A MONSTEROUS DIY SPEAKER CABLE

76doublebass · « **on:** 24 Apr 2009, 01:28 pm »

I thought I should share you my experience I had with a pair of DIY Speaker Cable project
I have been up to for the past month. Being retired I am always on a tight budget and
try to find ways to stretch this Audiophile on a meager means to still enjoy SET
Sound without breaking the bank.
I use to have an electric lawn mower with this long bright 100 foot orange extension cord
trailing behind me as I mowed. Well I gave that up went to all gas and now the thought occurred
To me : Lets see what I can do making this into a speaker cable. So I cut into it and had one run on each side and the midrange reproduction on these was very musical and nice. So I thought lets shotgun a pair together like the days of the old Mit 750 Shotgun and see what happens. I did and the soundstage started to open up along with top end transparency. Well I kept working on the cables until I finally came to the magic
Number of 5 runs per speaker cable which made the cable almost 2 inches in diameter with 126 stands
Of copper wire on the negative terminal and 260 strands of copper wire on the positive terminal. This extension cord is 16 gauge 3 wire for one cable. Well I have 5 together. I wonder if that makes it a 4 or 2 gauge LOL. I have the black wire all tied together for the negative terminal and the green and white wire twisted together for the positive terminal. When I finally finished the one problem I encountered was the weight on the terminal ends. ITS HEAVY. I BOUGHT some Radio Shack banana plugs for 12 gauge wire and this did help some. I was able to pull my neg. wires through the plug okay, but the positive wire only partially through. So I will need to get some shrink wrap and finish this up that way.
I also covered the bright ugly orange with black duck tape so as to create less of an eye sore and will be trying to hunt down some teflex big enough to go over these monstrous cables.
Well how do they sound? WOWWOWWOW!!!
I can hear way way back into the soundstage and all and every instrument is heard and played in utter transparency. Even small acoustic instruments can be tracked very easily and I was able to hear talking of the artist after a take as well since some recording engineers did not fade the music out all the way at the end of a take. You can hear the acoustic space of every recording so cleanly and clearly along with the air in the space and the decay of each note is conveyed clear as a bell. Even triangle sounds can be heard nicely.
Talk about an upgrade. IMO this cable in my system sounds like a 2 to 3K pair of speaker cables that I only paid about for $25..00 for the 100 foot extension cord and about $32.00 for 2 sets of banana plugs.
All instruments sound natural and lifelike with plenty of body. I am just in utter amazement at what I accidentally discovered with this cable and I wanted to share it with as many people as possible for everyone
To try this out for themselves and reap the benefits I found on my own.
Now I did not use any special metals, gold, i.e. cryo, or internal lead shot, magnets, or special cottons or silver, or internal water to dampen things out or 20k speaker interface boxes. JUST A 100 FOOT BRIGHT ORANGE EXTENSION CABLE FOR $25.00
Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated
Don C.

rockadanny · « **Reply #1 on:** 24 Apr 2009, 01:48 pm »

Don,
My theory: You live in the north somewhere, perhaps Minnesota? If so, my guess is that the wire was transformed from plain old lawnmower wire to audio grade cable via cryogenic treatment sitting in your garage over winter.

Am I right, or what, eh?

thunderbrick · « **Reply #2 on:** 24 Apr 2009, 01:55 pm »

Quote from: rockadanny on 24 Apr 2009, 01:48 pm

Don,
My theory: You live in the north somewhere, perhaps Minnesota? If so, my guess is that the wire was transformed from plain old lawnmower wire to audio grade cable via cryogenic treatment sitting in your garage over winter.
Am I right, or what, eh?

eh?

Mr Content · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Apr 2009, 02:07 pm »

Good on you for giving it a try Don, I favor big cables, I use 3 runs of Cat5e, which I like. I am will to give your recipe a go as well.I have plenty extension cords to chop up

Mr C aa

Kevin Haskins · « **Reply #4 on:** 24 Apr 2009, 02:45 pm »

Quote from: 76doublebass on 24 Apr 2009, 01:28 pm

I thought I should share you my experience I had with a pair of DIY Speaker Cable project
I have been up to for the past month. Being retired I am always on a tight budget and
try to find ways to stretch this Audiophile on a meager means to still enjoy SET
Sound without breaking the bank.
I use to have an electric lawn mower with this long bright 100 foot orange extension cord
trailing behind me as I mowed. Well I gave that up went to all gas and now the thought occurred
To me : Lets see what I can do making this into a speaker cable. So I cut into it and had one run on each side and the midrange reproduction on these was very musical and nice. So I thought lets shotgun a pair together like the days of the old Mit 750 Shotgun and see what happens. I did and the soundstage started to open up along with top end transparency. Well I kept working on the cables until I finally came to the magic
Number of 5 runs per speaker cable which made the cable almost 2 inches in diameter with 126 stands
Of copper wire on the negative terminal and 260 strands of copper wire on the positive terminal. This extension cord is 16 gauge 3 wire for one cable. Well I have 5 together. I wonder if that makes it a 4 or 2 gauge LOL. I have the black wire all tied together for the negative terminal and the green and white wire twisted together for the positive terminal. When I finally finished the one problem I encountered was the weight on the terminal ends. ITS HEAVY. I BOUGHT some Radio Shack banana plugs for 12 gauge wire and this did help some. I was able to pull my neg. wires through the plug okay, but the positive wire only partially through. So I will need to get some shrink wrap and finish this up that way.
I also covered the bright ugly orange with black duck tape so as to create less of an eye sore and will be trying to hunt down some teflex big enough to go over these monstrous cables.
Well how do they sound? WOWWOWWOW!!!
I can hear way way back into the soundstage and all and every instrument is heard and played in utter transparency. Even small acoustic instruments can be tracked very easily and I was able to hear talking of the artist after a take as well since some recording engineers did not fade the music out all the way at the end of a take. You can hear the acoustic space of every recording so cleanly and clearly along with the air in the space and the decay of each note is conveyed clear as a bell. Even triangle sounds can be heard nicely.
Talk about an upgrade. IMO this cable in my system sounds like a 2 to 3K pair of speaker cables that I only paid about for $25..00 for the 100 foot extension cord and about $32.00 for 2 sets of banana plugs.
All instruments sound natural and lifelike with plenty of body. I am just in utter amazement at what I accidentally discovered with this cable and I wanted to share it with as many people as possible for everyone
To try this out for themselves and reap the benefits I found on my own.
Now I did not use any special metals, gold, i.e. cryo, or internal lead shot, magnets, or special cottons or silver, or internal water to dampen things out or 20k speaker interface boxes. JUST A 100 FOOT BRIGHT ORANGE EXTENSION CABLE FOR $25.00
Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated
Don C.

Slip some TechFlex over them and terminate them nice and you can sell them for $10K/pair. You just have to explain to people that the break-in process takes time. Have a short section in the marketing materials about how they have to plug it in and mow the lawn for 5-6 years before they gel.

Danberg · « **Reply #5 on:** 24 Apr 2009, 03:39 pm »

I'd love to see some photos of your handywork!

76doublebass · « **Reply #6 on:** 25 Apr 2009, 03:34 am »

I'll see if I can get around to snapping a few pics. of these monsters. My web cam really sucks
its ancient. I don't even have a digital camera I'm real old school,But I promise in a week or so to snap up a picture or 2 or 3 of them.It was allllloooot of work to put together.When I hit the 4th run per speaker thats when the cables really took off to an entire different level I have never heard from anything regardless of price. Kinda sounded like the Transparent Reference top of the line,But with much more extended high end
with this lucious full body midrange similar to I would say a Grado Reference Phono Cartridge.
It is true that I did use them for almost 3 to 4 years on the electric lawn mower burning these suckers in
with grass stains imbedded in the bright orange. I also have them as an IC,with just one run per channel
nothing exciting to report on that project. Just sounds like a regular polite IC in that configuaration.
Don C.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #7 on:** 25 Apr 2009, 04:18 am »

Sort of reminds me of the 6moons "White Lightning Moonshine" article....

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/whitelightning/moonshine.html

People may now start tracking down old electric lawn mowers...
instead of the Yardmaster Patio Cords....

Glad it worked for you Don....

BlkNotes · « **Reply #8 on:** 25 Apr 2009, 06:34 am »

Hello DoubleBass;

Is the 16 gauge 3 strands ( i.e. white, green & black) cable solid core? I am thinking not since if there are 5 runs per side, this would make 10 strand of positive and 5 strands of negative. Wondering were the 126 negative & 260 postive came from?

Thanks
BN

Bemopti123 · « **Reply #9 on:** 25 Apr 2009, 11:30 am »

I remember reading about stereo shows where Japanese manufacturers, especially showing up their SET amplifiers had them wired with speaker "hoses" that were extremely heavy. They said the sound was fantastic, perhaps they had their own version of the cable you have discovered. Anyway, excellent ideas. Showing some pics would really get some people excited.

The only thing close to what you are talking about is a run of orange extension cables I got from the Depot and was in the process of wrapping teflon tape over it. It was a tricky adventure handling the plumber's teflon tape, so I left them as it is.

To my ears, these cables have nothing lacking in comparison to commercial cables I have heard, of course, I have not heard cables in my system that go beyond $400....I did hear more expensive cables in someone else's ubber system.

Paul

Harmon · « **Reply #10 on:** 25 Apr 2009, 12:20 pm »

What is the brand name of the cable and where did you purchase it? Thanks

76doublebass · « **Reply #11 on:** 26 Apr 2009, 02:06 am »

The Orange extension cord was purchased locally at a hardware store.This was a long time ago and I do not remember the brand name, But I can do some investigating locally and see if I can find a very close match.
The cable has no writing on the insulation but has the black 3 prong male and the black plug in on the other end. To answer another question: I counted: using my jewelers hat on my head 26 individual cooper strands
for each wire of green, white, and black. Well I simply added all the runs for the neg and positive terminal and they came out to130 strands of wire for neg.Using 5 black twisted wire for the neg. terminal at 26 strands per wire, and 10 wires for the positive terminal using 5 green and 5 white wires at 26 strands per wire for a total of 260 strands.
AND YES I am using this cable on my SET 84C Zen which only puts out 1.8 watts in triode mode or
5 watts per channel in Pentode Mode and the system is really making wonderful music. The speakers I am using are Parker Signature 95's which are rated at 2 ohm load.The amp is rated to run between a1 ohm load to 8 ohms. The amp designer recommended these speakers for his amp and with such a low impedance
drive with the amp and speaker interface I think these home made diy speaker cables were optimized for the load. All frequencies have a great balance sound and makes the amp sound breathtaking.
I am not sure how it would sound on a high bandwidth powerful solid state device.
I am just reporting on what I HEAR ON MY PARTICULAR SYSTEM.
I'll see if I can get any focus on them with my old web cam to submit.
It sounds like some people want to see photos of these right away,I'll see what I can do.
Happy Listening
Don Curry
Bass Trombone Player for The Skagit Symphony for the past 20 years.

TerryO · « **Reply #12 on:** 26 Apr 2009, 03:07 am »

I hate to say it, but Orange is out and Ivory is IN!

My Utilitec 16 gauge 40 foot patio extension cords from Lowe's are $8.44 locally. Used with the superb DIYCable gold spade connectors, they sound phenomenal through my pair of Exodus Audio "Kepler" speakers. Now to be honest, they're driven by a gainclone amp utilizing custom PCB boards designed and configured by none other than Kevin Haskins!

To learn more go to:

www.diycable.com

Best Regards,
TerryO

cornhulio · « **Reply #13 on:** 26 Apr 2009, 04:30 am »

Quote from: Bemopti123 on 25 Apr 2009, 11:30 am

I remember reading about stereo shows where Japanese manufacturers, especially showing up their SET amplifiers had them wired with speaker "hoses" that were extremely heavy. They said the sound was fantastic, perhaps they had their own version of the cable you have discovered. Anyway, excellent ideas. Showing some pics would really get some people excited.

The only thing close to what you are talking about is a run of orange extension cables I got from the Depot and was in the process of wrapping teflon tape over it. It was a tricky adventure handling the plumber's teflon tape, so I left them as it is.

To my ears, these cables have nothing lacking in comparison to commercial cables I have heard, of course, I have not heard cables in my system that go beyond $400....I did hear more expensive cables in someone else's ubber system.

Paul

I use nothing but 10 ga romex but it comes with a warning that it's very stiff and hard to work with and the clarity and detail may not be best suited for everyone

BlkNotes · « **Reply #14 on:** 26 Apr 2009, 05:31 am »

Hello;

Is the Romex 10/3 or 10/2? If the former are you twisting 2 strands for the postive & a single strand for the negative? Single runs?

BN

76doublebass · « **Reply #15 on:** 26 Apr 2009, 08:01 pm »

I'm using a 16/3 black wire is going to the negative in my case 5 black wires,
and 10 wires are going to the positive ; 5 green and 5 white. This is the configuration of my orange monstrous 100 foot extension cable. I have about 6 feet per side ran 5 times over on each side
has me using about 60 feet of the extension cord for this project.
Don Curry

werd · « **Reply #16 on:** 30 May 2009, 07:11 pm »

Hi 76Doublebass

Interesting how you have a heavier gauge onthe positive than the neg lead. I wonder how this would sound in a power cord.

76doublebass · « **Reply #17 on:** 30 May 2009, 10:35 pm »

I never really gave it a try since I have already been building a diy power cord of my own with solid core uninsulated 4 guage seperated in its own 1/2 inch teflon tubing.But I am still working to improve the speaker cable. I have soldered on 4 guage spades from Vampire, on the positive terminal I had to spread open the spade slightly to accomodate the positive wires. I am also working on dampening them with Deflex Paneling typically used for inside speaker cabinets. I have found the Deflex as a vibration control device for ic's and power cords and speaker cables work wonders to the cable and take it to a whole another level sonically.
I hope to post some pictures finally next week some time.
DonC.

76doublebass · « **Reply #18 on:** 6 Jun 2009, 12:01 pm »

I NEED HELP UPLOADING MY PICTURE OF MONSTEROUS SPEAKER CABLE. i TOOK A PICTURE OF IT FROM MY OLD WEB CAM AND TURNED OUT OKAY.

KS · « **Reply #19 on:** 9 Jun 2009, 04:58 am »

The letter codes on the insulating jacket tell much about the insulation and the intended cable service:
SJT & SVT are both PVC insulation (T = thermoplastic = PVC).
SJ has either SBR or EPR rubber insulation
SEOW & STW have TPE thermoplastic rubber insulation
SJO & SJOOW have EPDM rubber insulation
SJOW, SO, and SOW have CPE or EPR insulation

What do all these letters for the types of insulation mean? Beats me except most audiophiles don't want PVC. Other than that, the differences relate to flexibility when cold, oil resistance, abrasion toughness, etc.

When's someone going to use a pair of welding cables each with a single conductor the diameter of one's thumb? While most consider AWG 2/0 to be more than adequate, think how AWG 500 (1.15" O.D., 5002 strands, rated for 720 amps) would open up the soundstage.

Quote

I have the black wire all tied together for the negative terminal and the green and white wire twisted together for the positive terminal.

Why? The electrons need a complete circuit to do their little jobs, and doubling up one side of the circuit will reduce the total resistance ever so slightly, but otherwise, why?