New interconnects using Eichman Bulletplugs..

John Wes · 10-04-2004, 07:03 PM

I'm finished with the new project.

Eichman copper plugs with Belden 89259 cable. The cable is a recommendation on a site I picked up from here. The site is written and maintained by Jon Risch. It's a wealth of info on various cable. Here's a pic of them Eichmans......Strange connectors indeed...

Pic of the Eichman bulletplug

Anyway....To solder these, I gave it some thought and made a jig to lay the cable in. This makes soldering much easier. It's made from a scrap piece of pine that I routed a half inch round groove in. I had to widen it slightly and if you make one, just barely widen it. Maybe by a 1/32 to start. The groove is about 3/8's of an inch deep.
Then I laid a bit of oak strip on both sides to lay the cable on to hold it up. Here's a pic..

Pic of the template.

I must say I was taken aback when I seen the size of the Belden cable. It's small. Very small. It's right at a quarter inch thick..

The overall project?

Pic of the cables.

The cables are about 26 and a half inches long. I'm using tech flex carbon color for covering the cable.

My thoughts are....the bass end sounds a bit tighter but the midbass and the mids? I can definitely hear an improvement. Clarity is better and soundstage is slightly wider.

This isn't a hard diy project. A bit tedious as you have to be very careful with the plugs but imho....at least for me, worth every penny.

Wayne A. Pflughaupt · 10-05-2004, 04:18 PM

Nice cables, John. And it’s nice to see I’m not the only DIY cable guy who solders.

Here’s a link to a post I made about mine a few months ago:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...26#post2260926

Yup, those Eichmans are a bit peculiar. The sleeve connection is really fat. I’d be concerned how well that would work with receivers these days packing their connectors so close together.

Interesting jig, but from the picture I can’t figure out how it works. I use an old laboratory test tube holder. It has an adjustable clamp with rounded claws that are great for holding RCA connectors or just about any other kind. That leaves my hands free for the cable and iron.

Quote:

I must say I was taken aback when I seen the size of the Belden cable. It's small. Very small. It's right at a quarter inch thick..

Actually, that’s about the right size for RG-59.

If you think that’s small, you should see the Canare 4E5C star quad I’m planning on use for a car stereo project I’m ramping up for. It’s just over 3/16 thick!

http://www.canare.com/cat11pdf/p35.pdf

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Kincade · 10-06-2004, 01:07 PM

Nice; very good job! Add some techflex and you should be able to charge for them! ;-)

Pretty much the same thing that Heartland and Element cables charge for; I have the heartland, great cables IMHO.

John Wes · 10-06-2004, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Yup, those Eichmans are a bit peculiar. The sleeve connection is really fat. I’d be concerned how well that would work with receivers these days packing their connectors so close together.

Interesting jig, but from the picture I can’t figure out how it works. I use an old laboratory test tube holder. It has an adjustable clamp with rounded claws that are great for holding RCA connectors or just about any other kind. That leaves my hands free for the cable and iron.

Wayne..thanks for the kind words. I'm not having a problem fitting them yet, but we'll see. I made them for a Pre/Pro and new amp on the way....(hopefully soon.) I made 7 of them to test out. I'm trying the first pair on my setup right now for the front channels. So far I love em.

The template. Holding that end part of the Eichman, even in a small vice left a lot to be desiried when trying to solder it. So here's how the template workes. Get the ends tinned as well as the plug ends. I just used one of them common vises with allagator clips to hold them while soldering. Then lay the cable in the template. Clamp it so the cable doesn't move. Then lay the end of the plug in and rotate it so you have decient pressure between the soldering platform and the cable jacket as I'm sure you know, this can be a bugger to solder. Tape it down or gently clamp it. I found that tape seems easier to work with as you can keep the plug from rotating with tape just fine. That platform for the signal ground is very small. Of course the center pretty much falls into place. The strip of wood you see on each side of the groove is to pick the cable up so there isnt' any pressure on it. This gives me two good hands to solder with.

Here's a better pic of the setup.

Kincade thanks also, for the kind words....I did add TechFlex....it's carbon colored. It's hard to tell, in tha pic. I found some plaid and other colors after I ordered it or they would have been dressed up more. I didnn't like the colors I could get at Parts Express. I've made a sub cable with the blue tec flex. It's ok but imho, a bit lame looking.

Yeah the cost savings over buying is quite a bit when you figure in I made 7 of them.

Wayne....making these was a whole lot easier than my speaker cable. Have you seen the Van Haus recipe? Mine took days to make.

Kincade · 10-07-2004, 11:27 AM

Well; either way, good job!

I want to try and make the CC89259 speaker cables sometime; they look pretty neat...

**HTF Ads**

John Wes · 10-16-2004, 10:38 PM

Thanks Kincade...

You know, I thought there might be more interest in this. They arn't that hard to make and if one were to look online, interconnects like these, sell for 90 to well over a hundred bucks a pair. I'm at less than 50 bucks a pair.

Dean-P · 10-17-2004, 02:11 AM

John:
What did you use before to compare them too?
I have some Belden coming in the mail but now I might change my mine to silver interconnects. I would use the triple braid stuff with Cardas grmo rcas.

John Wes · 10-17-2004, 12:22 PM

Dean....top of the line Monster cables. No way for me to do a blind listening test. I do think that my soundfield is more distinct. Bass a bit tighter and mids are more detailed...but agian, this isn't a blind listening test.

I'm going to go the route of silver also. Sometime in the future and only for the front. I made this for a new Pre/Pro on the way and needed 7 cables for connections. I'll use 6 of them for the Uni player front and center and same for the pre/pro to the amp. After I ordered material, and started making them, I realized I foobared the total needed if I wanted to at least use them for all the side surrounds......To be continued...



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