PinkFloyd
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2009
- Posts
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I saw these DIY interconnects on ebay last week and decided to order a Broadcast 3 kit as it looked particularly good and very reasonably priced (from £10 to £20 per kit)
I phoned the supplier of the kits (The Missing Link) to get more info on the cables as I wanted to make sure they were genuine Cable Talk interconnects and not replicas.... no need to worry, when Cable Talk ceased trading The Missing Link bought up reels of cable and phono plugs from Cable Talk so these kits are the genuine Cable Talk article. Cable Talk were a very well known UK cable manufacturer and their products were very highly praised by the the Hi-Fi press a few years back so It's good to know that you can snag one of their very highly acclaimed interconnects for a fraction of the retail cost.
My kit of choice was the Cable Talk "Broadcast 3" costing £20. The kit comprises 2 lengths of broadcast 3 cable (Price depends on length but my £20 bought me two 0.5M lengths) and four Cable Talk Reference RCA connectors..... It also includes a construction diagram and a metre of silver bearing solder.
The cable itself has a very robust feel to it.. there are 3 conductors made from 6N pure copper, a solid copper foil shield and a drain wire. The 3 conductors are comprised of 7 pretty thick strands (don't know what guage but let's say they're pretty substantial in girth!)
I don't have all the facts and figures of the cable to hand as I only had a brief chat with Mark, from the missing link, but I'm sure he will furnish them on his ebay pages in due course......
A few pics: (excuse the quality the light was poor)
Outer sheath
Outer sheath stripped to reveal the solid copper foil shield and drain wire
Solid copper foil shield stripped back to reveal the ground, 2 centre pin conductors and drain wire.
It took me about an hour and a half to put the interconnects together (I wasn't rushing) and they were pretty easy to assemble.... as long as you remember to connect the drain wire to the source end only you really can't mess up. The phono sockets are first class and accept solder easily, they are also are a "perfect" fit for the cable and clamp down tightly ensuring a robust, mechanically sound, end to end connection.
Well, an hour and a half later I had made myself a pair of "what Hi-Fi 5 star award" interconnects (that used to retail for £99) for the reasonable sum of £20
Completed cables (again. excuse the picture quality I'll take more detailed pics in better light)
Now to the part I've been dreading! I have always maintaned that "copper is copper" and that custom cables are a waste of money....... I've always felt that the difference between a £5 interconnect and a £500 interconnect is "minimal" (if anything at all) I'm a great exponent of the law of diminishing returns and have been vehemently reluctant to buy into the boutique cable market (especially the Uber expensive varieties in excess of £500) I was bitten back in the 90's by the Monster cable hype and I suppose that's what put me off the idea that "interconnects make a difference"
I'm very self critical of my own workmanship and was expecting nothing from this Broadcast 3 interconnect but, you know what?, I think I'm about to change my views on interconnects thanks to this cable. I don't know how It's possible but this interconnect has seriously brought out an extra 40% of the mix into my ears..... when I first fired up the WNA I immediately noticed the bass was fuller, to the detriment of the rest of the spectrum, but after about an hour....... WOW! I am so amazed at the improvement (across the board) I'll have to come back tomorrow and put it into words......
I never use clichés but until I have time to fully explain the improvement the introduction of this cable has brought about I'll simply say "more air, better bass definition, more balanced, increased clarity....... in a Nutshell, best £20 I've spent on an upgrade this year.
Mike.
I phoned the supplier of the kits (The Missing Link) to get more info on the cables as I wanted to make sure they were genuine Cable Talk interconnects and not replicas.... no need to worry, when Cable Talk ceased trading The Missing Link bought up reels of cable and phono plugs from Cable Talk so these kits are the genuine Cable Talk article. Cable Talk were a very well known UK cable manufacturer and their products were very highly praised by the the Hi-Fi press a few years back so It's good to know that you can snag one of their very highly acclaimed interconnects for a fraction of the retail cost.
My kit of choice was the Cable Talk "Broadcast 3" costing £20. The kit comprises 2 lengths of broadcast 3 cable (Price depends on length but my £20 bought me two 0.5M lengths) and four Cable Talk Reference RCA connectors..... It also includes a construction diagram and a metre of silver bearing solder.
The cable itself has a very robust feel to it.. there are 3 conductors made from 6N pure copper, a solid copper foil shield and a drain wire. The 3 conductors are comprised of 7 pretty thick strands (don't know what guage but let's say they're pretty substantial in girth!)
I don't have all the facts and figures of the cable to hand as I only had a brief chat with Mark, from the missing link, but I'm sure he will furnish them on his ebay pages in due course......
A few pics: (excuse the quality the light was poor)
Outer sheath
Outer sheath stripped to reveal the solid copper foil shield and drain wire
Solid copper foil shield stripped back to reveal the ground, 2 centre pin conductors and drain wire.
It took me about an hour and a half to put the interconnects together (I wasn't rushing) and they were pretty easy to assemble.... as long as you remember to connect the drain wire to the source end only you really can't mess up. The phono sockets are first class and accept solder easily, they are also are a "perfect" fit for the cable and clamp down tightly ensuring a robust, mechanically sound, end to end connection.
Well, an hour and a half later I had made myself a pair of "what Hi-Fi 5 star award" interconnects (that used to retail for £99) for the reasonable sum of £20
Completed cables (again. excuse the picture quality I'll take more detailed pics in better light)
Now to the part I've been dreading! I have always maintaned that "copper is copper" and that custom cables are a waste of money....... I've always felt that the difference between a £5 interconnect and a £500 interconnect is "minimal" (if anything at all) I'm a great exponent of the law of diminishing returns and have been vehemently reluctant to buy into the boutique cable market (especially the Uber expensive varieties in excess of £500) I was bitten back in the 90's by the Monster cable hype and I suppose that's what put me off the idea that "interconnects make a difference"
I'm very self critical of my own workmanship and was expecting nothing from this Broadcast 3 interconnect but, you know what?, I think I'm about to change my views on interconnects thanks to this cable. I don't know how It's possible but this interconnect has seriously brought out an extra 40% of the mix into my ears..... when I first fired up the WNA I immediately noticed the bass was fuller, to the detriment of the rest of the spectrum, but after about an hour....... WOW! I am so amazed at the improvement (across the board) I'll have to come back tomorrow and put it into words......
I never use clichés but until I have time to fully explain the improvement the introduction of this cable has brought about I'll simply say "more air, better bass definition, more balanced, increased clarity....... in a Nutshell, best £20 I've spent on an upgrade this year.
Mike.