Interconnects for Christmas

[thekid]

My brother decided a few weeks ago to try his hand at making his own interconnect cables. He is very skilled with his hands and very detailed oriented when it comes to projects like this so when he asked if I was interested in a pair I jumped on the offer.

I am attaching a pic of some of them and a link over on AK that shows some of the steps he took in making them. So far I have only hooked them up to my Sony ES system and there is a subtle but definite improvement over the run of the mill RCA cables I was using previously. Can't wait to get them hooked up to all of my systems.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=340757

[poppachubby]

Wow! Excellent work! Those look great. Can you list the materials? I am assuming he used stranded copper as a conductor?

7 pairs. You're not heavy, you;re his brother.

[thekid]

Wow! Excellent work! Those look great. Can you list the materials? I am assuming he used stranded copper as a conductor?

7 pairs. You're not heavy, you;re his brother.

Here is the list of ingredients that went into making them.....

Canare Star quad cable (L-4E6S)
Rean NYS373 connectors
PET expandable braiding for the jacket

I can tell you I only hooked up a pair to my Sony ES receiver and tuner and there is a noticable improvement in sound. Much fuller and it seems to have added to the bottom end a little bit as compared to the very basic standard connectors I was using previously.

This new addition has opened my eyes a bit on the affect of quality of the cables in a system. I never will be the guy to spend hundreds/thousands of dollars on cables so I don't see an opportunity down the road where I could A/B these against higher end cables. I will just say a better cable did lead to better sound. I will leave it to others to find where their price point is for quality cables.

[harley .guy07]

they look great. I am like you and believe that spending thousands of dollars on cables is ridiculous and while I am fully aware of the quality difference that cables can make from interconnect to speaker cables and I am a big proponent of having good cables in a system and knowing through experience with cables that quality cables can make a system several times better than bargain basement stuff but I believe there is a limit to how much a person should spend on cables. If a person has a million dollar system and has the means to own such system then yes the best cables are obviously going to be the way to go but in a real world working mans system go with the best you can afford or that you allow your budget to spend on them. there are several brands of cables out there that are excellent for a good price and the DIY people have several options for people that have the skills to create such cables. I have circuit building and soldering skills so I have played around with these types of cables myself. I am a full time student and have a busy schedule so this would not be possible at this time but in the future I might take on some more DIY projects myself.

[poppachubby]

I'm with you kid. I think a person should let the system dictate the cabling, in budget and quality. I'm glad you're experiencing an improvement that's audible. It's not hard when low end cabling is the comparison point.

As you know, I have put in a pair of WBT's into my rig. They are remarkable and have revealed the biggest difference in sound of any cables I have tried before. After living with them for a bit, I have realized one thing about my King Cobras, they are detailed and laid back. I thought they were forward but the WBTs are worlds away in that category.

So I guess my point is this, what seemed like a "lesser" cable infact turns out to just be different, and great unto itself. I have installed my King Cobra between my Bozak and soundcard for ripping LPs. This is an important role around here. I had a pair of Monster 300i in before that, a nice low cap cable for analog work. Of course, the AQ kills it.

The WBT is working between my pre and amp, and then I have an Audioquest Coral from my dac to pre.

I am really happy with my cabling now. John Micheal helped to get me going, and i am glad he did. The improvements have made it worthwhile, and it's a fun tweak to play around with.

kid I love the parts he used, all quality. Y'know, Geoffcin and i both have the WBT 0101 locking RCA's on our cables. They are incredible and perhaps you could consider that as an upgrade down the road before actually switching them out all together. I have read online about guys doing this, and having good results.

Anyhow enjoy your cables buddy you deserve it!

[Worf101]

Great gift kid. I cannot say that I can hear the difference between a $35.00 cable and $3,500 cable BUT I can tell you in all honesty I can tell the difference between a freebie cable and a good $50.00 one. I've experienced that change out first hand when I started substituting garbage spaghetti cables with decent sub-100 dollar ones. Your bro's quite gifted. I'll be following this thread for updates.

Da Worfster

[thekid]

Had the time this morning to add them to my main set-up.
Overall it has had more depth and a fuller sound to the entire set-up.
The biggest WOW factor took place with my MSB DAC.
It has really taken listening to CD's up to a whole level.
Seems to have really helped out on the extreme ends with clearer highs and tighter bass.

We will be rocking in the New Year with this set-up tonight!!!!!

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