Introducing Myself and My Mission

[AlexDeGruven]

Wasn't quite sure where to put this, since I'm brand new here, but I thought this would be a good fit. Please excuse me if this should go somewhere else.

A little about me: I'm your standard IT geek with a penchant for all things that light up, beep, and otherwise consume some sort of electric power (I know, unique, right?). Of late, I've been obsessing about my (and others around me) home theater and sound needs.

As I have a tendency to do, I decided to dive in head-first and start figuring out how to get the most out of my system while still managing to maintain some semblance of a balanced household budget. In other words: I want the absolute best without the insanely premium prices.

After researching for a while, I've found that building my own cables for my speakers and interconnects seems like it would be a (somewhat?) economical and fun way to learn the ins and outs of the wonderful, crazy, incredibly deep rabbit hole that is the enthusiast audio/video market.

But, rather than dive in and start building things willy-nilly, I thought I'd head out to the big wide world and see what people are already doing. I have some ideas that I want to pursue, but I also want to see how they fit with an already established community of audio enthusiasts. I want to find out what works, what doesn't work, what companies provide incredible products, and what companies are utterly full of it.

So I thought I'd run down a list of questions for those with more time in than I. Please feel free to answer none or any or all of the questions below. Any feedback you can provide would be fantastic.

Who knows, if I manage to create something truly special for myself, I'll probably want to share it with the rest of the world.

Questions:

1. What is the one primary criterion you use when evaluating a cable purchase?
2. What brand of speaker cables and interconnects are you using right now?
3. Is it important to you that your speaker cables and interconnects are produced by the same company?
4. What is your preferred speaker connector type (and what brand do you trust the most)?
5. Who, in your opinion, makes the absolute best RCA-type connector?
6. Who, in your opinion, makes the absolute best value RCA-type connector?
7. What do you think of ultra-premium cable manufacturers like Pear Cable, and the like?
8. What do you think of premium consumer brands like Monster?
9. Who makes the absolute best digital interconnect for less than $200?
10. Do you prefer/use hand-made or machine-made cables?
11. What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

I know, I know. This is a LOT to throw out in a single post. But it's the way I work. Gather as much information as possible, and then sift through it as I find the time. I'm going away for a week this month, so I'll have quite a bit of that type of time very soon.

Please accept my sincerest thanks for considering any of the questions I have listed above.

I'm open for any and all advice anyone has about building the absolute best cables money can buy (or can't buy for that matter, since I'll be making them myself ).

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum, Alex! Here are some of my answers.

1. What is the one primary criterion you use when evaluating a cable purchase? Value.
2. What brand of speaker cables and interconnects are you using right now? It's a mixed bag. Some Monster (purchased before I knew what a horrible value they are, but they are fine cables), some Radio shack, some Monoprice, some who-knows-what.
3. Is it important to you that your speaker cables and interconnects are produced by the same company? Not at all.
4. What is your preferred speaker connector type (and what brand do you trust the most)? Banana plugs.
5. Who, in your opinion, makes the absolute best RCA-type connector? No opinion.
6. Who, in your opinion, makes the absolute best value RCA-type connector? No opinion.
7. What do you think of ultra-premium cable manufacturers like Pear Cable, and the like? I don't really think about them, honestly.
8. What do you think of premium consumer brands like Monster? Cables are fine, but overpriced and no better than cables costing much less. In short, not a good value.
9. Who makes the absolute best digital interconnect for less than $200? No opinion.
10. Do you prefer/use hand-made or machine-made cables? I don't know how mine were made, so I don't have a preference.
11. What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow? Are you asking about Doug gagging? Inside joke.

 

[GranteedEV]

After researching for a while, I've found that building my own cables for my speakers and interconnects seems like it would be a (somewhat?) economical and fun way to learn the ins and outs of the wonderful, crazy, incredibly deep rabbit hole that is the enthusiast audio/video market

No, it's just a *****.

I want to find out what works,

Copper is a good conductor.

what doesn't work,

Plastic is not a very good conductor. Gasoline is not recommended either. Forks might be a good conductor, but i don't trust the dielectric.

what companies provide incredible products

The ones that charge you very little. Home Depot, Monoprice, Belden, Blue Jeans cable if you're feeling rich.

, and what companies are utterly full of it.

audiophile companies.

[*]What is the one primary criterion you use when evaluating a cable purchase?

"How conspicuoous is the color"
"How cheap is it"

[*]What brand of speaker cables and interconnects are you using right now?

All my banana plugs are the monoprice sort. They're a ***** to put on.
My fronts and surrounds are monoprice 12 awg cable. It's meh to work with
My sub uses 12/2 electrical cable from home depot, it was very easy to work with.
My rear backs use some 12 awg cable with only around 20 strands, this one was a NIGHTMARE to work with. the more strands, the better.

[*]Is it important to you that your speaker cables and interconnects are produced by the same company?

About as important as whether all my white socks are all the same shade of white.

