Cable Building

Discussion in 'DIY' started by Skyline, Sep 30, 2015.

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  1. Thenewerguy009

    Thenewerguy009 Friend

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    Did you use Hal-O Jr. dampers or the more expensive ones?
     
  2. aufmerksam

    aufmerksam Friend

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    This is definitely working, many thanks! I thought about peeling a few away but worried about botching the cut job; I hadn't considered using wirecutters, though it seems obvious now. Again, thanks everyone!
     
  3. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    Cool thread. Maybe I'll learn something new :D

    Keep 'em coming, boys!
     
  4. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Meh, and here's me hoping that you were going to post your dirty secrets- your work is lovely :)
     
  5. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    Thanks. Since you're such a sport, one 'secret' I'll share. One of the most fundamental things is all semi-products, but the wire itself is the most important one. Before trying dozens of them, I was convinced that that's not the case, but when I sniped one which turned out to be far better in comparison to everything else, well... this does make a big difference. After cherry-picking the priciest option by far, then geometry kicked in, then solder etc. It might sound like bullshit to many people, which is fair, but to my ears it's not. Years ago I also thought that USB or power cables are all alike...

    And here are some bad news. It's very difficult to get one's hands on something that's actually great for the job. Places which provide a wire which can be said to be great are only several on our planet. And talk with each of these 'places' starts from huge pile of money involved. In my case five figures costly orders REGULARLY and FREQUENTLY, otherwise they don't even bother. That's the commitment I have to make in order to keep the same quality in my cables in check. There's no cutting corners here and I don't intend to. Consistency is crucial even in case of boutique products.

    That one place in particular I work with for years now customize my orders to my specifics. What's done to my cable before it's wrapped in insulation is the secret sauce I can't spill. But that process alone also makes my wallet bleed.

    Additionally, extremely pricey products were never my goal. I wanted to deliver something very good, yet priced reasonably and I'm happy that it worked out and still does since late 2011 (that's the date when I established my business). I could sell several very costly products per month, but the decision was made to do the opposite; make them more affordable, with lesser cut per product for me, yet selling more in the process.

    Cheers!
     
  6. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    the older ones, white teflon tube with silicon like bumpers
     
  7. BaconBits

    BaconBits Acquaintance

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    So I finish braiding my cable only to realize I'm after I soldered the headphone connectors on that I didn't label the wires. Is there any way to see what's what? I tried to measure the resistance but either it was too little or my multi meter is not sensitive enough. Suggestions?
     
  8. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    Resistance should be zero with the same wire. It should be infinite resistance if not revealed wire.

    If your meter has a diode checker, you can use that. It will beep when connected.

    Touch the leads to test.
     
  9. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

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    Here’s a little tutorial I put together a while ago that should help you. It explains how to test for continuity.

    https://sites.google.com/marcusfamily.info/diynotes/tips/testing-continuity
     
  10. BaconBits

    BaconBits Acquaintance

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    I tried what you guys said today and it still doesn't work. I think it may be my wire since I tried it also on a long run of mogami and it worked, but when I tried it with my FAW OCC 7N Cryo Copper Wire that I'm using it didn't measure anything.
     
  11. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    I assume it's litz and you haven't taken off the insulation/tinned the cable tips? Tin them and try again if they're litz.
     
  12. BaconBits

    BaconBits Acquaintance

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    [​IMG]
    Thanks for all your help! Finished my first real custom cable today. FAW occ wire with Rean and Viablue plugs in a 3D 4 wire braid.
     
  13. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    Yeah, that was my next suggestion. The Litz insulation will burn off when you solder it, but it is no good to try to test. I found this out myself many years ago with trying to fix a 7506 cable.
     
  14. brooster

    brooster New

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    Hi Guys. New around here and new to cable building but I would like to get involved in the thread , hopefully contribute and certainly learn. It seems the randos on this site are sometimes prone to making errors of judgement, or stepping on somebody's toes. I have no agenda, only to learn. Errors of judgement are entirely my own.
    The cables Ive been working on are for my HE 560's. I built up 2 versions, one cheap version which uses 24awg stripped out of Gotham DGS 4/1 and inexpensive connectors. The other cable is a little more serious using up-occ 28awg solid core with high end Eidolic's all around.
    I would like to try something different so Ive been thinking about either 24k gold plated high purity copper inside a teflon tube air dialectric, or going to high purity solid silver in the same kind of configuration.
    I dont have much experience with either gold plated copper, or solid silver they just seemed 2 alternatives which might be interesting to try. Any thoughts?
    [​IMG][/IMG]
    [​IMG][/IMG]
     
  15. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    I've played with some solid core wire from ELF custom cables for interconnects. Nice sound, if a little U-shaped. Very smooth sounding, but almost to a fault. Not nearly as strident as cheap solid core silver. Neotech also makes some gold plated hook up wire, i think HiFi collective out of the UK sells it.
     
  16. brooster

    brooster New

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    The gold/copper and the silver I was thinking of are both from ELf. The silver is 6N and about 1.00/ft when you buy in bulk.
    ( Is that the strident cheap solid core you were talking about. lol )
    Its a bit of a gamble in DIY when you are forced to buy a lot of one thing which may be crap.
    The gold/copper is also in bulk but good to know it might be ok.


    From the darkness of Rando world. How in the heck do I post a pic?
    Ive tried hosting.
     
  17. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

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    The easiest is to use the Gallery on Head-Fi. Add the pic there, save it, then show it. Right click on it, select the image URL, then come here and use that URL for the Insert Image URL feature.
     
  18. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Imgur isn't terrible. They won't maliciously take down your photos just because they don't like the other sites where you choose to post it.
     
  19. brooster

    brooster New

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    Ok, thanks for that. I tried using tinypic for hosting, but maybe thats why they call it tinypic. ie You cant even see it.
    Ill give the gallery a shot.
     
  20. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

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    Oh. I guess because I also link to my images on HF posts as well, they don't screw me. I didn't realize they were removing images.

    https://imgbb.com also seems to work for embedding images in forums. Easiest is till to view the image and right click to get the URL.
     

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