Are DIY Cables Worth It?

Sprigowl wrote:"I ran down to Home depot just this Monday to get 14/2 solid core copper wire, and some cheapo metal spades. I stripped the PVC covering, removed the ground wire, crimped the black/white wire with the cheap spades and connected to my SS amp, MF pre-amp, and my Proac. Crank the system up without even burning in the wires, and WOW! was my first reaction. I can clearly hear the difference, and what a difference."

I have some 12/2 BX from HD that I had cryo treated which I used for my dedicated line. Plenty left for speaker cables! Would be funny if they bettered my Van Den Hul Magnum Hybrid/CS-122Hybrid bi-wires, or would it? Hmm I think I'll continue tube rolling before starting a speaker cable shootout. Great thread! Enjoy!

Back in 1969 I used solid 14 gauge copper Romex for speaker cable, and it was a HUGE improvement over the 18 gauge zip cord everyone was selling for speaker wire.

Just like then, a "walk on the water" bargain for the buck.

If you guys are going into this, I can tell you It actually sounds better if two pair are assembled into a "quad" of conductors with two wires making up opposite sides of the pair, across the "square" of conductors.

In fact, it was not until 10 years after this experimentation, when Fulton, Peterson Engineering and Audioquest introduced their hot designs (about 1979) that I abandoned my home made stuff.

As with all things audio, the biggest bang for the buck is at the low end of the scale. That's true regardless if the discussion is comparing a Lenco turntable against a Rockport, an Oppo CD player against an EMM Labs or Romex cable against Audioquest, Cardas, Purist and Nordost.

If I had not done my experiments, I would have never appreciated the work that goes into truly great cable design. There's no doubt DIY cable can provide great sound, and no doubt is has no competition when dollars are added up.

I think this applies to most things in life, from cars to homes and even computers. Most of us have budget limits and must make financial decisions about what toys we can go crazy on.

Hey, "Listens2tubes", how did you "cryo" treat your cables? Did you had someone do this? What does "Cryo" treating add to characteristics of the wire anyway? I'm begging to see more of this more in some cable co. Is this just marketing hype or what?

Hi Springowl,

In answer to your question regarding purity, I have some experience to share. Over the last few months I have been testing some different wire purities and alloys. To my surprise I have not heard any significant difference between 99.995% pure silver, 99.95%, 99.5% and unbelievably 92.5% silver/7.5% copper (sterling silver). In fact my ears preferred the sterling over the high purities. I begin to wonder about the purity claims and their need to be so high. I do understand that ultra-pure silver and copper will tarnish less, but???

I have also had some rather interesting discussions with the refiner who claims they can not guarantee the purity of silver above 99.95% due to silvers tendency to pick up contaminants during the wire pulling process. They claim they could start with 5-nine silver, but the end wire product will not test out at that purity due to this tendency of silvers.

In the end, it all is a mute point. Whatever the claims and the true results, it's the resulting sonic quality that matters, not the metallurgy.

jd

I'm begging to see more of this more in some cable co.

Sorry for the bad sentence, I meant to say "I'm begining to see more of this in some cable co."