DIY "HiFi" cables - and why I don't trust BJC and the likes

DIY cables are so bad, such a total waste of time and money


Now i agree, Interconnects are not easy to do,,and the right wire is essential. 
As soon as my DIY Ebay purchase arrives,,maybe saturday,,I'll posta  comment on some of my topics. They seem to be really nice for $45.
I bought the 16 gague,,His site offers lots of DIY wire if you care to make your own,,So seems to me he researched his products very carefully and = I trust he knows his business, Which i do not,, Now speaker cables,,no, I always make my own,,I am doinga  shootout with 10 gague fine stranded vs 12 gague thick stranded,,,have both connected now,,and honestly forgot all about the shootout as i was more concerned about how the new Takman metal resistors sounded vs the carbon film. 
The Takman  were far superior to carbon Film. , So actually i really can not recall a dif,,but let me go back now,,and reck that shootout.
Regards

I do not employ banana plugs. But agree with your position in part, Some audiophiles are lazy and do not want to take the effort fora  small DIY project. 
I just made some DIY speaker cables with Home Depot 12 gague, and DIY power cords with 12 gague HD spool, both same wire. 
I posted a  vid here a  few days ago showing each,,and will repost a new vid showing how to make the power cord. 
I am very happy with this 12 gague power cord and speaker wires. 
Now my interconnects , i just bought a  16 gague froma  ebay seller for $45 includes ship. 
They look real nice , I have to retest my DIY super high tech interconnects again just after i post this, 
I spent on that pair
$100  terminals + $80 cables + $160 labor,,and at 1st listen I did not like them, The wire is super thick,,and looking at a  side slice,,, = do not look worth the $15 a foot. 

My $25 ebay specials sound superior . 
At least at 1st ~~unbiased~~ listen, let me go fora  double ck.
anyway, agree DIY is the wqay to go on speaker (no terminals just plain cut ends),,and DIY power cords are easy, takes about 1 hour,,plugs i bought pure copper for $20 a set from china..waiting now 2 months on the 3rd set of ends. CV19 has china shipping set  back about 2-3  months. AS soon as they arrive i will make the DIY power cord YT vid.
 

I posted the vid to show that I suspect a lot of online audio cable companies basically are nothing more than DIY cable albeit a bit fancy in the appearance.


Oh yes no doubt about it,,, commercial cabels are nothing more than ~~refined~~ DIY,, very well packaged and ~~marketed~~. (=$$$$). 
WEll I am back. 
Verdict:
a  well made interconnect is not better than a  expebisve interconnect, both will sound nearly identical,,and folks will havea  hard time A/Bing the 2.
A poorly construct  interconnect, like the one I had made , cost me over $300,,,turned out to be a  ~~Failed Experiment~~~ (dang it, could have put that $350 towards my Cayin SC6),,:-((
A poor cable is a poor cable,
A good cable is a good cable.
The Ebay MADE IN CHINA no name brand, is my guess as good as the DIY cable i bought from a  DIYer in Kansas,,but we will see, I could be wrong,,,but i doubt it... That will be the last ever pair of interconnects for me,,i have about 3 already,, 3 no name china brand (sound great) + 1 my tech guy gave me (sounds  a bit less?? than the china noname brand, and then the $350 DIY which i may ship to the DIYer in kansas and get his opinion as to why the $350 cable turned out to be a failure. Has $125 set of pure copper huge terminals. That might be the issue. anyway, as to my 10 gague fine stranded speaker wire vs the 12 gague thick wire stranded,,,can not really tell them apart,,so one speaker will have the 10 gague fine and the other 12 gague thicker stranded,,maybe forever,, I may not ever change either, as a statement, = a  a good speaker wire = another good speaker wire. as in physics 
X=X and Y=Y. 
Simple equation. No brainer.
a  50 ft spool of 12 gague cost me $15,,a  10 ft length of 10 gague finely stranded cost me $10, = no brainer go with the Home Depot spool, make your speaker and power cords all from one spool. 
$15 bucks + power cord terminals, a  pair for $20. 
I have made 2 power cords,,the Jadis Defy gets a  7or 8 footer, as i have it running down the wall, along the side baseboard and makesa  turn, then to the Defy,,out the way, not stretched at all. 
Will posta  DIY vid on that power cord mod once the plugs come in from china,,been 2 months now
 

I can say with a fair amount of confidence that YOUR speaker cables would NOT make my systems sound better. It takes a great speaker design, to sound great to begin with


Excellent post.
Exactly,, My Thors will sound exactly the same with DIY 12,14 or even 20 gague,,well 20 ga might bea  bit thin/cutting it close to getting the juice to drive the Thors,, But certainly commercial $$$$ speaker cables are not going to make the Thors sing any superior than my Home Depot 12 gague (50 feet /$15,,lol) 
A high fidelity speaker does not request a  expensive cable. Juice is juice, thats all she asks. 
Now your 50 cent black power cord,,,,well actually a tech guy  might come over and prove to me the huge Defy trans, perform just as well on the 50 cent black thin power cord as it does on my hefty beefy 12 gague DIY with solid copper terminals. But as i say,,i feel more confident with the hefty beefy power cord, that the trans are getting all the juice they could  wish for with the 12 ga, vs your 50 cent PC which is,,cut one open,,you'll see, its like 20 ga, has about 10 hair thin copper strands,<<< trash it, make your own.>>> .

I have made many, the latest power cord version I made is with pure 10 gauge .9999 solid silver covered with a very high quality Teflon. I braided the 3 conductors lightly and terminated them with Furutech NCF fittings


Now THAT is a  expensive power cord.
Buy why pure  silver?? and Furutech NCF adds more to the cost.
But why?
Copper carries 110 volts just as effectively/cleanly as copper.
Here is my version of a  copper power cord
Home Depot 12 gague THHN strand + pure copper termianls from china @ $20 for a pair.
I 've made 2 cords, one for the Defy , the other for the cayin 17 mark1 220 volt, plugs into stepup trans. 
Both really nice, ugly, but highly functional.
When the 3rd terms arrive from china,,going on 2 months ship,,,I will uploada  Vid on the DIY of the cord.
You have to break off the clear plastic face plate to get it to work out.
Silver is not going to carry more juice, nor cleaner juice, vs copper 12 ga.