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Post by dean0 on Jun 12, 2009 15:32:16 GMT
Bored so i knocked this together 3.5mm to x2 RCA -Yarbo Rca's -Switchcraft 3.5mm gold jack Sounds very nice, and no more humming noise from my pc, cable is shielded
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Post by dean0 on Dec 2, 2009 23:34:53 GMT
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Post by clausdk on Dec 2, 2009 23:43:42 GMT
Dean if it is for an Ipod you should really consider putting a dock at one end, it just makes the sound much better.
Nice Braiding, but I have read somewhere that it should be loose (and ugly) to guard for RFI.
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Post by dean0 on Dec 5, 2009 12:52:55 GMT
Yes I should have used a dock connector, but I had all these parts to hand, I didnt realise the braid should be loose, have you any links on the subject?
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Post by clausdk on Dec 5, 2009 13:31:20 GMT
Here is where I read it www.artisansilvercables.com/construction.htmI have not any idea of it is true, they do not write much about it but it is mentioned. (it is that pesky memory, it stores all kind og strange things) You could make some experiments and practice your fancy braiding, it looks cool, then we all could learn something when you report back about 46 different types of braids and their noise dampening properties, there sholud be work for a couple of hours and you are already crosseyed so no harm will be done there.
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Post by dean0 on Dec 5, 2009 16:41:27 GMT
Thanks
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Post by hifijunkie on Dec 11, 2009 7:32:50 GMT
Hi Dean,
Any chance that you could post a small video of Round Ritz Braid for audio speaker cable ??
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pjc68
Been here a while!
You dissin me?
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Post by pjc68 on Dec 11, 2009 9:45:11 GMT
Hi all that round litz braid cable is a copy of the kimber kable, interwoven design to reject rfi. www.kimber.com/ If it works the same then you will hear a big difference after about 500+ hours burn in. pjc68
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Post by dean0 on Dec 11, 2009 11:30:10 GMT
Hi Dean, Any chance that you could post a small video of Round Ritz Braid for audio speaker cable ?? Start with the four wires side by side. a. Take the leftmost wire and cross it OVER its TWO neighbors. b. Take the rightmost wire and cross it OVER its ONE neighbor. c. Take the leftmost wire and cross it UNDER its TWO neighbors. d. Take the rightmost wire and cross it UNDER its ONE neighbor. Repeat steps a-d until done. Hope that helps! dean0
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Post by dean0 on Dec 11, 2009 11:32:19 GMT
Hi all that round litz braid cable is a copy of the kimber kable, interwoven design to reject rfi. www.kimber.com/ If it works the same then you will hear a big difference after about 500+ hours burn in. pjc68 ;D
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rickcr42
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Post by rickcr42 on Dec 12, 2009 4:49:58 GMT
My absolute favorites as far as SQ goes is a twisted pair of 24AWG Radio Shack "intercom"{ wires with Switchcraft RCA plugs.Simple,cheap ($15 Stereo Pair !) and not ugly in my eyes.
Limitations ?
Not for very high RF field areas or as an input to very high gain circuits due to possible noise pickup where or very long runs ( 1.5' to 3.0' Max).
