DIY balanced interconnects

Oldears - I'm not sue why you want to build your own cable. How can you obtain low inductance, capacitance, dielectric constant and metal purity without using exotic materials like foamed Teflon in oversized tubes or 9N copper. As for grounding shield on both ends - it never should be done. Unfortunately it is done in XLR interconnects causing problems in recording industry (ground frames). There are many theories where the shield should be grounded but common thing in electronics is to ground shield on the receiving end only.

Oldears - I'm probably more lazy and making things doesn't thrill me as much as it used to. When I was about 16 years old I was building EL34 100W amps and really enjoyed it. Now I don't object anymore to prepacked goods - perhaps because I can afford it and maybe because I'm more lazy as well.

Oldears - It interested me before it became my profession. Now I'm left without a hobby (and time for it) but should be enjoying "project" when retired.

Technology goes toward SMT and often is very layout dependant. Building class D amp, for instance, would require extensive study of PCB layout. There would be always something, I guess, to put my hands on - maybe tube amps just for the fun.