Canare 4S11 cable = WOW...

[edwelly]

I bought 30 feets of this thru Westlake - all I can say is WOW!!! this is a awesome cable. Very nice and professional looking. It has a nice outer jacket that you could be proud of. It looks a lot like my Monster Cable MCX-1s, just a little bit smaller.
Anyway, this is a some very nice cable. I got 30 feet of it for $19.00 - better than anything I have bought for this price. Of course I haven't hooked it up yet, but I wanted to let anyone know about it just in case they were thinking about getting some new speaker cable(s)...

Product info: http://www.canare.com/index.cfm?objectid=ED747A0C-3048-7098-AF09D85C6B8C08D5

 

[claudermilk]

Yep, very nice cable & easy to work with. Add some techflex & nice shrinktube and it looks like the $1k/ft boutique cables.

 

[edwelly]

Yep, very nice cable & easy to work with. Add some techflex & nice shrinktube and it looks like the $1k/ft boutique cables.

Working on that project right now - I got some the the fire retardant techflex - it is black with the white tracers... Nice looking!!!

 

[Babyface]

I just recently bought some from markertek for $.69 a foot. Wrapped it in chrome xc techflex. Looks hot to me, but my roommates disagree. I though black was too boring. Soon as my spades get in I will post some pics.

 

[edwelly]

Please do post some pictures. I received a sample from Techflex that contained a lot of their products and I found the techflex that can be cut with scissors to be the best lookng by far. Granted I am only have 6 inches but it was a big difference in the quality and feel.

 

[claudermilk]

Working on that project right now - I got some the the fire retardant techflex - it is black with the white tracers... Nice looking!!!

That's excactly what I used. It looks terrific once done. I also used some red & white shrink tube under normal black Techflex at the ends & a larger diameter black shrink over the split; looks just like boutique cable but I spent less than what a foot or so of that suff would cost for the whole 5.0 set.

BTW, once you cut with scissors, burn the ends a bit otherwise it will start unraveling on you. ...the Techflex that is, not the cable...

 

[Babyface]

My cables are a bit simpler, but I actually like the wrap with the black techflex over it. Is that just the basic PET? I need to order some smaller heat shrink tubing to seal the ends once my terminations arrive. Maybe I will make the split ends longer too. Really not all that importsnt to me, but I didn;t like the plain gray look.

 

[edwelly]

WOW - that does look darn good!!!

BTW, once you cut with scissors, burn the ends a bit otherwise it will start unraveling on you. ...the Techflex that is, not the cable...

What I meant was there is a different version of Techflex than can be cut with a scissor and it is a lot nicer than the standard PET. The scissor stuff was more smooth, not as much of a plastic feel as the PET stuff. It's called clean Cut - http://www.partexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=161#cleancut

 

[edwelly]

Actually, I like the chrome look. It looks really good too... IS it very stiff though?

 

[Babyface]

Nope, didin't seem to affect flexibility much at all. The pictures don't do it jsutice. It really shimmers. I does fray pretty bad if cut with scissors though.

 

[claudermilk]

Ahh. I looked at the clean cut stuff, but the regular PET cuts with scissors just fine & a couple of seconds over the stove (or a lighter) stops any fraying. I had some of the regular PET stuff from an earlier project, so used it up on the speaker cables. I'm happy with how they turned out...they look good & I don't feel them up much, so that doesn't bother me.

 

[sawdin]

Questions for Claudermilk

Thanks for the information. I have a few questions if you don't mind:
1. I don't see the Fire Rated TechFlex at partsexpress. However, I am thinking that I may go with one of the colored FlexoPet offerings and singe/melt the end after cutting.
2. What size techflex did you use?
3. From the photo on the other thread, it looks like you wrapped the 4S11 in FR techflex. Then it looks like black heat shrink at the split, but what is coming out of the black heat shrink? On your post, it sounds as if it is just smaller black and white heat shrink but it looks like colored techflex or some other type of wrap, it does not look like heat shrink. Then it looks like the red and white stuff is covered with black heat shrink into the connector. What size heat shrink and techflex did you use at various stages?
3. Where did you get your locking bananna plugs? Blue Jeans Cable, partsexpress, someplace else?

Thanks for your help,
Dino

PS...It looks quite nice!

 

[edwelly]

D'OH - question was not address to me. Sorry 'bout that...

 

[claudermilk]

Thanks for the information. I have a few questions if you don't mind:
1. I don't see the Fire Rated TechFlex at partsexpress. However, I am thinking that I may go with one of the colored FlexoPet offerings and singe/melt the end after cutting.

No, I didn't get it through partsexpress. I got the FR through wirecare.com

2. What size techflex did you use?

IIRC that was 5/8 or 1/2, but I'd have to dig out the receipts. The 4S11 is just under 1/2" OD from the Canare site's spec sheet.

3. From the photo on the other thread, it looks like you wrapped the 4S11 in FR techflex. Then it looks like black heat shrink at the split, but what is coming out of the black heat shrink? On your post, it sounds as if it is just smaller black and white heat shrink but it looks like colored techflex or some other type of wrap, it does not look like heat shrink. Then it looks like the red and white stuff is covered with black heat shrink into the connector. What size heat shrink and techflex did you use at various stages?

I used red & white heatshrink over the split pairs. Not really necessary, but it cleans up the look. I used standard black PET techflex over that. Then a short piece of black shrink over the ends of the techflex to prevent fraying & help anchor it. Again, I'm not certain of the sizes, but I think it was about 1/4 or 3/16. On the main split I used a bit of spiral wrap to clean up the look & used 5/8 heatshrink over it, again not necessary & purely cosmetic.

3. Where did you get your locking bananna plugs? Blue Jeans Cable, partsexpress, someplace else?

Those were from Orange County Speaker (speakerrepair.com). They usually have bunch of auctions on ebay. Since they are local for me, I went into the store to pick them up (yes, there is B&M store behind the ebay account). They look to me to be WBT knockoffs & are pretty well made; the set for a full 5.0 cable set was about $60.

Thanks for your help,
Dino

PS...It looks quite nice!

No problem, thanks. After all that, it only took a couple of evenings to construct once I got all the pieces together & I'm quite happy with the results.