Fixing your cable problems forever.

I diy’d my speakers from scratch and I’m very satisfied with how they turned out, so diy’ing my speaker cables was a natural step.  There’s a “White Lightning” design on the web that got a lot of attention some years ago- asymmetrical design (2 conductors +, one -).  I added to that design by using 14 AWG, wrapped in teflon, then shielded with carbon fiber braid and tinned copper braid over that.  Finished with TechFlex and some decent banana plugs.  In my system (NuForce STA-200, CEntrance dac, Luminous Audio PP, the results were stunning.  Maybe $200.00 invested.  I’d be hard pressed to go the mega-buck route on cables after this.

Two of the best things you can do to diy your speakers is download WinIsd and Passive Crossover Designer.  They’re both free and an absolute necessity if you’re going to design something that will sound good.  WinIsd models the frequency response for a given driver and cabinet volume and PCD models frequency response for drivers and crossover slopes. There’s a learning curve, but absent these tools, you’re just putting speakers in a box.  Another option would be to buy a kit.  I found designing from scratch to be much more rewarding though.

I started from scratch after having sold all my stereo gear 20 years ago.  It took a good two years to really learn speaker design, and I’m still just scratching the surface. But, for me, the process was as enjoyable as the end product.  And honestly, there’s a certain thrill to comparing what one can build for a fraction of what one can spend on a commercial product.  It’s really changed my perspective on the cost of high end speakers.  As a diy-er, there’s labor and materials- that’s it.  For commercial speakers, all those ancillary costs figure in-  a $10,000 speaker might have $1000.00 in parts, yet there’s this tendency to ascribe a certain level of quality just because it’s a $10,000 speaker.

+1 erik_squires- with diy you can really tweak to get the best response with your equipment/room.  With my diy speakers that meant upgrading the caps from Clarity Cap PX to Mundorf Supremes.  They remain a work in progress; with a commercial product I’d certainly be more hesitant to dig into the guts of a crossover.