Nine to 15 feet I move to a PBJ braid configurationin the same 24AWG or a "quad braid" of 26AWG enameled magnet wire
and finally for inputtting to a high gain circuit or for longer runs I move to fully screened beldons
Nothing fancy here and in fact as minimalist as I can get away with for the intended use plus none break the bank even though ALL sound great to my ears
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rowuk
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Post by rowuk on Dec 12, 2009 9:26:51 GMT
My absolute favorites as far as SQ goes is a twisted pair of 24AWG Radio Shack "intercom"{ wires with Switchcraft RCA plugs.Simple,cheap ($15 Stereo Pair !) and not ugly in my eyes. Limitations ? Not for very high RF field areas or as an input to very high gain circuits due to possible noise pickup where or very long runs ( 1.5' to 3.0' Max). Nine to 15 feet I move to a PBJ braid configurationin the same 24AWG or a "quad braid" of 26AWG enameled magnet wire and finally for inputtting to a high gain circuit or for longer runs I move to fully screened beldons Nothing fancy here and in fact as minimalist as I can get away with for the intended use plus none break the bank even though ALL sound great to my ears THANK YOU!!!! I really do not trust any of the high end cable makers. They have an agenda that is only EXPENSIVE to me. We have a couple of factors in cables that are predictable: shielding, capacitance, resistance and inductance. All of those things can be VERY WELL BALANCED in a low end self constructed cable. The audible differences in cables are primarily due to what I mentioned above changing the frequency/power/time response or allowing the introduction of RF into the chain. All of this can be measured, and in fact is for the audio recording engineer world. Funny enough, microphone cables do not come in a flavor of the month version. The specs are published and the engineer picks what is best for the distances and type of mics being used. Easy as that! I will maintain if something needs 500 hours to burn in, we have no comparison any more and therefore the assumption is not valid. I do not need miracles to explain good or better sound. Wire will only change when exposed to extremes like so much current that it gets warm. Capacitance changes when the dialectric changes or the distance between the strands. Resistance is a factor of the amount of copper between point a and b. Inductance is negligable for most wire winding methods. Shielding is a function of the output and input impedance of the kit that we are trying to connect. One factor that may be not often mentioned is the minimum length of a cable or a knick in the cable which could cause electrical reflections. If we feel good about having expensive cables, fine. We live in a free world. I prefer to spend my money on more high quality music.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Dec 12, 2009 12:23:48 GMT
I really do not trust any of the high end cable makers. They have an agenda that is only EXPENSIVE to me. .......... and it's an easy way to make money too! I mean, terminating a length of cable with a couple of phono plugs.... not exactly rocket science is it? ;-) Anybody, and their dog, can get into this racket all that is required is a soldering iron, a wire stripper, some heatshrink and a heat gun and BINGO! you can call yourself a "lab" and claim all sorts of great things for your length of terminated copper ;D I have always thought these "boutique" interconnects are a rip off, same goes for these obscenely fat lengths of mains cables, there is no need for any of it and it's a license to print money.
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Post by dean0 on Dec 14, 2009 20:08:29 GMT
Another cable for HD650's, I didnt use braiding for better flexibility. A cheap alternative to Cardas made HD650 Cable, soundwise I have noticed subtle changes, but I need more time for a proper comparason to the stock cable. Parts used; -Cardas Plugs -Furutech 1/4 Jack -Mogami 2543 Cable -Viablue Alluminium Splitter -Viablue Heatshrink over the Cardas Plugs -Cardas Quad Eutectic Solder Headphone Extension Cable 3.5mm to 1/4 Jack Parts Used; -Yarbo 3.5mm Jack -Neutrik 1/4 Locking Jack -Mogami 2543 Cable -ELECAUDIO Shady Graphite Braiding -Cardas Quad Eutectic Solder
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rickcr42
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Post by rickcr42 on Dec 15, 2009 6:51:55 GMT
Hey Mikester,you really want to try these puppies www.tubedepot.com/p-sc-3502a.htmlThey break my "minamal metal/ultralight rule but dammit ! They sound so damn good when compared with other rationally priced (and most ultra price) plugs they are all i use these days Pretty ? hardly but the truth is i don't spend a whole lot of time LOOKING at my connections anyways when listening to music because with me it is MUSIC FIRST,screw the rest In full disclosure though I DO admit to using Cardas Rhodium RCA Jacks which again,sound damn good to my ears
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on Dec 15, 2009 9:48:38 GMT
BTW-I probably should add I think the above examples are some very fine DIY work and my comments were meant in no way to crap on what was obviously a labor of love.
