DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread

[Paladin79]

Very good method, my people use something like that. Most anything small enough that will accept solder and not have a sharp pointed end can work.

 

[kwatch]

I doubt you would hear any difference to be honest.

There is a difference but it has more to do with the construction of the connector and what happens when you plug them in and out. If you are going to just plug the cable in and leave it, the less expensive one should be fine. Today I happened to be using the higher end connector because of the cable size I was using. 1694A is probably just over a quarter inch in outside diameter.

It looks like Belden 1505F is more flexible than 1694A. I might go with that cable. What is you opinion on 1505F?

 

[Paladin79]

Very good cable and for home audio you are fine. It has a stranded center conductor thus better flexibility. It is the rg 59 version of the 1694 (rg 6). We build all short cables with RG 59, anything past 50 feet we generally switch to rg 6 but that is long for home use lol. 1505a is the solid wire version. Solid wire of the same gauge conducts a bit better than the same gauge in stranded. Think about it, a solid object or smaller objects separated by small gaps. There are trade offs to everything. Computer patch cables are generally stranded wire because you can flex them more times than the same wire in solid before they break. Solid conducts better so it is used inside walls more or plenum air spaces. I do not plug cables in and out that often and it would take thousands of bends to break a cable. Coax deals with just one center conductor and it is surrounded by a white dielectric so it is a little tougher to bend very much anyway.

 

[funch]

MikeJSmith

Brilliant idea. I'm stealing it on my next cable.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Hey, I’m sure everyone already has this figured out but I thought I’d share the way I’ve been sleeving some 26awg wire with paracord.

I tried the inching along like a caterpillar but that was soul destroying so I got some thin, hollow brass tubing from a hobby store.

Then stripped a couple of cm of the wire and soldered it into the tube. It was easiest using the heat gun attachment to my gas soldering iron.

Then it was super easy to thread the tube through the paracord. Took less than 5 minutes for each 1.2ish metre wire, including soldering time.

Hope this helps someone!

This looks like a great idea. Can you provide any more info on the copper brass tube? Most importantly, what's its outer dimension?

 

[MikeJSmith]

This looks like a great idea. Can you provide any more info on the copper tube? Most importantly, what's its outer dimension?

I think it’s brass not copper. The store had a lot of train model stuff so I assume it’s used there. 1.5mm external diameter with a 1mm hole, about 300mm in length.

Edit - it looks like most of this is sold in inches, so it was 1/16 outer diameter. Cost me £1.50.

 

[Allanmarcus]

I think it’s brass not copper. The store had a lot of train model stuff so I assume it’s used there. 1.5mm external diameter with a 1mm hole, about 300mm in length.

Edit - it looks like most of this is sold in inches, so it was 1/16 outer diameter. Cost me £1.50.

Great! This looks like the tube, for those of us that live in the middle of nowhere.

https://www.amazon.com/PRECISION-METALS-8125-3PK1-Tube/dp/B000BPIL9Q

Note one of the sellers is Amazon, with prime.

 

[Paladin79]

Here is another quality RCA connector that would work well with Belden 1694A cable, or 1505A or F. This is the Canare F10. The one on the workbench still has the stress relief spring attached. The cable I am using is a little too large for that so i am mounting them sans spring. This is some semi serious coaxial cable I am using and it is right at 8 mm outside diameter so many rca connectors do not have that large of an opening. Last photo shows the high end Neutrik and some brass switchcraft that I modified greatly to get the proper look for a steampunk project. I may have the last 40 feet of this cable in existence and it is on its way out the door to match the amp in the second photo.

 

[i luvmusic 2]

WOW!I really admire your work beautiful as always...

 

[Paladin79]

Thanks luv, these being for my son I took a little extra care to make the cables match up with the amp. and if he gets the all black Music Hall turntable, they should all go together well. I was a little hard pressed to find RCA connectors to fit this cable but things are working out.

 

[kwatch]

Very good cable and for home audio you are fine. It has a stranded center conductor thus better flexibility. It is the rg 59 version of the 1694 (rg 6). We build all short cables with RG 59, anything past 50 feet we generally switch to rg 6 but that is long for home use lol. 1505a is the solid wire version. Solid wire of the same gauge conducts a bit better than the same gauge in stranded. Think about it, a solid object or smaller objects separated by small gaps. There are trade offs to everything. Computer patch cables are generally stranded wire because you can flex them more times than the same wire in solid before they break. Solid conducts better so it is used inside walls more or plenum air spaces. I do not plug cables in and out that often and it would take thousands of bends to break a cable. Coax deals with just one center conductor and it is surrounded by a white dielectric so it is a little tougher to bend very much anyway.

I have a dumb question. Does it have a minimum length I need to consider?

 

[hoskoau]

Last photo shows the high end Neutrik and some brass switchcraft that I modified greatly to get the proper look for a steampunk project.

Those Neutrik connectors are very nice, love the spring loaded system and the very pleasing click when they seat.

 

[Paladin79]

It is difficult to build such a cable less than about 5 inches long since you need room to slide the backshell down the cable prior to seating it, other than that there is no minimum distance. This is using RCA connectors.

I once read that impedance is not a factor under two meters in length.

I have explained impedance before. Can anyone explain without looking it up why this cable has a 75 ohm impedance? (Belden 1505a and 1694a etc.)

Those Neutrik connectors are well made and their construction lets them really grip the ground ring on the jack.

 

[Pilotdog68]

Has anybody experimented with coating a custom cable in plasti-dip or flexseal?

I did a trial run with a thin layer of plasti-dip spray and it was looking pretty good. I had to strip it off because I hadn't done the Y-split yet. I'll probably do a whole cable with it unless someone has a good reason why I shouldn't.

 

[leeperry]

say I wanna use two 2.4mm OD wires in a SMC Hifiman plug, I guess I'll have to ditch the plug cover and heatshrink the hell out of it huh?