[guest48077]

Hi Everyone.
This is my First post in th LAB.............I hope to make DIY XLR cables.

I have seen a lot of post for DIY speaker cables with CAT 5etc on the AC. What about BALANCED XLR? Are there no Unique way to make XLR cables?  Does anyone on the AC have a killer DIY XLR Cable recipe. Looking to run this from my TVC to amps? Something fairly affordable maybe $20 to $40 a par?

[MerlinWerks]

To concoct my favorite balanced cable recipe for either analog or digital, get some of these connectors and some of this cable.

[Jon L]

This review of 5 balanced cables, DIY and commercial, may be helpful.  I often agree with this reviewer's take on various equipment/cables...

http://www.10audio.com/5_balanced_cables.htm

[guest48077]

Thanks for the reply's!!

Some of these options look pretty good

[jeenie67]

....I make my own XLR interconnects from Cat5e wire, surgical tubing and Nuetrik connectors for about $20 a 3' to 6' length and an hours time. What I have is balanced and QUIET! If you'd like some pics...I should try this now that I'm immobilized with a massive foot injury!   jeenie

[guest48077]

....I make my own XLR interconnects from Cat5e wire, surgical tubing and Nuetrik connectors for about $20 a 3' to 6' length and an hours time. What I have is balanced and QUIET! If you'd like some pics...I should try this now that I'm immobilized with a massive foot injury!   jeenie

Hi Jeenie,

I would love to see some pics. I do like the idea of using CAT 5 as it is cheap and I have read positive results.
Are these Balanced cables? If you do send some Pics can you give a short description on how YOU wired them as well. thanks a lot.

[jeenie67]

     Hi. Here ya' go!

This starts as a length of 1/8" ID surgical tubing wrapped with 6 strands of the 8 strand Cat5e wire (you have to strip it all down). I chuck the wire and the tubing in an electric drill motor (VSR) and SLOWLY wind the wire around the tubing at a 45 degree angle to the tube. Then with the help of Armor All, dish soap, and a stiff fish wire, feed the assembly through a larger length of surgical tubing (1/4" ID). Then I silver solder the 3 pairs of solid copper wire to the terminals on the Neutrik connectors. After a continuity check I paint the soldered connections with nail polish.
     See "Rane Grounding and Shielding Audio Devices", "Rane Sound System Interconnection", and "Crown Amplifiers In Depth" for data on achieving a true balanced connection. www.crownaudio.com and www.rane.com

     You can buy the tubing cheap at a True Value hardware store or steal it from the hospital like I do every time I bust myself up!  lol!  If I had enough of the Cat wire left I'd give ya' some, but I sold the last of the big roll on eBay (funds my audio habit). I'm currently in the process of converting all my components to balanced operation including my vintage Harmon Kardon/ Rabco arm turntable and Conrad Johnson PV-7 preamp. Before with just the Crown amps running through an Aphex Interface I had silent running. I live next to mega RFI and I had to put my ear on the speaker to hear the hiss....I don't like anything hissing at me! Hope this gives you a little insight. "Tanx"   Jeenie67.

[guest48077]

     Hi. Here ya' go!

This starts as a length of 1/8" ID surgical tubing wrapped with 6 strands of the 8 strand Cat5e wire (you have to strip it all down). I chuck the wire and the tubing in an electric drill motor (VSR) and SLOWLY wind the wire around the tubing at a 45 degree angle to the tube. Then with the help of Armor All, dish soap, and a stiff fish wire, feed the assembly through a larger length of surgical tubing (1/4" ID). Then I silver solder the 3 pairs of solid copper wire to the terminals on the Neutrik connectors. After a continuity check I paint the soldered connections with nail polish.
     See "Rane Grounding and Shielding Audio Devices", "Rane Sound System Interconnection", and "Crown Amplifiers In Depth" for data on achieving a true balanced connection. www.crownaudio.com and www.rane.com

     You can buy the tubing cheap at a True Value hardware store or steal it from the hospital like I do every time I bust myself up!  lol!  If I had enough of the Cat wire left I'd give ya' some, but I sold the last of the big roll on eBay (funds my audio habit). I'm currently in the process of converting all my components to balanced operation including my vintage Harmon Kardon/ Rabco arm turntable and Conrad Johnson PV-7 preamp. Before with just the Crown amps running through an Aphex Interface I had silent running. I live next to mega RFI and I had to put my ear on the speaker to hear the hiss....I don't like anything hissing at me! Hope this gives you a little insight. "Tanx"   Jeenie67.

