Anybody make DIY interconnects?

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hypertone
hypertone Posts: 150
edited September 2007 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
I'm thinking of making my own interconnects. The main reason is that I can make some for next to nothing, and I think that they could possibly turn out as good as anything you can buy. I also love soldering and DIY projects. :)

I'd like to try some using coaxial TV cable. I seem to remember that this stuff has 1Mhz of bandwidth, and the center connector is a fat solid core of copper. I know from experience that it is excellent at rejecting noise. I think it would work great.

I also thought about using either STP ethernet cable, or some studio grade Mogami microphone cable.

What are your thoughts and experiences. Has anyone tried this?
Post edited by hypertone on
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited August 2007
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    PM sent about connectors.
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited August 2007
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    I ve used this coax from Canare to make a digital cable but it also works great as an IC .It has a stranded center conductor so it is much more flexible than coax with solid core center.I used Neutric RCA's(see link) but the Canares are also decent.http://www.canare.com/index.cfm?objectid=0D01B44F-3048-7098-AF1C088D26068A8A http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=092-114
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  • hypertone
    hypertone Posts: 150
    edited August 2007
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    Ok, I just built some cables using the Canare Star Quad microphone cable. That is some good cable. I used 2 of the wires for positive and 2 for negative. I terminated the shield at the source end, but left if disconnected from the destination end. They sound great, I noticed a big improvement immediately over my generic cables. $14 for 2 meters of cable and 4 Neutrik connectors. :)
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited August 2007
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    Wow,how did you get the cable and cons so quickly?
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  • hypertone
    hypertone Posts: 150
    edited August 2007
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    Just bought em locally at a place that sells equipment for studios/live sound.
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited August 2007
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    Great glad they made an improvement for you and the cost was far less then you would pay for big name cables.
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited August 2007
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    Good Stuff!
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,085
    edited August 2007
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    I like twisted pairs made from 30-ga, varnish-insulated magnet wire. A teflon jacket makes them a bit more robust, but I haven't had any trouble with 'nude' ones in permanent installations.

    They sound very good, IME and IMNSHO.
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited August 2007
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    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    I like twisted pairs made from 30-ga, varnish-insulated magnet wire. A teflon jacket makes them a bit more robust, but I haven't had any trouble with 'nude' ones in permanent installations.

    They sound very good, IME and IMNSHO.

    Do you twist in a third shield or just use the two?
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,085
    edited August 2007
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    I've only made twisted pairs; a shield could be well worth trying though, now that you mention it.
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited August 2007
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    From what I've read you only connect the third wire to one side or the other (not sure which) and wrap it or braid with the other two. Been reading about this stuff because I would like to try one with silver wire.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited August 2007
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    madmax wrote: »
    From what I've read you only connect the third wire to one side or the other (not sure which) and wrap it or braid with the other two. Been reading about this stuff because I would like to try one with silver wire.
    madmax

    The source side. You don't want to connect it to the target side because you will be passing any noise towards the output.
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  • rtart
    rtart Posts: 823
    edited September 2007
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    All of mine are homemade (RG-6) and they work great. Works great for long sub interconnects using RG-6 with F connectors and F to RCA adapters at the ends.
    My 7.4.4 DIY 4k Home Theater:
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