This past weekend i built the Chris Venhaus recipie CAT5 cables. I ordered a 100' spool of Belden 1585a from mouser, and 4 pairs of Dayton audio gold banana jacks from Partsexpress. Total cost was around $60-$70.
The recipie calls for you to cut lengths 50% longer than your desired speaker cable length...and cut the 14 lengths you need. Since i only had 100 feet, i just cut 7' lengths..and ended up with cables about 5' long.
It took me around 9 hours to do it from start to finish. It's an insane amount of braiding....but i would do it again.
So..the results :
Didn't notice anything at first over my crappy radio shack lamp-wire grade cables, and i was somewhat disappointed...but i knew there was a break-in period. After about 3-4 days of putting music through them, they came alive. The sound is so much more round....much more bass response...the stereo image even sounds broader..wider.
They sound incredible! Even my wife, who has absolutely no ear for this stuff could tell a difference. I suppose that's the biggest test, isn't it? When i put them together i sat and wondered if i would be able to even tell a difference...how much of this hobby is fooling yourself into thinking the money you spent makes a change for the better. Well....if my wife could tell, then you can be sure it was a serious improvement!
Here's some pics of the finished product, as well as some pics of my setup at the moment ( we all know how your system changes daily! )
-Maz
The recipie calls for you to cut lengths 50% longer than your desired speaker cable length...and cut the 14 lengths you need. Since i only had 100 feet, i just cut 7' lengths..and ended up with cables about 5' long.
It took me around 9 hours to do it from start to finish. It's an insane amount of braiding....but i would do it again.
So..the results :
Didn't notice anything at first over my crappy radio shack lamp-wire grade cables, and i was somewhat disappointed...but i knew there was a break-in period. After about 3-4 days of putting music through them, they came alive. The sound is so much more round....much more bass response...the stereo image even sounds broader..wider.
They sound incredible! Even my wife, who has absolutely no ear for this stuff could tell a difference. I suppose that's the biggest test, isn't it? When i put them together i sat and wondered if i would be able to even tell a difference...how much of this hobby is fooling yourself into thinking the money you spent makes a change for the better. Well....if my wife could tell, then you can be sure it was a serious improvement!
Here's some pics of the finished product, as well as some pics of my setup at the moment ( we all know how your system changes daily! )
-Maz
Attachments
..and my turntables around the corner. Just finished with my Transcriptor Saturn table with Vestigial arm yesterday..has a Shure V15 type IV on it. Sounds amazing.
Had to stack my Tech 12's to fit it by the mixer, which is my phono stage until my Foreplay Seduction arrives.
-Maz
Had to stack my Tech 12's to fit it by the mixer, which is my phono stage until my Foreplay Seduction arrives.
-Maz
Attachments
the question is, which is more fun to watch - the tv or all those glowing tubes?
that's a lot of braiding. when i made my cables a couple years ago i was too daunted by that approach, so i did the simplified version where you just braid 3 whole cat5's. still that was enough work for me.
and there have always been SAF issues with the resulting bulky speaker cables, even though i clothed them in white fabric tubing. seems you don't have that problem...
/andrew
that's a lot of braiding. when i made my cables a couple years ago i was too daunted by that approach, so i did the simplified version where you just braid 3 whole cat5's. still that was enough work for me.
and there have always been SAF issues with the resulting bulky speaker cables, even though i clothed them in white fabric tubing. seems you don't have that problem...
/andrew
Soon there'll be even more glass to distract you....im building tube amps for every channel of my home theater, less the sub.
That Technics AC-500 ( suggested by Planet-10 ) does the DTS decoding, and is bypassed when i'm listening to music or watching TV....the foreplay is my main preamp.
I'm using that Ashley 1U 125watt monitor amp to bi-amp my center channel....but i have no rears as of yet. I have the speaks, just no power
Looks like i've got alot more braiding to do as well
-Maz
That Technics AC-500 ( suggested by Planet-10 ) does the DTS decoding, and is bypassed when i'm listening to music or watching TV....the foreplay is my main preamp.
I'm using that Ashley 1U 125watt monitor amp to bi-amp my center channel....but i have no rears as of yet. I have the speaks, just no power
Looks like i've got alot more braiding to do as well
-Maz
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