First attempt DIY speaker cable

[Bengineer]

22 hours ago, Special K said:

Apologies for hijacking this post however it seems to have most of what I am looking for, except for a few more pointers.  This post has also motivated me to try it out. Great work on the cables!

 

I’m looking at venturing into making my own speaker cables as well, thanks to working from home and having some free time to spend with my music. 

 

Looking at going down the Canare 4s11 path, unless someone has some strong suggestions not to go down that path. 

 

However my challenge is I currently use a speaker box which takes very small cables in and it was a task and half to get some Naim and Van den Hul cables in already. 

 

They look similar to this. 

 

Ideally I would like to do a trial run for my sansui 661 and As100 speakers to try it out on. 

 

Hence I am looking for any suggestions on how to terminate the speaker cable end that takes much smaller speaker widths such as the speaker box and the Sansui receiver. 

 

The amp to speaker box is under 6inches and then from there one long run and one short run. 

 

Would it also be an option to have the Canare 4s8 for the amp to the speaker box and then the 4s11 there on for the long and short run?

 

This is the you tube video I will follow closely, happy to take any pointers on this too. 

 

 

 

It does appear that Cliff is the best place to get the Canare from and heat shrink, however I would like a little simpler for the plugs and would be keen to have some suggestions on these too. 

@Geoff@HeyNow Hi-Fi Stocks the EGM Banana ones. I just stuck the Rhodium ones on 4S11, fits very nicely. Dual grub screw fixing.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Bengineer

[Special K]

59 minutes ago, dles1972 said:

Cheers Cliffs in QLD. But tech-flex is all over ebay so there plenty of options size wise and colour wise

 

I'm pretty confused by what you are suggesting especially using two different gauges of Canare

The speaker box I have, will be a struggle to get the heavy guage cable in. Hence should use the small gauge just for the amp to the speaker box just to make it easier with that part of it?  Then just get the heavy gauge in with some blood sweat and tears from the speaker box to the speakers? 

[Bengineer]

35 minutes ago, Special K said:

The speaker box I have, will be a struggle to get the heavy guage cable in. Hence should use the small gauge just for the amp to the speaker box just to make it easier with that part of it?  Then just get the heavy gauge in with some blood sweat and tears from the speaker box to the speakers? 

Does it only accept bare wire?

[Special K]

3 hours ago, Bengineer said:

Does it only accept bare wire?

Pretty much. However I have not tried the pin connectors as yet however. 

 

Even with bare wire it was difficult to get all of it in. 

[shaky]

I have been thinking about changing out my cables, am not adverse to DIY either, and as have read @PJ64000 comment above from a while back and also have used Chord silver screen for a few years, I may be converted. Now to get some 4S8 or 4s11, I’ll need 16-20 mths

Edited February 26, 2021 by shaky

[Steffen]

13 hours ago, Special K said:

Even with bare wire it was difficult to get all of it in. 

 

You could terminate the bare wire with crimp sleeves. That should make them easier to insert into the terminals, while providing a better and long-lasting connection.

 

You can get WBT sleeves from @Krispy Audio, I highly recommend them.

[Special K]

4 hours ago, Steffen said:

 

You could terminate the bare wire with crimp sleeves. That should make them easier to insert into the terminals, while providing a better and long-lasting connection.

 

You can get WBT sleeves from @Krispy Audio, I highly recommend them.

Thanks Steffen.  That does seem to be the way you go. Appreciate the recommendations too. 

 

Time to get this going!

[camross]

22 hours ago, dles1972 said:

Cheers Cliffs in QLD. But tech-flex is all over ebay so there plenty of options size wise and colour wise

 

I'm pretty confused by what you are suggesting especially using two different gauges of Canare

 

What size techflex did you end up using?

[dles1972]

48 minutes ago, camross said:

 

What size techflex did you end up using?

I think the particular flex comes up as a "suggestion" when youre on the 4S11 page. But in any case, tech-flex has a massive stretch/constrict range. I don't have Canare here at moment but you'll be able to search the manufacturer specs for the total diameter. Then on ebay for example tech flex listings normally have the stretch range per the specific size. So you don't have to be super accurate really, just ball park making sure that it's minimum constriction ability is smaller than your wire diameter 

[camross]

11 minutes ago, dles1972 said:

I think the particular flex comes up as a "suggestion" when youre on the 4S11 page. But in any case, tech-flex has a massive stretch/constrict range. I don't have Canare here at moment but you'll be able to search the manufacturer specs for the total diameter. Then on ebay for example tech flex listings normally have the stretch range per the specific size. So you don't have to be super accurate really, just ball park making sure that it's minimum constriction ability is smaller than your wire diameter 

Thanks yes found it on the website in the end. 

[dles1972]

Just now, camross said:

Thanks yes found it on the website in the end. 

