Easy DIY Interconnect upgrade - $20

Reagan

I came up with an awesome interconnect upgrade for my 1.2TL's. Since the pin/blade interconnect only conducts through the pin, it was not necessary to worry about the blade.

I wanted to upgrade my interconnect but could not bring myself to drill through the speaker cabinet in order to install a new speaker terminal. I noticed that the current pin was 1/8" diameter. The design therefore is based around an 8 AWG conductor which is 1/8" diameter.

Monster Z2 Reference speaker cable can be purchased for an unbelievable price of .99/ft at www.ACCESSORIES4LESS.com.

8 gauge solid copper conductor - price negligible

1/4 inch OD soft copper tubing from Lowes - $5

I suggest using cotton gloves to keep from getting oils on the conductors.

1.Strip the insulation from the conductors.

2. The strands of conductor are each wrapped around a nylon or teflon core. Wind the core out of the strands and snip the cores off.

3. Twist the copper strands from both conductors together.

4. Cut two 1-inch lengths of the copper tubing.

5. Cut two 3-inch lengths of 8 AWG solid copper conductor.

6. Using a center punch or something similar and a hammer, flare one end of the copper tube pieces. This will facilitate insertion of the conductors.

7. Grind and polish the copper conductors to a point on one end.

8. Insert the twisted conductors into the copper tubing.

9. Cut two holes into a 1" thick piece of wood. I used a 2x4 and therefore had to first bore out about 3/4" from the bottom.

10. Insert the twisted conductors up through the wood and spread out the strands. Staple the strands of copper. (I sprayed a shot of Deox Gold conditioner into the center of the conductors at this point). Hammer the 8 AWG conductors into the center until 2" is remaining.

11. Snip the copper strands and file to neaten up the ends. Although this is already a very tight fit, I then used a hex-crimper to further crimp the copper tubing around the strands.

12. Heat shrink as desired.

Total cost for a 15 ft. updraded interconnect upgrade was approximately $20. Photos attached.

Reagan

Initial listening tests prove to be very pleasing! I should also note that this version should only be used for common ground amps.

Bill Ayotte

That's a neat project......If only I had SDA's....Maybe soon

ben62670

Looks good. Nice Job

RuSsMaN

Ask the mods to delete your post.

Re-post, and sell them for $40 a pop.

Cheers,
Russ

Reagan

Honest!

Thanks to whoever recommended the Monster Reference Z2.

schwarcw

Nice work! Thanks for detailing the steps in your project. Did you do anything on the terminal end?

Reagan

and plugged in the polished 8 AWG wire. This is without a doubt the most noticeable DIY upgrade that I have ever done. SDA effects are much more evident. The bass is also extended deeper. Thanks to DarqueKnight for his recipe for using the monster cable. My next project will likely be the crossover upgrade as detailed by HTRookie.

SoundEsc

Just built one with this part list:

- Monoprice 20 ft 12AWG speaker wire ($5.08)
- Homedepot 10 ft 1/4" OD copper coil ($7.42, need only 2")
- Homedepot 1 ft 8 gauge copper conductor ($0.25, need only 6")
- Homedepot 3/8" Heat Shrink Tubing ($2.99)

Works great!