I appreciate the Pic and the description. I will try this (most likely with  different "housing" materials. There is another DIY cable technique that I will combine with yours ( I would share but cant find the page right now) Thanks alot, hope you foot is better soon. I will post pick of these when done so keep an eye out on AC

[JoshK]

Very cool jeenie!   I am greatful for the pic, it helps me visualize your directions.   I've used the tube technique on some silver IC's but never had tried the outer tube over everything.  I like that idea. 

How stiff is the surgical tubing?  I used teflon tubing for the silver IC's and its so stiff it keeps stressing the strain reliefs on the eichmanns and busting the silver wire. 

[jeenie67]

.....and never a problem with shorts or disconnection.

       Here's a pic of the various items I've found so far for making up cabling. There's two more pics in the Gallery.
     "Edmund Scientific" is a good place to seek surgical, chemistry (C) tubing, and other useful DYI supplies. I used to buy from them as a young Laddy when I was into C. I'm not sure if they're still around, but it's worth Googlin' them up.  Wrapped around the Altec driver is 1.0"ID C tubing for my upcoming speaker harnesses. For them I'll use 12-3 house wire, solid copper, wound at 45 degrees without a core tube. This tubing is very expensive, but I was able to trade the C Dept. for some shelving I made for them.  The dark orange tubing is extremely pliable. This is gas feed line for C Bunsen Burners with a 3/16"ID.  The strain reliefs are just what they are, bought at Grainger's Industrial Supply for 110v power cords. They can be found online (they have some primo cooling fans and all sorts of neet stuff!).
      Sometimes I dab super glue on the soldered connections before I paint them with nail polish (I haven't finalized my system yet, it's now in the process, so I keep things workable. As you can see the IC's are in a stage of modification to their color coding). Heat shrink tubing works well here too if you can fit it all in the connector's housing. The most difficult operation in making these IC's up is trimming the stock Nuetrik strain reliefs with an X-Acto knife to accept the large diameter tube then greasin' them up at final assembly. Care must be taken threading on the connector housing as not to disturb the soldered joints.
      This is fun stuff to do! Now that I'm pretty much living on the floor, I'm tearing into all my electronics and finalizing the system. I bought Nuetrik male/female connectors for all my components chassis and they're in the process of being wired "balanced." Everything ground to the point of entry!
     Another good point to mention here is the power coming into your home (and I do this living in an apartment!). I have a dedicated 110v line from a mini circuit breaker box tapped off the mains that has it's own grounding rod outside (steel rod 4' long sledged into the ground with 9" above the ground line) and is isolated from the rest of the houses wiring. You have to experiment and see what really makes a system quiet in your situation.
     Well....I hope I've given someone something to think about while sippin' morning coffee. My Dipole speaker project (see the Open Baffle threads) is in the final formulation and blueprint stage now that I'm unable to shluck anything over 4lbs. around. This one will be good!    "Tanx" ...  Jeenie!
     

[454Casull]

Why not use shielded CAT5?

