DIY cables

I found a diy site that describes how to build the Transparent Audio Reference XL cables. Has any of you tried this and was it successful? It was on the Instructables site. Can you really make a $17,000 cable with a length of 12/4 wire ,a capacitor and a small coil?

I found the same site and quite a few more tips on a good cable build.

If you have the skills, (and they are by no means some long lost art that only a few have figured out). OK soldering skills, a decent MM, good cable, (doesn't have to be some 100.00 a foot cable) 1-5.00 USD.
Your call on that one. You can use foreign or domestic cable, BOTH are perfect, if they have the same standards as the US, (none of them do),
BUT they all say they do. I USE US made Cable. Simple. I'm NOT an expert STEREO cable builder. Or whatever they are called, SMCB (Senior, Master,Cable, Builder) LOL, Crack me up. But I've built a lot of cables through the years. 

The one you are referencing, I built, cooked and listened to, 
3 meter 12/4
4.25 meter 10/2 (17 footer, no inductor)

BOTH

Sound great and are well worth the effort. WHY? You did it.

I'll have to post some of the project through the years, the TT in the ol,
56 Crown Vic with the retract roof, and a Mcintosh tubes amp stereo system with REVERB. hee hee, Cool one. 

I guess I'll have to dig out my TurnTable project and get it up and running again, Yes I made 5 TT on an old  NON CNC lathe with the help of an old World Master Machinist (Jack Marchio). That was 46 years ago. They were machined from Marine 5052 18" and 8" round billet.
Each TT had 6 alu, lead disk pucks holders, underhung on the main platter. It wound up weighing 47 lbs without  lead weight added, silk bags of lead shot. LOL imported SILK bags, they make all the difference, (sure they do) hee hee

The problem back then motors?, They were a big problem, the cost to run a platter that size was BIG $$$$. Still is, but nothing like then. 

All of us young machinist/mechanics were gonna make our tone arms too, so we did. A guy in Elk Grove Ca (MicroTrac), made them for all the western AM FM Stations. Wonderful tone arms, 10-20" in length. MM or MC. He helped us, while my boss at the time, was repairing and building all of this guys TT platters Sparta, Russco, QRK, Fairchild, Roberts ect.
We also poured a 1" thick silicone deadening mat  (underside drive hub) upon request (VERY expensive at the time) He was a Broadcast TurnTable distributor. His (50 year old aged) Apitong compound pulley, counterweight Tonearms were legendary. (if you can find one)The guy had this crazy idea for an air/argon/co2 suspension platter, that worked and was QUIET. I got that here somewhere.

Yes I made LA -TEE-DA, modified, la-tee-da, quack quack quack.

The fact of the matter is, most  folks DON'T have the money for High dollar cables. SIMPLE. BAD cable is everywhere. So is good, better, BEST and TBOA, (The Best Of All). The ones you can afford and are willing to listen to. My ears are pretty good, actually very good, according to the Doctor that performed my exit physical.
The systems I tried them in and on , all good, not perfect, not the best, but good (what most of us common folk have) well known gear / combos. Mcintosh, Pass, VTL, GR research, AR, Tannoy, JBL, VMPS, Martin Logans, and of course DIY Modular cabinet design (stack and test).
My SAT ideas, ARE MANY, 25 plus combos so far..

The problem with "CABLES", everyone has a better one, or AS GOOD AS, or the "they don't make a difference", crowd. One thing for sure, you can spend 75-150.00 USD and find out. There is always ONE cable, above all others, RIGHT? Probably is,  but what does that cable cost, and or matter, IF YOU or me can't afford it. I mean I'm not gonna sell the OTHER KIDNEY, TOO.  LOL    NO TO THE NAYSAYERS.

I've had a FEW 25,000.00 >< cable sets brought over. Man oh man, sound great, sound different, sound EXPENSIVE. NONE have been BETTER, NONE. Worse yes, oh yea, but none better. Every one took at least a week or so to settle in. The cables I normally use, 45 min after a swap as long as I don't move it too much. Pure copper 4/8 bottoms, pure # 12/2 silver USAF surplus cable for the mids and highs, in multiplanar builds. The cables were cooked for 3 then 4 then 5 days total, and have 200+ hours in a round speaker setup 350hz< and 350hz >. After the first 100, VERY NICE cables, I added a 1.0 15 watt resistor inline -3db or so to the UHF.

500.00 USD in good house wiring upgrades, (Brother use to be the BA for the Local 302 Electricians Union) So the upgrades to my house wiring, came at a substantial discount. Knob and Tube. 1935 build.

