High end speaker cables....made cheap. :)

[mtrycrafts]

But if you don't make crazy claims then why would we believe they are actually "high-end audiophile" cables?

Do you see low end cables look like his? Maybe Bluejeans

 

[KenM10759]

I just checked Blue Jeans Cable's website, couldn't find anything nearly as well finished even though they're a well respected maker.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I just checked Blue Jeans Cable's website, couldn't find anything nearly as well finished even though they're a well respected maker.

There you go. Now you can have a wide open market. Custom length made to needs. No BS, no Snake Oil, just good looks.

My cut, 2%.

 

[lovinthehd]

Do you see low end cables look like his? Maybe Bluejeans

Even tho I may not like the green or red, the aesthetics are fine.....but usually the crazy claims aren't about aesthetics

 

[mtrycrafts]

Even tho I may not like the green or red, the aesthetics are fine.....but usually the crazy claims aren't about aesthetics

Oh how well I know. One reason he can just do cable upgrades just for looks alone without making
any further claims. He might make it big. He has the tools, even a heat gun to shrink the tubing.
A rewarding small operation in the garage.

 

[KenM10759]

I'm thinking I just might do a few for my son's system in blue sheathing or whatever else he might like. I found it fun to do. If I decide to make some money doing it, I'd have to get a little more equipment to achieve the highest level of quality, such as making fixtures for cutting and positioning. That's the only way to assure repeatability or process. I will also seek out higher quality banana plugs.

For the 4 ends I did it involved measuring the cutback of the casing on the wires, the short pieces of shrink fit tubing, the length of stripping off the wire insulation, and so much more. The heat gun is a blessing, a Porter Cable PC1500HG. I'm sure commercial operations have induction heat ring setups for faster action.

A quick & dirty job is fairly easy. The more thought and time you put into it, the better quality the materials and tools, the better quality of results is possible. The one thing I would NOT do is sell them as being anything more than "regular 12 gauge 99.95% OFC copper speaker wire...that just looks cool."

 

[speakerman39]

So recently a favorite dealer of mine put some Nordost speaker cables in my hands to test. It's the cheapest ones Nordost sells, at about $500 for a pair of 2 meter (7'9") long. I put them on my system and played familiar music for almost two weeks, then switched back to my homemade cables of Monoprice 12-CL2 and their banana plugs. I really couldn't discern one bit of difference, so it's one of three possibilities.

1. My receiver and speaker combination aren't capable of emitting fine enough sound to tell. (I run 2.1 over 95% of the time)
2. My ears are shot and the differences are there, I simply will never hear them with these tired ears.
3. There is no difference in speaker cables once you get the right size & up of a reasonable quality wire.

I vote No.3, others will assail me for being so ignorant. I don't care, I am quite blissful with over $400 still in my pocket. The other $100 is about what it cost me to buy a 100ft spool of wire, banana plugs, heat shrink tubing, KnuKonceptz cable pants, cool sheathing and a heat shrink gun. (I've dealt with the butane lighter method long enough, time for the right tool.)

The result:

Whaddya think? Waste of time and money or no?

Wow man! Very nice! I really like the green too.....LOL!!!! Wished I could make some like that. Am one of those guys that burns water.....Bahahahahahha!

Cheers,

Phil

 

[KenM10759]

Thanks Phil!

 

[KenM10759]

OMG...the sound quality improvement with these new speaker cables is UNREAL. The bass is deeper yet taut and precise. Midrange has much more impact and depth. The highs as sharp and clean without any signs of being bright, no sibilance.

Never before had I believed it possible, but this is proof positive in the power of PLACEBO!

That does it then. The name of my new speaker cable company is "Placebo Performance Cable"!

 

[mtrycrafts]

OMG...the sound quality improvement with these new speaker cables is UNREAL. The bass is deeper yet taut and precise. Midrange has much more impact and depth. The highs as sharp and clean without any signs of being bright, no sibilance.

Never before had I believed it possible, but this is proof positive in the power of PLACEBO!

That does it then. The name of my new speaker cable company is "Placebo Performance Cable"!

Better copyright that and get a domain name for it.

 

[KenM10759]

Good idea, but I really don't want to get into the business of being honest about what fancy looking speaker cables do for the buyer. Not much of a market, methinks, because people seem to want to buy the good looking stuff with assurance that their money isn't wasted and they really get better sound. I can't stoop that low, getting too old to get back up.

 

[KenM10759]

Today I altered the cables I recently made. The Monoprice banana plugs I initially used were loose in the back of my KEF R500 pair and R200c center speaker. I had used a small screwdriver to pry them open a little more and that snugged them up a little but I was not confident in them.

On Monday this past week I received a pack of 12 of the locking banana plugs from Blue Jeans Cable and today I went at it. Yeah, it took almost as long to alter these as it did to make from the start, but didn't want to waste cable, sheathing or the cable pants.

What a difference! These are so much more secure at both ends, in my NAD receiver and in the KEF R500 pair and R200c center speaker. Of course I want it to sound better, but I doubt it happened.

 

[KenM10759]

Version 2.0

Made a pair of 8 footers for my son today. No red on the heat shrink tubing, "carbon" color braided sheathing.

 

[killdozzer]

Version 2.0

Made a pair of 8 footers for my son today. No red on the heat shrink tubing, "carbon" color braided sheathing.

And man do they look good! Great work, KenM!

 

[KenM10759]

Thanks my friend! When I put them in my son's hands to look them over, his first comment was "Wow, these are heavy!" They are.

Because I'm taking them this weekend to the audio dealer where I buy most of my stuff for actual test/evaluation against Audioquest and Accousound. Curious, I put them on a scale and they weigh 1.5 pounds (680 grams), pretty substantial. I may need some of those "cable elevators" to pick them up!

 

[killdozzer]

You HAVE to tell us how they compare to those brand names!

 

[Alex2507]

You HAVE to tell us how they compare to those brand names!

It's going to depend a lot on which cable elevators he uses.

That's 60% of the sound.

 

[killdozzer]

It's going to depend a lot on which cable elevators he uses.

That's 60% of the sound.

I just hope it's the same ones. For the sake of scientific measurement.

 

[KenM10759]

LOL...the whole point of making them. They will sound BETTER because they look more expensive!

Of course they sound good to me. This will be interesting because this is the dealer who gave me the impetus to get into making my own by having me test the Nordost "Purple Flare" speaker wires. He swears he can hear a difference in cables so has said the Audioquest is a little better than the "low end" Accousound (his words) and is curious to see where mine place.

I assure you they will all sound the same to me. If mine come out on top with this trained professional listening, I won't know what to think. If mine are the worst in his opinion, I'll not be surprised nor disappointed because I know what they are to me.

 

[Alex2507]

I assure you they will all sound the same to me.

Don't let that stop you from lying. Tell the salesman that YOUR cables totally sound better than his. Make some remark about how well paced they are. Pacing ... that's 85% of the sound.