It's just that after years AND yearss of having "low mass" device tip back from the sheer weight of the interconnects (unless chassis mass was upraged,not always practical),and years of having commercial products having jack spacings not condusive to using large "pretty" rca connectors I began to seek out other options wilt ALL these options leading to small wires and small RCA plugs.
What I did NOT expect was the sonic upgrade these minimalist interconnects brought to my system,especially in the imaging arena.If there is a downside it is that there CAN be a tendency towards "lightweight" presentation of the bass notes,something mostly avoided by sticking to solid copper conductors AND by using associated equipment that is not already inherently bass shy thus needing artificial bass "bump ups" by the to balance out the sound.
Bottom line,if your system can resolve the little things,the soft notes with LIFE the simplistic cables allow more information to pass through without imparting their own sonic footprint on the sound allowing one to hear the actual GEAR and less so the cables
at least in my personal opinion
rickmongo
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Post by PinkFloyd on Dec 15, 2009 13:25:43 GMT
Hey Mikester,you really want to try these puppies www.tubedepot.com/p-sc-3502a.htmlThey break my "minamal metal/ultralight rule but dammit ! They sound so damn good when compared with other rationally priced (and most ultra price) plugs they are all i use these days Pretty ? hardly but the truth is i don't spend a whole lot of time LOOKING at my connections anyways when listening to music because with me it is MUSIC FIRST,screw the rest In full disclosure though I DO admit to using Cardas Rhodium RCA Jacks which again,sound damn good to my ears Bloody hell man, we must think along the same lines I always use those switchcraft plugs! look see: rockgrotto.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=q&action=display&thread=4428They are cheap, simple and most definitely do the job!!
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Dec 15, 2009 15:31:27 GMT
too damn funny man it IS a sleeper jack which is a shame because these puppies will still sound good YEARS after thin gold plated far prettier plugs will and especially so if you follow a proper regimine of at worst unplugging-plugging a few times in a row every six months or so to break the crud film that has gotten into the non-gas-tight connection or at best unpluggin and treating with a contact cleaner/conditioner which beats the living sh*t out of thin platings in rapid time from all that friction tearing up the plating which i have seen come off in sheets with some "mystery meat" no names (but ohh ,they were pretty fkers.) And hell,if TOO UGLY for some you CAN use heat shrink tubing from end to tip thus "fooling" some into thinking they are silver plugs even if it does screw up the capacitance levels ;D
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Post by PinkFloyd on Dec 15, 2009 15:49:22 GMT
too damn funny man I thought you'd like that No doubt about that and a plug which should be "mainstream" as it is extremely durable and will last years and years.... thing is, they don't "look" the part so cable junkies won't buy into the "but, they are durable and good quality" sales pitch.... they prefer glitzy looking "gold plated" types with a large price tag.... a shame really as they don't know what they're missing
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Post by dean0 on Dec 15, 2009 16:57:38 GMT
Blingin! 30cm RCA Interconnect, before I get flammed for using 'boutique' connectors, I needed the locking type, and these were some of the cheapest I could find ;D -Yarbo RCA Locking Connectors -Mogami 2534 Cable -ELECAUDIO Shady Graphite Braiding -Cardas Quad Eutectic Solder
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Will
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Post by Will on Dec 15, 2009 17:34:25 GMT
Some cable that I have used in my builds is Van Damme pro grade XKE instrument cable. VDC. The main reasons I chose it were 1. It was a signal cable with an integral screen (less wiring) and I was ordering from Farnell anyway (PN:3855764 - it was 80p cheaper/m than current price. It nice and flexible, strips easy and is nice to work with. I've not made any interconnects with it, but have used it for internal signal wiring. I also used this coaxial cable to make my spdif cable, with nice 75R BNC connectors on the end VDC coax which again I bought from Farnell (PN:3855879) Again, flexible and nice to work with. Nice stuff, not too expensive (at least when I bought it, anyway) and seems a good quality cable. I would like to try the lo-cap version of this though: www.vdctrading.com/products.asp?SubSectionID=1&secName=Van+Damme&Page=3#p984
