Custome Speaker Wires - Sourcing Parts & Soldering

Drenis

I think this would be the best place to post this.

I'm putting the finishing touches on my desktop 2 channel setup and purchased the last two pieces last night. I was given some solid copper core wire in 12 awg. Somewhat stiff but it was free, never been used. I have enough length to make some DIY speaker cables and jumpers for my new set-up.

I'll be running two 3' lengths from the amp to the subwoofer and using speaker level input/outputs. then two 4' length pieces from the speaker outputs to my bookies on my desk. I'm looking to terminate one end with banana's and the other end with a pin style plug as the subwoofer uses the spring clip design terminals and probably wouldn't fit banana's. I'm not 100% certain. Maybe I can get away with it on each end. I was to wrap them in a tech-flex style sleeve and solder the terminals. I guess I'll need boots as well. I'll probably piggy back an extra bit (4") of length to bi-wire and replace the stock jumpers.

I've been wanting to get into soldering more as I have a passion for electronics. Never got to pursue that path and feel this would be a great exercise to tinker with. I have a soldering iron and some basic tools, have soldered quite a few times so I'm familiar with the basics. But I'd like to expand on that. So any recommendations with respect to soldering as well as tools of recommendation would be greatly appreciated (I currently just have a basic iron stick without any adjustments). Obviously that works but not for everything. Heat control is needed for starters.

I'm also looking for suggestions where I can find the banana's that can be soldered, boots or cable pants, and this tech-flex material. I really don't know where I can find/buy some.

Still need to find a good entry level USB cable of about 4' and a pair of IC's of about a foot... oh pepster? :razz:

Drenis

Well that's embarrassing... I can't even spell the title right... *fail*

Face

For DIY speaker cable: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

For nanners: http://soniccraft.com/products/connections/banana/vampire_b12.htm

Boots/Pants and tech flex can be found at: http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?srchExt=Cat&srchCat=873 and http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?srchExt=Mfg&srchMfg=299

USB cable: http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F3U133V-06-GLD-6-Foot-Hi-Speed-Cable/dp/B000621N26/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330127565&sr=8-2

flyfisher

A few days ago I was thinking about DIY speaker cables and happened to read this thread.Thank you for the links Face and have fun on your project Drenis!

thsmith

Thecableco.com has a great selection of bulk cable.

I like the gls bananas locking at amazon.com

EndersShadow

I used this Braided techflex: its Nylon so it doesn't stretch but it feels silky smooth. I haven't gotten time to install it on my jumpers (being in the hospital and all)

Face

GLS are really nothing special, they're brass just like most cheap nanners.

specd_out

Ebay ebay ebay. Everything is cheaper on there when you add shipping in. I got techflex, cable pants, Adhesive lined 3:1 heatshrink, and nanner plug all cheaper then what it would cost to buy it all from parts express or other companys. I just made mine a few weeks ago. I bought my wire at lowes, its also cheaper there as well.

zane77

Drenis, Don't worry about temp control. way over-rated. I worked in a electronics factory when I got out of college, supervising about 40 women working at soldering stations. They used these grat big soldering irons on pretty small parts, just to heat up what needed to be soldered fast without transfering a lot of heat into the rest of the part and they could solder really fast. You don't need a really large one but something like this will work in most uses.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/WELLER-Soldering-Iron-5JH79?Pid=search
I seervice MRI and CT scanners and this is what I use for almost everything, including making my own speaker cables.

Drenis

Wow... this was all perfect. All questions asked and some great sources.

Thanks peeps, Face, Zane.

drumminman

Chris V has higher end DIY components, as well as some very good DIY recipes for both speaker cables and IC's:

http://www.vhaudio.com/ I've built the braided Cat 5 cables as well as the Finesilver IC's - very nice!

www.takefiveaudio.com is a Canadian company that is good to deal with.

Good luck!

ROHfan

zane77 wrote: »

You don't need a really large one but something like this will work in most uses.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/WELLER-Soldering-Iron-5JH79?Pid=search

$125?? Good iron but WAY too expensive. That one can be had on All-Spec for 85, just be sure to shop around. Think I saw that for 65 once on Ebay. Kinda overkill for basic soldering, IMO, but a solid iron nonetheless.

Systems

You really can't beat this solder station for most work.
I have tried a bunch in the past and this is my favorite hands down.

$99 and shipping is free (not sure about Canada).

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=372-145

When combined with one of these, you should be set for any soldering project.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=100085564&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100085564&ci_kw={keyword}&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100085564&ci_gpa=pla

SCompRacer

Drenis wrote: »

Well that's embarrassing... I can't even spell the title right... *fail*

No worries, I thought it was French! Custome!:cheesygrin:

I second pepster's Weller WES51 recommendation. I got mine for slightly less from Amazon.

Mark_1042

Half of the battle with soldering is keeping your tip clean and "wetted." Wetted meaning you always want there to be a nice layer of solder over the tip. Adding solder to the tip (or "tinning" the tip) when the iron is not in use will help protect your tip from oxidation and make it last longer. Also soldering is much easier when the tip is clean and wetted because it helps with heat transfer.

Use a wet sponge to clean your tip when needed (you can do this when the iron is on). If your tip gets dirty to the point where you can no longer tin it (the solder won't stick to the tip), clean it with a brass pad - if you can find one. If not, you can also use a brass brush but do this lightly and only if absolutely neccessary because it is more abrasive and will cause the tip to wear out faster.

And using tin/lead solder will make things much easier than using the lead free stuff. Lead free solder has higher melting temperatures and will cause your tip to oxidize/become de-wetted fairly quickly. Lead solder flows better and just works better all around.

And flux is your friend.