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DIY CABLES Need Advice, Opinions, Supplier Info

I am interested in making my own interconnects and speaker cables and could use some help from those who have experience doing this and have compared them to some of the popular name brands. Given my skills with a soldering station, and the known fact that most high end cable companies do not actually make the cable they use in their designs, I would rather spend my money on those audio items I do not have the skills or experience to make. Here's a list of items I could use some help with:

1. Cables you have tried and where to get them. DH Labs is one that I have read very good things about. I have done a number of searches on this site and others such as Audio Asylum. At this time I am not interested in labor intensive projects such as CAT5 speaker cable, but rather high quality cables(both interconnect and speaker) ready for termination.
2. RCAs, XLRs, Spade Lugs. Recommendations on what you've used and where to get them at the best prices. Cardas are easy to find, but is it necessary to spend that much to get a good connector? Anyone tried Canare F-10 RCAs for example?
3. Silver solder. Where to get it. Also shrink-wrap and any other items I've not thought of.
4. Your listening experience and comparisons with other cables and the systems you've used them in.

Thank you for all your help. And thank you to Bob Crump, Hdm, and Dbui1 for your kind response to my previous query on locating the supplies for Bob Crump's power cable design.
tswhitsel
jeffcott
143 posts
 
Tswhitsel:
Would you be kind enough to share with the rest of us
what you learned from Bob Crump, Hdm and Dbuil regarding
supplies & sources for Bob Crump's power cable designs?
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
The simpliest way:
the VanDenHul online offers you veriety of the greatest quality cables that arn't terminated.
You can also order just wires from them.
RCA, XLR, Bananas, Spades, BNC, IEC, hospital grade wall sockets you can order from www.partsexpress.com.
hueske
124 posts
 
1. Use John Risch's recipe for speaker cables and IC's. http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/index2.htm
Amazing stuff, easy to build, and cheap. All Belden wire. Get the wire from Anixter or your local Belden supplier.

2. I use Cardas SLVR RCA's because they're cheap and readily available, not to mention extremely forgiving (a whole lot of working room). For locking RCA's, I like Supra Cables. For spades and bananas, there is no substitute for WBT.

3. Get parts from www.partsconnection.on.ca or similar. User Kester 44 solder...I find it is easy to work with and sounds great. For heatshrink and techflex (to make your cables look pretty) go to www.heatshrink.com. Over my twisted pair, I use 1/4" Black Techflex directly over the shield, which gives the cables a black mesh over copper look. Very cool.

4. My IC's have spanked Tara Labs Prime Master Gen II's, DH Labs, VDH Ultimate One's, and Homegrown Audio Silver Lace. Amazing sound, they just take a while to build. If you give up on rounding up parts, you can pay a finder's fee and get a kit from www.diycable.com. Cheers!
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