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rickcr42
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Post by rickcr42 on Dec 15, 2009 20:23:27 GMT
he Waqy Mickey,I noticed your "ghetto" cable building clamp/gizmo and I have to say yes,looks like a workable Jig and yes,likely took some real thought before it worked out as you wanted but dude,there IS a better way,one that could make your life sooooo much easier in the long run (all that cussing can wear a full grown man OUT !) and is something ?I have used for many years to snap out ther audio interlinkages. Simply put (would do the picks but mine is in storage along with ALL my electronics tools and bench meters ) I used a piece of 8x10x3/16 " thick birch veneer furniture grade plywood (though any similiarly size wood stock will work in a pinch,just don't go thicker !) to which I attached every manner of both male and female versions of any and all audio connectors I expect to use in my lifetime (panel mount verrsions of obviosly).Now some of these puppies still need a fair amount of back clearance so I used "stubby" furniture feet with built in bolts for clearance between the panel and the work surface to which I attached "bumpon" feet so the bitch won't slip all over hell whern i am trying to solder (nothing worse than CHASING AROUND that which you would solder ),In my case because I have ready access to a chop saw (miter saw) I shortened the front feet then put a 30 degree angle on all four so for me personally I had a better work angle (when i do cables it is in bunches which if the angle is wrong can get you one heel of a neck ache which can lead to a ripping headache so I touch all preventive bases). So for example if I want to whip out ten stereo pairs of RCA interlinks with this cable jig it is a simple matter to plug the male end right into the female jack making for a VERY stable work surface then commence to soldering away.For one offs even a simple vice will do in a pinch but for any quantity this babby can save your ass and once you get the feel for it is like a fertkin cable building machine the chore becomes so easy. Cost is near nothing since you only need a representive rather than audio quality jack/plug (not using the bitch for anything other than as a tool remember) and as a side benefit it draws off some of the extra heat which anyone who has done cables KNOWS can save you from deforming or in some cases actually MELTING the dielectric if one is present meaning it is toast and must be replaced which IS expensive since this IS audio signal path grade so in my mind an indespensible TOOL if you plan on ever doing more thasn two sets of cables in your lifetime and that goes for 99.9% of us knuckleheads
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2009 20:54:04 GMT
Ever worked in the UK Rick The first audio outlet I worked at, a predecessor had set up pretty much what you describe on the front edge of a work top, including the angle. The handiest way of soldering terminations I've come across and I have used mini versions of it throughout my time in the trade. Always meant to rig one at home, thanks for the reminder.
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Dec 15, 2009 22:12:55 GMT
Ever worked in the UK Rick The first audio outlet I worked at, a predecessor had set up pretty much what you describe on the front edge of a work top, including the angle. The handiest way of soldering terminations I've come across and I have used mini versions of it throughout my time in the trade. Always meant to rig one at home, thanks for the reminder. nope,never even got a chance to visit unfortuneatly and was somthing on my eventual "places to see" list. As for the "JIG",I am not sure WHERE I got the idea but i DO know it is not mine but something I came across either in print or online many years ago with my only "touch" the thirty degree angle due to me knowing what a strain leaning over can be when working for long periods,at least i THOUGHT so but either way,the angle is VERY important and man,these babies are even easier to make than the actual interrconnects so the question is.... why doesn;t EVERYONE that makes cables have one of these hmmmm ?
