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the Results of my DIY speaker cable venture. (1 Viewer)

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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How do you “show off” cabling that’s behind the equipment? Do you buy them extra-long and drape them around the front of the equipment so that everyone can see them?
 

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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How do you “show off” cabling that’s behind the equipment? Do you buy them extra-long and drape them around the front of the equipment so that everyone can see them?
 

minhG

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i don't want to sound like an a$$ (though that's never stopped me before) but the only person that ever looks behind my equipment is me.

maybe it's just a form versus function thing, if i took the cables from David K and remove all the techflex, shrink tube and just had a raw cable doesn't it perform the same?

i'm all for people buying whatever they like, just trying to understand peoples motivation on this one...
 

minhG

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i don't want to sound like an a$$ (though that's never stopped me before) but the only person that ever looks behind my equipment is me.

maybe it's just a form versus function thing, if i took the cables from David K and remove all the techflex, shrink tube and just had a raw cable doesn't it perform the same?

i'm all for people buying whatever they like, just trying to understand peoples motivation on this one...
 

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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Well, this thread motivated me to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time – put my own DIY cables up here for comments. Look for my thread on the main page.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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Well, this thread motivated me to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time – put my own DIY cables up here for comments. Look for my thread on the main page.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 

David K.

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i have a question for you electronic experts here,

i just recieved a few banana plugs, they are 24k gold and screw themselves in a plastic barrel.

before i use anything i like to test the limits of the product, so i hed the plastic barrel over the heat gun closely and it didnt take long before the plastic became pliable.

the adhesive heat tubing i use on the termination is very thick and requires high temperature to shrink and seal, afterwards it becomes flame retardant and rock solid when it cools.

i took a dummy plug and heat shrink and killed off 4 plugs testing all of them and what the best way to heat it is..

i noticed that the plastic barrel will warp if i hold it too close to the gun, but if i movie it briskly around at a distance of 6" from the gun, itll maintain its shape and resist warping during the process.

but if the plastic barrel warps and comes into contact with the golden barrel within, will that pose a safey issue?

i would not think so, since the plastic barrel has to come into contact with the the end of the gold termination where it screws itself together.

so other then an oddly shaped barrel, if the body melts and touches the gold within, will it pose a problem in performance or safety?

ie fire hazrd, component damage and so on.
 

David K.

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i have a question for you electronic experts here,

i just recieved a few banana plugs, they are 24k gold and screw themselves in a plastic barrel.

before i use anything i like to test the limits of the product, so i hed the plastic barrel over the heat gun closely and it didnt take long before the plastic became pliable.

the adhesive heat tubing i use on the termination is very thick and requires high temperature to shrink and seal, afterwards it becomes flame retardant and rock solid when it cools.

i took a dummy plug and heat shrink and killed off 4 plugs testing all of them and what the best way to heat it is..

i noticed that the plastic barrel will warp if i hold it too close to the gun, but if i movie it briskly around at a distance of 6" from the gun, itll maintain its shape and resist warping during the process.

but if the plastic barrel warps and comes into contact with the golden barrel within, will that pose a safey issue?

i would not think so, since the plastic barrel has to come into contact with the the end of the gold termination where it screws itself together.

so other then an oddly shaped barrel, if the body melts and touches the gold within, will it pose a problem in performance or safety?

ie fire hazrd, component damage and so on.
 

David K.

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I just got back my vampire terminated cable back from their company,
if anyone remembers, they offered to fix my defect plug.

well.. they did, not only did they fix it the covered my shipping expenses and reimbursed me a little over my shipping costs.

i found out the president of the Company Stuart Marcus was the kind fellow that reterminated my cable.

this has got to be the best customer service ive ever had with a company. even if they have premium prices, the service they have shown me makes up for it. after multiple attempts to find banana clones, that look similar, none of them would fit the 11 awg copper. only the VP wires did...

so I wouldve saved money biting the bullet and getting the terminations rather then looking for clones. :/
 

David K.

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I have just finished contructing my custom front speaker cables, if anyone recalls, i stated earlier that i was making neon blue cables,

I made 2 pair, one pair for my fronts
and the 2nd pair to auction off.

the freakin costs of materials average $100 a pair.

the plugs were expensive, along with the adhesive heatshrink (i use a lot of it, but its all hidden)



 

Owen Bartley

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David, those look great, but what is the bulge where the cables split? I've always wondered what those were for...
 

David K.

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the bulge is serves wire management issues, it covers up the bulges at the base of the leads inside a clean looking wire loom. also serves as a nifty grip for handling the cables,but should never be used to removes the plugs from the speakers.
 

Brett DiMichele

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Nice work David! Those cables deserve WBT Topline locking
Banana's :)

What brand are those banana plugs? I can't make out the name.

They look like a pretty good connector.
 

David K.

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they are vampire wire banana plugs, my first set was defective, but then the people at vampire wire were so kind and the president of the company called me back personally and offered to reterminate my defective plug, made me a returning customer.

since then i have ordered all my bananas from them, and theyve always been ready to meet my requests, surpassing what id normally expect from any customer service.

So ya, im a happy customer.

so my entire speaker set is now rewired with vampaire wire plugs




this pic shows how strong the strain relief is



i used some adhesive heat shrink from parts express, and they are rock solid when cooled. no bending near the termination whatsoever.

ill make a list of all the parts i used and where to get them in my tutorial page. Im waiting for my red/white 6" low tem heat shrink tubes to arrive before i can finish the tutorial.
 

Owen Bartley

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David, great tutorial! Thanks for putting it together. And thanks for all the pics too, it made it WAY easier to follow.
 

Owen Bartley

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Thanks David! I think I either got that from you already, or from someone else.

Looking back at all the recent DIY cable posts (there are some GREAT looking ones over here if anyone is interested) I've had a few thoughts...

a) it looks like some people use the standard techflex, and some use a braided nylon or something with fewer holes. I hadn't made this distinction before.

b) I wonder how the 'clear' techflex would look over white nylon, just for texture. I saw some people double up with black techflex over coloured cable or another colered layer of techflex and it seems to be a good efect.

Thanks again for the awesome tutorial and the link!
 

David K.

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ya, Im a poster over at head fi also,
my center channel cable is made with fray resistant/ celan cut sleeving, which has no holes, its the identical sleevling monster cable uses in the upper line Z series cables.

you can find them at frys electronics for $7 per 16'.
 

David K.

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my latest ebay cable,

my last ones didnt sell, so i made biwire ones with 24k locking bananas, and no techflex to keep the costs down.

these plugs were cheaper then the vampires. cost me about $70 in raw materials to make.

1.5 days left and the auction price is up to a whopping $15!
hah, looks like im goin to lose some more money, they are fun to make though!

 

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