[jeenie67]

.....that the reasoning behind an air dielectric interconnect (ic) is it's superior RFI and similar atmospheric wireless transmission rejection over any shielded cabling on the market (in my opinion and research studies).
     If one were to read my original correspondence, they would discover that I live in the direct signal paths of a abundant amount of "air traffic". Within footage of my audio/visual components are a multitude of citizen's band radio, interstate highway law enforcement/interstate traffic control radio communications, cellphone relay antennas, airport/airline radio traffic, and other communications relay antennas. I've purchased (from Music Direct and Acoustic Sounds) many expensive ic's only to return them as my home-made cables were much quieter, better sounding, and way cheaper. I've paid over $500 for a pair of one meter interconnects and A-B compared them to the ic's shown in my photos; mine won the battle hands down. Correspondence with these two companies has been rather pleasant as the service/sales rep.s understand an audiophile's quest for sonic excellence and have taken back the items without any costs to me.
     If one were to study the design and engineering of signal propagation and reception they would find that a device as simple as a coat hanger makes an effective antenna when configured correctly. Equally so, a single length of wire will attract many sky and ground signals; it's precise length and diameter or gauge will "tune" this wire or conductor to certain frequencies. Hence enter the ic.
     Recently radio antennas have been integrated with the ac power line. Makes one think...jeeze...what about my ic's?
     And what about the"sonic" qualities possessed by the various ics out on the market. In one reply here a mention of silver wire....this adds brilliance to the sound in most instances. For my Altec horns this is the last substance I'd choose. Experimentation with braided copper wire, multi-stranded wire, and solid copper wire brought forth the conclusion that for my listening tastes and equipment, solid copper proved the finest sonically. Later tests with electronic analyzers gave confirming data to my theories on ic design and implementation (the cross hatch assembly of the wire strands cancels the "reception" quality of wire). The choice of transference device was determined in dedicated listening tests of an array of materials and purchased ics. There's something peculiar about contained air (my parents called me once complaining that their new outside lantern timer was interfered with by the remote control unit of their TV. Every time they switched channels the outdoor lights either went on or off. I packed the receptacles box with small bubble wrap and solved this problem)
     For my system these ic's work the best, sound the best, and do not cost me an arm and a leg in either time nor monies.....and they were fun to make with my girlfriend watching me as she thought me to be the mad scientist and quelled my crazed demeanor with Dad's Root Beer! "Tanx" for your question,  Jeenie.

[guest48077]

Ok
well after doing some research here on AC and around the web I have made my first DIY Interconnect. I started of wanting to make Just XLR balance cables but ended up making some RCA to RCA and RCA to XLR for the rest of my system. Here is a brief outline of how I made the cables. Very few of the Methods where my own during this process of making the cables. I did however discover some interesting material during the build process.
So.......................
MATERIALS - 
- CAT 5e Plenum
- Plumbers Teflon Tape
- Cotton Cord
- Connector
- electrical tape


Here are some visuals to describe what I did.



Wrap with Teflon Tape (Plumbers tape)



Now what is that strang material over the cable you ask? I stumbled upon that stuff at A bead store called BeadFX in Toronto. I originally went to the store to get Cotton Cord and found this stuff. It is 85 cents per meter. I looked all over town and could not find Tech Flex so I settled with this. It looks pretty cool IMO

I had another problem with the cotton cord. I couldn't find it in a think dimension. So I twisted it up and made my own cord out of really thin cotton cord. I came up with the genius idea of using a Fishing reel to do this. I tied one end to a solid object (door knob) and the other end to the fishing reel....then spun it. It worked perfectly. When you fold the cord the cord twists around itself. Now to avoid this you can just find thick cotton cord. So here is the final product. Each signal is running with a twisted pair






Cat 5e about 8 bucks (and I still have more)
E tape - 85 cents
Teflon Tape 50 cents X 2 = 1 dollar
Cotton Cord Large Roll - 10 bucks
I had the connector already from other cable etc

I did make 2 cables XLR to RCA out of Silver wire, that was 20 bucks for the wire.

Over all each cable was pretty cheap and the experiance was enjoyable.



