"I like to tinker ..."
Good for you, sir. Damn good.
But when you tinker, especially with cables, be aware that teflon insulation begins to break down at about 250C. One of the breakdown products is hydrogen fluoride, HF, a very toxic gas.
So, when soldering cabling with teflon insulation, be a little careful - I use a respirator and work in a fume hood. Maybe it's overkill, maybe not. Mogami bulk cabling is available without teflon, which might work better for you if you don't have the facilities in place.
Anyway, I doubt if you can improve much on simple DIY cables using quality connectors (I prefer ETI). And nothing in my system is mid-fi.
By the way, Almarg is absolutely right about low capacitance cables.
Good for you, sir. Damn good.
But when you tinker, especially with cables, be aware that teflon insulation begins to break down at about 250C. One of the breakdown products is hydrogen fluoride, HF, a very toxic gas.
So, when soldering cabling with teflon insulation, be a little careful - I use a respirator and work in a fume hood. Maybe it's overkill, maybe not. Mogami bulk cabling is available without teflon, which might work better for you if you don't have the facilities in place.
Anyway, I doubt if you can improve much on simple DIY cables using quality connectors (I prefer ETI). And nothing in my system is mid-fi.
By the way, Almarg is absolutely right about low capacitance cables.