DIY rca interconnect cables?

[dvenardos]

Looking for some suggestions for DIY rca interconnect cables. I am thinking Belden cable and some RCAs. I don't like monoprice's RCAs, they don't grip tightly enough, so just looking for a baisc DIY replacement. Know I can't beat their price, but don't want to spend $100s on cables and want to standardize my cables.

Thanks,
Don

[corndog71]

I recommend homegrownaudio cables. They sell their wire in bulk and also sell cable kits. A long time ago I bought a couple of spools of their wire and made a complete set of braided interconnects for my system.

Within the last year or 2 they came out with cotton insulated silver and copper wires. I've been looking forward to buying a spool of them to use on my projects. Oh yeah, I wired up several preamps and amps with their wires as well.

Great stuff!

https://www.homegrownaudio.com

[gotchaforce]

av-outlet.com will build a cable for you that is pretty damn good for the price, i was going to make DIY RCA cables and then av-outlet sells them with basically no labor cost so i said screw it and just ordered from them

[dweekie]

If you want to practice with some teflon coated cat5 wire, I'll send you some. You can take some braiding lessons from the wifey if you need to :neener:

I also have some HGA wire that Corndog mentioned. Good stuff at a decent price for silver, which always carries a price premium.

[dvenardos]

If you want to practice with some teflon coated cat5 wire, I'll send you some. You can take some braiding lessons from the wifey if you need to :neener:

:thinking:
Okay, I will bite, even though I will look like an idiot. :D Unwind the cat 5 and braid it into pairs. :confused:

[rumonkey2]

Planet Waves Kits...

http://www.planetwaves.com/CIHome.Page

Nothing to fancy, but kits seem simple enough....:scratchchin:

[dvenardos]

Dweekie hooked me up with some of his cat 5 wire, so now I just need to look for rcas.

[corndog71]

From my experiments with cat5 wire, it just doesn't sound very good.

I've braided the wires, used twisted pairs and even made a big, fat speaker cable out of a ton of cat5 wire.

My impression was always changed after listening to it for some time. The cat 5 wire tended to thin out the sound a bit. It's hard to describe but I just didn't like the effect the cat5 wire had on the sound. It just didn't sound right to me.

As always YMMV.

[dvenardos]

The Thomas and Betts snap-n-seal RCAs look pretty interesting if you want to go with a Belden 1694A cable:

Physical Properties
• Body Components: Brass
• Body Finish: NiTin
• Terminal/contact: Brass Berillium Copper
• Insulators: TPX
Electrical Properties
• Return Loss: -30 dB up to 20 MHz Typical
• Insertion Loss: -0.05 dB up to 20 MHz Typical
• RFI Shielding: -120 dB up to 20 MHz Typical
Mechanical Properties
• Cable Retention : 40 lbs min. Complies to
SCTE IPS-SP-404
• Cable Insertion Force: <20 lbs
Environmental Properties
• Temperature Rating: -40˚F (-40˚C) to 140˚F (60˚C)

http://www.homenetworksupply.com/Home-Theater/Connectors/SNS1P6RMBK/

http://www.tnb.com/pubint/docs/snapnseal.pdf

[soloz2]

the use of quality solid conductors in a litz braid will sound better than all the above suggestions.

My personal favorite low cost wire is Cardas coated. You need either a temp controlled iron or a solder pot to use it though as you have to burn off the enamel before you can solder it.
sleeve it though some cotton or teflon and then braid and you're good to go.

Here is a good quality 'cheap' RCA plug

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=092-112

[cburbs]

Here is some info -

http://www.whatisrazar.com/

Parts for DIY Canare -
DIY Canare Cables - Parts used Canare LV61s - Canare RG59 Coaxial Cable , CB04 - Stress Boots, RCAP-C4A - Canare Crimp RCA.

[dvenardos]

:cool: to see what everyone does.

Thanks,
Don