 

[jeenie67]

 ....Looks great!!  I like em' !!!  You sure learned a few tricks. Your ingenuity is commendable!   I heard of using a fishing reel in a TNT Audio DIY website; it sure did the job for you. I also tied the wires to a door hinge pin to spin them. I also read using shoe laces in patterns and colors makes for some cool looking outer coverings. Nice cables....and making up a supply to interconnect various components is a smart move. If your not aware already, silver wire has a tendency to brighten a systems tonality in most cases. My Altec horns, while they sound phenomenal reproducing orchestral works and especially brass instruments, are a wee bit harsh at times so silvers definitely out in my system. Solid copper (after much experimentation with various wire ) sounds the best for my listening taste.
     I just finished making up some speaker cables ( being immobile with my heel injury, I have plenty of time to attend to these projects that have been sitting for months). I made these the same way as the IC's; chuck everything up in a VSR drill motor. Having a lot of time to play I put grommets in the 1" tubing for the Cat wire to exit and am using all eight of the strands (split into + -) for the tweeters. I run active crossovers. My Altec M-14 passive crossovers are going on eBay this weekend.
     It's nice to see some good work and feel that you might have helped out a bit too! Be safe!  Jeenie.
               

[jeenie67]

...produced a very favorable result.
   It looks so cool period!    I had some old friends (girls who came in very handy carrying the bags up for me) come over as I was returning from grocery shopping so we all went upstairs to chat etc. The first thing you almost trip over is the big fat clear chemistry tubing housing the speaker wires as one enters the living room. WT hell is that? was the first exclamation. Have a seat and listen was my reply. I cued up Steppenwolf's "For Ladies Only"; fine choice! Chrisie who's very knowledgeable and appreciates tube equipment was all smiles...she's heard my system before when she used to live downstairs. I attended to discerning differences before the changeover; a slight improvement. The others including my nephew who motored me to the store just eyed the cables, turntable, and the neet little fans that ever so slow cool the tubes in the Columbia HF power amp. Conversation never left the topic of cabling; outside of ...grab me one too! (beer).
   The important thing here, to me, is that the age differences between us all held no significance. While the younger ones with their i pods and such were content, as they should be, they still held an appreciation for real audio. To see their expressions as a dinosaur medium such as a record player and albums in their opinion, fed by a thick tube of wire to the speakers brought forth questions....with smiles and curiosity. Why are they twisted like that? What's the big tube for? How come they're so big?  Why do you have so many wires, I only have one a side? This I think more than my personal satisfaction in fabricating them and enjoying a sonic improvement makes it worth it.  Wait till my 26 year old son comes over......."Tanx" for reading,  Jeenie.

[guest48077]

Well................................... ................So I made my Cables (see above). I Just confirmed my suspicion............. One f my CABLES SOUND DIFFERENT? I have two RCA to XLR made out of silver and the same connector that sound different. I Pumped Pink noise through my system to test, I changed speakers ( I own 4 identical speakers), and changed cables and came to this conclusion.
The difference is very noticeable when PINK noise is listened to. One cable has more low freq and seems a little louder. Both cables sound nice I just want then to sound the same !!..........................ANY THOUGHTS.........Has this happened to anyone else and there DIY cables ...........................seems pretty weird to me. Well maybe i will make another one and see what happens.   
Thanks



MARK KNOPFLER - One Take Radio Sessions

[jeenie67]

....Boy!  You got me on this one. Of the matter of interconnects, or any other cabling; every particle of matter imposes it's signature on the performance characteristics (sound qualities). Every solder joint....everything may have an effect. As you stated, try fabricating another IC as close as possible to another and hope!  This is interesting so please post your results.   "Tanx"  Jeenie.

[jtwrace]

I use Techflex all the time for work.  Here is the company website: http://www.techflex.com/  They will not sell in small quantities but you can purchase that from: https://www.wirecare.com/land_SleevingMain.asp

[Bob in St. Louis]

"WireCare"...Great site, lots of neat stuff, thank you! 

[jeenie67]

...by identical speakers may play a part here. I just read an interesting article which described the sonic differences in two new expensive tower speakers which although "matched" by the manufacturer, sounded somewhat different to the reviewer. Carefull re-placement of just one of the cabinets balanced out this phenomenon.    Makes one think.....again!   Have a great week all, Jeenie67.