.jpg
    58.2 KB · Views: 57
I was looking at some of the DIY speaker cables that you guys on AK have built and some of them look really smart so I decided to rebuild mine. I've done the heat shrink so far just wateing for some black brade to come now. Here's a few pics of it so far.
 

Attachments

  • 2015_08_07_12_22_11_OneShot.jpg
    2015_08_07_12_22_11_OneShot.jpg
    66.7 KB · Views: 70
  • 2015_08_07_11_40_27_OneShot.jpg
    2015_08_07_11_40_27_OneShot.jpg
    73.8 KB · Views: 66
  • 2015_08_07_12_22_46_OneShot.jpg
    2015_08_07_12_22_46_OneShot.jpg
    73.3 KB · Views: 74
  • 2015_08_07_13_24_01_OneShot.jpg
    2015_08_07_13_24_01_OneShot.jpg
    66.6 KB · Views: 72
Hi boza :wave: I just finished a power cord for my receiver using DH Labs Silver Sonic ENCORE wire. Previously I used a Carol wire 12ga cord with a gold plated IEC plug and a red copper AC plug on the other end. The plugs were from an eBay seller VLab. They performed well so I reused them on the DH Labs cable. The Carol wire is just something they sell at the local home improvement center, nothing special. No direct comparison was possible but there seems to be an increase in clarity in the bass & midrange. BTW, the receiver has been fitted with a Furutech gold plated IEC socket so that was another weak link out of the chain.
 
RickeyM said:
Hi boza :wave: I just finished a power cord for my receiver using DH Labs Silver Sonic ENCORE wire. Previously I used a Carol wire 12ga cord with a gold plated IEC plug and a red copper AC plug on the other end. The plugs were from an eBay seller VLab. They performed well so I reused them on the DH Labs cable. The Carol wire is just something they sell at the local home improvement center, nothing special. No direct comparison was possible but there seems to be an increase in clarity in the bass & midrange. BTW, the receiver has been fitted with a Furutech gold plated IEC socket so that was another weak link out of the chain.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you like what your power cable is doing to the sound of your receiver. I had to fit a martin Kiser iec to my Yamaha as500 as their not fitted with one as standard. I bought the silver plate iec. I was looking at the dh labs cable originally but I've been really impressed with the ones I've put together so far. I used the oyaide c-079 iec plug on my second cable witch seem to be really good and mk 13a plugs on the wall socket end. Your right in them making a difference to the sound all my components have good quality power cable's on them now and my system sounds very clear and open.
 
The receiver is a Sony STR-DA5ES which was their TOTL ES receiver. It's loaded with good quality components and caps but at the moment, I'm using it as a preamp. It's driving a Yamaha MX-830 amp. The amp is next to get a powercord upgrade and it'll be a heavier gauge. I'll keep it simple and just hardwire it in then add a good plug so I'll have to do my homework and make a good choice on the wire.
 
soundmig said:
It's good cable. Much of it (not all) is silver clad copper which has a sonic signature that you may or may not like. But, I would not hesitate to give it a try if I were you as DH Labs does make high quality cable products.
Click to expand...

I've made some ICs with their cabling and I agree, it's good stuff.

boza said:
I've read on the Kimber cable web sites that the weave itself will reject r.f.i and other forms of interference.
Click to expand...

This is the principle behind common-mode rejection. And, is also how Ethernet cables are constructed in twisted pairs. In fact, the difference between Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, etc. is the tightness of the twist. More twists means better noise rejection, hence faster speeds without data corruption.

As a side note, I briefly had some Audioquest interconnects in my system, and they were horribly noisy--even my cheapest Monoprice cable never sounded that bad. The DH Labs are as quiet as any other cable I've owned, if not quieter. On mine, I used pro-level Neutrik RCA plugs. Easy enough to solder, and they work/sound well. I only wish I'd gotten some woven sleeving to bundle the pairs in. And one minor complaint about the SilverSonic cable is that the lettering rubs off easily, so if you are using these directional, hopefully the arrows don't all rub off. (I use the "floating shield" method on mine.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: JP
Thanks for the interesting explanation on the woven cables. I've been reading a lot of good things about the dhlabs cable it looks like a good choice for diy.
 
Somehow I don't think Audioquest, one of the biggest cable manufacturers out there, makes noisy cables. Perhaps they were defective, or some other issue was at play. I've had over a dozen different brands over the years, and not one added noise, not Monoprice nor the included cheapo cables either. I currently have a defective pair of RCA's and one channel is reduced/intermittent but it adds no noise.
 
Don't know, but that was my experience with them, and this was with three different sets, which I rotated in the system to see if anything changed. The thin, lifeless sound did not help matters either. All three returned to Audio Advisor.
 
So, they were all noisy, but then they were also thin, and "lifeless". Anything else?

I've tried doing diy cables, both power and speaker, but the resulted were pretty mixed. For less than the price of the Belden 83083 cable project, I've found the $60 Pangea 14SE cable to be superior. To each their own I guess.
 
runnin' said:
So, they were all noisy, but then they were also thin, and "lifeless". Anything else?
Click to expand...

Yep! They were free to ship back to Amazon. :D

runnin' said:
I've tried doing diy cables, both power and speaker, but the resulted were pretty mixed. For less than the price of the Belden 83083 cable project, I've found the $60 Pangea 14SE cable to be superior. To each their own I guess.
Click to expand...

It's all system dependent. I like the cables I made, but that also does not rule out my finding other bulk cable and trying something different to see if I like it better. They certainly won't go to waste, as I have any number of gadgets or spare systems that might stand a better set of cables.
 
My cable project for February might be to make a few sets with bulk Cardas Litz wire. It requires special soldering technique since Litz wire has each individual strand insulated with lacquer. This wire is said to have a slightly darker sound. It's likely I'll use the same Neutrik RCA plugs I did last time.
 
I've been looking at some silver litz cable for some interconnect's but I was worrying about soldering it so it would be great if you do a thread showing your cables. I will keep an eye out for your project.
 
boza said:
I've been looking at some silver litz cable for some interconnect's but I was worrying about soldering it so it would be great if you do a thread showing your cables. I will keep an eye out for your project.
Click to expand...
Definitely will post back with the results. Soldering isn't difficult if you have the right setup--mainly, a tin of rosin-core flux, and a solder pot in which you can put the tips of the wires in for about 15 seconds to tin the wire and melt that lacquer insulation. Once that's done, soldering to the connectors should be quite easy.

I'm in the process of choosing which Cardas wire to use, and which RCA connectors I want to try. I am aiming towards gold-plated copper RCA plugs.
 
Thanks for posting back I'll definitely look into what I need. I've got a variable heat soldering iron and will look in to getting some flux. I thought solder already had flux in it ?
It won't hurt to use extra though will it like it won't do anything to the solder to use extra ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom