Best DIY interconnects and speaker wiring

[docbob52]

I am of the camp of the electrical engineering comunity  that wire is wire and that interconnects and speaker wires do not make a sonic difference....but so many audiophiles disagree with me.  What do you think, and what is the best DIY cables and speaker wires you know of?  i can't pay these crazy prices for the retail stuff.

Please advise me.
 

[galyons]

I am of the camp of the electrical engineering comunity  that wire is wire and that interconnects and speaker wires do not make a sonic difference....snip

  So, honestly, why post this? These threads are rarely productive, usually only aggravating.  Save yourself some money and  just use whatever wire is to hand!!  Of course, since this is Bottlehead's forum, there is always...

http://bottlehead.com/?product=bottlenect-rca-interconnect-cable-kit

Cheers,
Geary

[Grainger49]

I'm of the other Electrical Engineering camp.  I astounded many of my coworker engineers showing them that some of this stuff makes a difference. 

I don't have Bottlehead interconnects, but I do hear a difference in interconnects.  Not everybody does and that might be system dependent.  I do have the Bottlehead power cords and, again, they make a difference in my system.

I have gone through all sorts of speaker wire.  When I got my Orcas I got wire from Blumenstein, it is Blue Jeans Cable #12.  Big stranded stuff.

So give the interconnects a try.

[corndog71]

Differences in cables are what got me into this hobby.  But it wasn't until I tried some different cables and heard it for myself.  If you don't want to experiment then use whatever you want and I would recommend staying out of the debate.

If you do want to experiment, try some Kimber Kable Tonik and 4VS.  They're not crazy expensive.

[Paul Birkeland]

Cables are kind of a funny part of audio.  You can DIY a ton of different great interconnects or speaker cables for the cost of one high end pair. 

If you want to really listen for cable differences, just change the interconnects between your moving coil phono cartridge and step-up transformers.  The small signal level and sensitivity to capacitive loading will exaggerate differences between cables.  (These differences may not manifest in the same way elsewhere in your setup)

Though I do snicker at his flowing locks occasionally, I will defer to Nelson Pass's expertise on this one at the link below.

Speaker Cable Measurements

[docbob52]

Thank you all for responding. I just want to get your recommendations as I have and open mind about this .   

[Bonzo]

Ciao,
Another cheap option to try is using an untwisted pair of solid core cat5 cable for the speakers.
They are freaking thin when compared to mainstream cables, but they are saying to do wonders!
I use them in my second setup (1543 nos dac, 2024 based amp, and fostex 103 fulltange), they perform particularly well in the bass!

[aragorn723]

Hello,

Another possible option for the speakers is extension cord wire (the kind you use when doing yard work outside).  I bought some from home depot a few years ago, cut off the connectors on both ends, and hooked up banana plugs to each.  The gauge is very thick, but the resulting sound was very nice.  It made a big difference in soundstage and treble clarity.

Dave

[Grainger49]

Ciao,
Another cheap option to try is using an untwisted pair of solid core cat5 cable for the speakers.  .  .  .   

Another twist on this is to take one conductor from each twisted pair for plus and minus.  You then have a plus in each twisted pair and minus in each of the twisted pair.

I don't know if this works.  I used them for a while in my system and went back to another configuration.  But as long as you are messing with Cat-5 you can do this for free.