Build the cables and pass on your good fortune..

I just want to listen and see  millercarbon's setup, I bet I would be in HEAVEN, literally. I built "THE ROOM" 33 years ago and JUST now am able to finally set it up (RETIRED) properly, according to my muddled, master, 40 year old plan..

I heard a system in Aspen one time at a job site.
The only system I've ever longed for. Kevin Costner or some want to be look alike for sure. ALL HANDBUILT, cabinets, All Seas speakers. Krell pyramid amps and gear, all one of a kind. 4+ MILLION, the AssHat on the job site (KC look alike) said. Biggest jerk of ALL TIME...and one of the worst jobs of all time too. Fractured rock, nightmare!!!

I can afford mine. yup yup. all paid for. yup yup..

BTW, tough to come up with resistor in the second network, I had to use three values. I built 6 pairs of the lower networks within .5%, and added an attenuator (if needed) to the networks + side of the cable.
Easy Peasy mate.

Respectfully

williewonka1,999 posts02-24-2020 12:37pm@audiomaze - take a look at these...

http://image99.net/blog/index.html

The perform great, having exceptional dynamics, clarity and details and an enormous image..

Wow, the direction of the wind makes a difference. CCW vs CW. Once again silver clad over copper in the construction, BRIGHT? SIZZLE?
What type of speaker system are you using, round, planar, electrostatic?
I just can't handle the ear bleeding HF that silver cladding on anything causes. Man oh Man, same with a lot of single hard dome speaker setups. Couple that with this type of cable, COTTON TIME, for me.

The planar/ribbon systems I use or have used, they will boil your ears
using this type of anything, IC, PC, Speaker any and all connects. But a LOT of people I met at shows an such, just love that type of SUPER bright reproduction. I'll pass!  How was it recorded, what was the intent? I like Line Source speakers for the most part, most other people like Point Source speakers. Haya different folks, ay?

The network SPEAKER cables I built are sounding better all the time..
About 260 hours or so now, go for it, well worth it..

Regards

Silver cladding is NOT the problem, niether is solid silver - it’s the type of insulation and the cable geometry that causes the ear-bleading distortions you are hearing.

I've yet to hear a pure silver SC or MC cable I couldn't deal with, same with pure copper. Like I said some people love that bright, sound and call it good. I can walk up on a clad system and tell it most of the time. I've heard a few XLR cables I actually liked. But speaker cable, I'll pass. I haven't heard them all that's for sure. Same with most hard dome tweets.
I'm a LS kind of guy. A single BOILING, tweet just makes me walk away.

As for the insulations, dielectrics I've been tinkering, BIG difference, for sure, BUT clad wire, not for me. When you say Tinned Copper, what is tinned copper? The terminal ends are tinned? I'm not following. Conductors are currently my main focus. BUT Cotton, silk, teflon, hollow tubes of silicone, I'm tinkering, interesting results too. VERY interesting... SILK skirts, certain types of cotton NOT BATTING, TEXAS brown cotton
lot and lots of different kinds of cotton, YUP!!!
Currently, mercury in a solder sealed glass tube with pigtails either end
Interesting sound, tungsten, on the way.

Yea I like DIY, keeps me kinda out of trouble, read my amp meltdown issue. CABLES. LOL

Regards

williewonka2,011 posts

I read through a lot of the information you offered. Interesting indeed.
I read your ears follow a pretty common pattern of most folks.  That is the problem, mine don't. When I was tested for over 40 years for occupational hearing loss, HF sensitivity was an actual issue for me. I tested over 18kh in my mid 30s, at retirement, with my exit, still above 16kh at 65 years then. To be candid I really wasn't trying to ace the test, I wanted to leave... Enough testing...

They  had a theory and finally an answer. The bones in my ears were deformed. The same defect that made my ears VERY sensitive, left 3 of my cousins deaf from birth, theirs being to a greater degree. 
I met a guy at a clinic at Stanford that was being treated for the same thing. A trial with these inserts that really helped. He could hear above 24 kh. He was a music guy to.. wrote reviews for something in the audio field.  He was in his mid 30s also. Lived with cotton in his ears...Believe me when I say it's a curse and a blessing, or a blessing and a curse.. 

I'd love to give the builds a go... I get an hour a day from the old hands.lol that's it.. May be the perfect combo now. Thanks for your information and sharing.  Best results on your future formulas...

I'll keep an eye out..