millercarbon... i have to agree with your assessment. No matter how you dice it & slice it, No Way it can compete with manufactured cables. It’s just a waste of time and mostly waste of money! I have been an audiophile for 35+ years, never have i encountered any diy cables that i want to hear for more than 15minutes. It does sounds different; has all the attributes ( high, mids, bass) but the end results to me not as musical. In a blind test ( comparing a diy and branded cables) no doubt that the diy just doesn’t have the musicality ( the soul and heart).
DIY "HiFi" cables - and why I don't trust BJC and the likes
After watching these two youtube vid below, I suspect a lot of online so audio cables companies are like these. They basically use off-the-shelf spool of wire that you can easily purchase from HomeDepot or PartsExpress and dress them up nicely with fancy jackets. I think BJC falls into one of these categories although for their credit, they don't charge a lot of money.
I don't mean all audio cable companies are like that. I do think some well established companies such as AudioQuest, QED ... actually have some real engineering going into their products. For example, QED has a very unique geometry in their cables that you can't get from off-the-shelf. It's just that there are too many online companies that give the cable industry a bad name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuxK-HQGvkI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyEexBJoR-E
I don't mean all audio cable companies are like that. I do think some well established companies such as AudioQuest, QED ... actually have some real engineering going into their products. For example, QED has a very unique geometry in their cables that you can't get from off-the-shelf. It's just that there are too many online companies that give the cable industry a bad name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuxK-HQGvkI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyEexBJoR-E