Have a look at these Beauties!!!! How to make your OWN "High End" Cables!!! - Page 71

hey-it worked for Mick Jagger and the guys from Spinal Tap

So I have a set of speakers that use 8 cables each (as opposed to the normal 2). I found 8-cable wire (13ga). Think I'm gonna use a 4-tube (biwire) sleeve, then attach 3 2-tube sleeves on the ends of that.

Now: to figure out how to mark all those cables.

lol... there's a joke about a speedo and a potato here, but since this is a "family site"...

I just finished making my very 1st dressed up 12 guage speaker wire. I need to get different banana plug. I don't like the monoprice banana plugs. I need something more stable.

Here are some pictures.

Not bad. The monoprice plugs are terrible quality IMHO. I have always used gls audio locking plugs.

Thanks. I just finished doing my front 3 speaker wires. I need to order more boots and sleeve to do the rest.

Wrong thread to be posting this. Start your own.

Im making my own this week. Using 12/2 in-wall from Monoprice, black Techflex from PE, heatshrink and Sewell Deadbolt plugs from Amazon. Looking forward to making something nice that will last and be easy to connect. Ill post up pics

Hi Tahirb,

and welcome to AVS forums. Just scroll up to the top of this page, just above the first post, you will see a box with "start a new thread"... click that.

Three 12 gauge cables bundled 27 feet. Amp end branches off into single cables 12 inches each. Speaker ends branch of into single 8ft,14ft, and 20ft cables. All in clean cut black and locking GLS plugs.

Are the GLS banana plugs better than the monoprice one? I currently have the monoprice, but the ends bend easily, which cause the red black cable to touch in the back of my receiver causing it to heat up and almost over heating. So, I am looking for something stronger that doesn't bend as easy.

Mono price plugs are not very good IMHO. You can bend any plug with a certain amount of force of course.

I have always used gls plugs

I'll probably buy a few for my front 3 speakers and see how the compare to the monoprice.

Any idea how often new colors of techflex come out?

I would like something more than a basic color or pattern. I do like the snake pattern. It has a very attractive design and goes great with my beige carpet. The only problem is, snakes freak me out.

I went ahead and ordered a 25' section of it to cover the hdmi run to my projector. I want to see if I adjust to it before I do all my cables. I would hate to get out of bed, wander into the living room half asleep, and have a heart attack when I saw all the "snakes" in the room.

I was just wondering if new colors came out on a semi-regular basis, and maybe I should wait a bit before jumping into snake cables.

whats colors do you want. Techflex makes just about every color you can think of. Do you want different colors in one sleeve etc..?
Here are some options

Haven't seen those. Got a link to a product page where I can find those?

Here's a few more unique looking colors:

http://www.avoutlet.com/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=577

Stuff I get from hong kong

I like these two. Does furryletters carry these?

That doesn't really help me then.

I think I'm going to go with the ViaBlue 3/8" sleeve. From what I can tell the ViaBlue seems to be a hair thicker than the TechFlex. I am thinking I should go with 11mm pants. Anybody know if that's the best size?

I really like the cables in this thread. I'm putting together my first real HT setup and want to make some cables myself. For an out of the wall application, meaning I will be connecting the cables to my receiver and then running it along the wall behind my component and TV stands to my speakers, would you guys still use cables like these over basic speaker wires with banana plugs? My setup will be a 2.1 or 3.1 system so all the wires will be mostly hidden behind my component and TV stands.

I did my front 3.0 set up only. I will be doing my other 4.0 cables too, but I will only be doing the ends since 90% of the cable is being covered by a monster cable cover.

Do I need a heat gun for the wire pants or can I use a hair dryer?

I make pretty nice cables from CAT5 or CAT6, high purity copper and Teflon insulated, also plenum coated (fire/off-gas resistant)... Cut the sheath back at least 6 inches, and separate out all the singles and strip them about 1 inch to expose bare copper (solids or strands, depending on type)... Now, pick all the solid colors and twist together out to the ends and really twist the copper ends together carefully and smoothly; heat this a bit with your solder iron and flow your choice of solder in between the bundled/twisted ends and the hot iron... I like a softish solder so that my speaker and amp connectors "bite" into the ends, but you may like harder silver solder. Trim the soldered end to preferred length.
Repeat for the "stripes or whites" part of the wires ( and do the other end too)... put on bananas, pins, spades if you prefer, but I play with so much gear that can't use them, and I don't bother with them.

TEST FOR OPEN CIRCUIT BEFORE USING... Use a ohm meter to make sure that you crossed no strands/colors/stipes/whites...

With many of these CATn cables tossed away every day for the simple offense of losing a cable end, or just a locking tab, you all probably have a big supply of great cable to learn on and use close at hand, and a wide range of colors too!

They sound nice too I think, though I don't hold much to cables sounding like anything if heavy enough for a low voltage drop on the run they are used for! I had/ have some of the first big copper snakes sold as speaker wire... Still use it for my mains that never switch out of the system and still hate how stiff and fat and hard to terminate/insert/clamp they are.

You only need heat when using heat shrink, not cable pants.

Lol I bought a buncha stuff from monoprice this past week, including about 25 pairs of banana plugs. After reading the opinion in this thread I'm feeling like maybe it was not the best idea. They had great reviews on the site though.

Also, are there any B&M stores that sell speaker wire pants? I had never even heard of those until this thread and they definitely give the wiring a cleaner look.

Also any B&M stores sell the sleeving?
Edited by purbeast - 12/20/12 at 1:57pm

Have seen black at Harbour Freight and automotive stores... Also at a big box electronics place (Frys maybe?)... To dress up cables, especially for car stereo installations... But the slinky coil and split types are more common at those places.

I've been using Monoprice banana plugs for a little over 4 years, and I kept them because it was too much money to send them back. They work okay, but they bend easily.

Not you do not need a heat gun. You can use a lighter like I did.