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Post by PinkFloyd on Dec 15, 2009 22:13:54 GMT
he Waqy Mickey,I noticed your "ghetto" cable building clamp/gizmo and I have to say yes,looks like a workable Jig and yes,likely took some real thought before it worked out as you wanted but dude,there IS a better way,one that could make your life sooooo much easier in the long run (all that cussing can wear a full grown man OUT !) and is something ?I have used for many years to snap out ther audio interlinkages. Simply put (would do the picks but mine is in storage along with ALL my electronics tools and bench meters ) I used a piece of 8x10x3/16 " thick birch veneer furniture grade plywood (though any similiarly size wood stock will work in a pinch,just don't go thicker !) to which I attached every manner of both male and female versions of any and all audio connectors I expect to use in my lifetime (panel mount verrsions of obviosly).Now some of these puppies still need a fair amount of back clearance so I used "stubby" furniture feet with built in bolts for clearance between the panel and the work surface to which I attached "bumpon" feet so the bitch won't slip all over hell whern i am trying to solder (nothing worse than CHASING AROUND that which you would solder ),In my case because I have ready access to a chop saw (miter saw) I shortened the front feet then put a 30 degree angle on all four so for me personally I had a better work angle (when i do cables it is in bunches which if the angle is wrong can get you one heel of a neck ache which can lead to a ripping headache so I touch all preventive bases). So for example if I want to whip out ten stereo pairs of RCA interlinks with this cable jig it is a simple matter to plug the male end right into the female jack making for a VERY stable work surface then commence to soldering away.For one offs even a simple vice will do in a pinch but for any quantity this babby can save your ass and once you get the feel for it is like a fertkin cable building machine the chore becomes so easy. Cost is near nothing since you only need a representive rather than audio quality jack/plug (not using the bitch for anything other than as a tool remember) and as a side benefit it draws off some of the extra heat which anyone who has done cables KNOWS can save you from deforming or in some cases actually MELTING the dielectric if one is present meaning it is toast and must be replaced which IS expensive since this IS audio signal path grade so in my mind an indespensible TOOL if you plan on ever doing more thasn two sets of cables in your lifetime and that goes for 99.9% of us knuckleheads To be honest Rick, I don't make many interconnects, maybe1 pair every few months but, if I did, I would certainly make up the jig you describe above. My philosophy with everything I make is "make it as simply as possible using the minimum of materials and tools"..... I have seen me, many years ago, using my "feet" as a vice and getting into a right two and eight (state) over complicating things.... with cables all you really need is a length of cable and some plugs.... anything else is pure garnish. Spurred on by this thread I knocked up a 1 metre length of interconnect this evening which I will offer as a Prize in the next competition. In usual "pinkie" style it is butt ugly and very basic but it is well put together and does the job: My favoured Evolution Pro OFC cable (I've got 500 metres of the shit, in red alone, so I HAVE to like it ) terminated with Neutrik ProFi NF2C-B/2 phono plugs.... all connections hardwired with good quality 60/40 solder. Oh.... and a few ferrite inductors slipped over the wires concealed inside the plugs Nothing fancy but I have yet to hear better..... not saying there "isn't" better but these are the cables I use on a daily basis and have, yet, to have one go down on me..... these thick, heavily braided, types are all fine and dandy but I have found them to be mechanically unreliable..... you wouldn't believe the amount of "boutique" cables I have broken over the years I'm in and out with my cables like a yo-yo and these fat "constrained" cables have a tendency to go south at the soldered connections if you "power roll" them. The Evolution Pro is extremely flexible and inner movement of the conductors when flexing is minimal..... another thing not a lot of cable makers take into consideration..... the outer sheath / inner conductor movement..... all fine and dandy if you are going to "fit and forget" but if you're going to flex the cable a lot the conductors will soon part company with the phono plug terminals, however good the cable clamping system. The Evolution cable sticks like glue under even the most demanding "flexes" so you are pretty much guaranteed ZERO movement between inner cores and sheath. Anyways...... my ears enjoy these cables and they are pretty much bullet proof in service..... I'll put this pair up in the next competition By the way, I do NOT make these cables for sale.... I must have been on drugs when I posted that "Pink Link" thread but am happy to supply the Evolution Pro cable for DIY'ers..... a choice of three colours, red, black or blue..... £2.50 per metre shipped.
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