 

Be aware that the flex from Cliffs isn't officially tech-flex. Tech-flex is a company. Proper Tech-Flex offers non-fraying weave which is ideal tbh because when you cut the length to size on say for example Cliffs one, it will quickly start to fray so you need to get your heat shrink onto the ends pretty quickly. Where Tech-Flex none fraying is easier to work with if that makes sense

[camross]

1 minute ago, dles1972 said:

 

Be aware that the flex from Cliffs isn't officially tech-flex. Tech-flex is a company. Proper Tech-Flex offers non-fraying weave which is ideal tbh because when you cut the length to size on say for example Cliffs one, it will quickly start to fray so you need to get your heat shrink onto the ends pretty quickly. Where Tech-Flex none fraying is easier to work with if that makes sense

Understood 

[dles1972]

19 hours ago, Special K said:

Pretty much. However I have not tried the pin connectors as yet however. 

 

Even with bare wire it was difficult to get all of it in. 

Out of curiosity what Van Den Hul speaker cable are you using? 

[Special K]

On 27/02/2021 at 4:23 PM, dles1972 said:

Out of curiosity what Van Den Hul speaker cable are you using? 

Just the hybrid halogen free ones. 

 

Issue with that is it also only comes from the speaker box which has Naim cables running to from the amp. 

[dles1972]

On 27/07/2020 at 8:43 PM, PJ64000 said:

After reading this I decided to try some Canare 4s8 cables in my system.  I got the cable from Cliff and thanks to Gary, got the right size braided sleeving.  I did similar to dles1972 and joined two of cores to make it a single connection.  I didn’t use connectors, just the bare wire.  The speaker cables in my system are Chord Silver Screen and have been there since I put the system together 6 years ago.

I put on My Dark Side of the Moon SACD and put on Time.  I stopped and swapped the cables and then listened to Time again.

After listening I rolled up the Chords and put them in the cupboard.  The Canare cables gave more detail, the Chords made things sound a little muddy and veiled.

thanks for the inspiration dles1972.

 

That's awesome. I think Canare is a great platform to start with and the benefits cost wise are evident against the lower to mid priced big brands......which is no mean feat. Does it compete with some of my best cable, not quite but it's not far off and it's a fraction of the cost.

 

I think the process of making speaker cable is the bigger revelation. There is so much great cable available off the reel, and now you know how to terminate and etc, you can experiment with lots of great cable without the exorbitant price of factory termination. Hell, I've even made up some solid core OFC magnetic wire (similar to Anticables) from Jaycar and it's insanely good! 

[dles1972]

On 27/07/2020 at 8:43 PM, PJ64000 said:

After reading this I decided to try some Canare 4s8 cables in my system.  I got the cable from Cliff and thanks to Gary, got the right size braided sleeving.  I did similar to dles1972 and joined two of cores to make it a single connection.  I didn’t use connectors, just the bare wire.  The speaker cables in my system are Chord Silver Screen and have been there since I put the system together 6 years ago.

I put on My Dark Side of the Moon SACD and put on Time.  I stopped and swapped the cables and then listened to Time again.

After listening I rolled up the Chords and put them in the cupboard.  The Canare cables gave more detail, the Chords made things sound a little muddy and veiled.

thanks for the inspiration dles1972.

 Sorry about replying to this 7 months later . Weirdly got notification on your reply from July just now and didn't bother to check the date before replying! Yikes.......carry on........

[surprisetech]

On 7/15/2020 at 12:54 PM, ray4410 said:

 hi all
has any one compared mogami 3104 against canare 4S11,they are both pro cables and similarly priced,would be interested in any ones personal experience.

 

Just came across this thread while looking for comments on the 4S11 cable, as I've been comparing the specs myself.

 

The Mogami W3104 has larger conductors (4mm2 or 12AWG per conductor).  The Canare equivalent is the 4S14F, but I'm not sure if it is still available.

The Mogami equivalent to the Canare 4S11 is the W2972, where each conductor is around 14-15AWG.  (W2972=2.05mm2 & 4S11=2.18mm2 per conductor)

 

Due to the star-quad architecture of all 4 cables, & that they are both reputable manufacturers, the Inductance & Capacitance values across the spectrum are all very similar and very good as I read it.

The Mogami has slightly lower capacitance, but this is the least important of the 4 specs (Rdc, Rac, Ls & Cp) when considering speaker cables.

 

You have to be careful reading the specs, as some of the R & L specs are given per conductor, some are given as 'loop' values and some are given with the pairs connected in parallel (as you would do when not bi-wiring)  You have to stay on your toes & read the fine print!

 

I doubt there would be any noticeable difference between the brands when each is compared with it's direct equivalent.

The W3104 (or Canare 4S14F) could offer an advantage driving high powered passive subs or PA speakers, or for longer cable runs.