[*]What is your preferred speaker connector type (and what brand do you trust the most)?

Bare wire. I learned this the hard way, with my rear backs.

[*]Who, in your opinion, makes the absolute best RCA-type connector?

Well I think the Cardas ones are pretty shiny.

http://www.diycable.com/main/default.php?cPath=26_44_47_58

[*]Who, in your opinion, makes the absolute best value RCA-type connector?

Dunno. Probably parts express or monoprice.

[*]What do you think of ultra-premium cable manufacturers like Pear Cable, and the like?

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/pear-cable-science

[*]What do you think of premium consumer brands like Monster?

I had some monster component cables once upon a time. They were a total ***** to deal with. Back then, when we bought our first HDTV, we didn't put much thought into which brand we were getting, and the monster stuff was basically "what they carried". The mistake we made was that the monster cable was only like 3 feet long. Since then I've learned that 6ft shoul be a bare minimum, and occasionally 15ft or 25ft is a good idea depending on the application.

[*]Who makes the absolute best digital interconnect for less than $200?

http://www.cablesalescanada.com/products/C-TOSLINK-1.5P.html

[*]Do you prefer/use hand-made or machine-made cables?

I don't prefer either/or. I suppose I'd prefer if they weren't made in a Chinese sweatshop?

 

[its phillip]

I'm open for any and all advice anyone has about building the absolute best cables money can buy (or can't buy for that matter, since I'll be making them myself ).

Simple solution - just buy from monoprice and skip all the trouble. If you want to have pretty cables just buy some sleeving and cable pants.

 

[AlexDeGruven]

Thanks for all the great info so far, guys.

Researching this stuff has led me down some really interesting paths, and quite a few dangerous rabbit-holes (see: Pear Cables. Though, in fairness, there was no way I was ever going to spend anywhere NEAR that amount of $ on any of my equipment).

Many of my suspicions have been shown to be correct, and that the group here (so far) seems to echo my same sentiments about certain things (Monster, for example).

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

[*]What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

An African or European swallow?

 

[AlexDeGruven]

Thank you. I'm not alone.

 

[indulger]

An African or European swallow?

When I was younger and in the service, I was able to experience, first hand, an African and European swallow. However, I preferred the South American swallow, so much in fact, that I married one

P.S. The South American swallow never reads Audioholics

 

[PicoB]

What is the one primary criterion you use when evaluating a cable purchase? Length of Cable
What brand of speaker cables and interconnects are you using right now? RCA and HomeDepot Lamp Cords
Is it important to you that your speaker cables and interconnects are produced by the same company? Not at all
What is your preferred speaker connector type (and what brand do you trust the most)? Banana Plug for sure
Who, in your opinion, makes the absolute best RCA-type connector? Don't care
Who, in your opinion, makes the absolute best value RCA-type connector? Don't care
What do you think of ultra-premium cable manufacturers like Pear Cable, and the like? Rip Off.
What do you think of premium consumer brands like Monster? Rip Off.
Who makes the absolute best digital interconnect for less than $200? Don't care
Do you prefer/use hand-made or machine-made cables? Don't care as long as it works
What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow? Don't care.

Best cables are the ones that deliver value, are long enough, are properly shielded and don't break too easily.

 

[BMXTRIX]

After researching for a while, I've found that building my own cables for my speakers and interconnects seems like it would be a (somewhat?) economical and fun way to learn the ins and outs of the wonderful, crazy, incredibly deep rabbit hole that is the enthusiast audio/video market.

There is very little in the way of interconnects which most people need in a modern system. Most information sticks in the digital realm from the source to the receiver, then it goes analog only to the speakers.

So, what interconnects would you want/need to build yourself?

As said, previously, Monoprice cables (premium versions) are the way to go for all your cabling needs if you want a quality product at an affordable price. It is cheaper than building stuff yourself, and the quality is spot on.

What is the one primary criterion you use when evaluating a cable purchase?

Quality - I want a cable which I know will work as it is intended to work. This means if I need a 50' HDMI cable, I don't want to deal with it when I'm supposed to be watching TV. Same for audio.

What brand of speaker cables and interconnects are you using right now?

I have a very mixed bag. I got a bunch of Monster Cable stuff, for about the price of Monoprice cabling, so that's my go-to cable for speaker wires. My audio interconnects are Planet Waves (custom) and other stuff is Mini High Resolution cable (custom made) with F-CONN compression RCA or BNC ends.

Is it important to you that your speaker cables and interconnects are produced by the same company?

No! Absolutely not. Holds true with most things - get the best for the money in whatever product you are looking at. Oppo Blu-ray, Denon receiver, Paradigm speakers, Elite TV, etc. Mix things up to get the best value for your money, not to match things inappropriately.

What is your preferred speaker connector type (and what brand do you trust the most)?

My banana plugs are the Nakamichi double screw down type available here:
10 Nakamichi Speaker banana plug connector 24K--015384 | eBay

Impact Acoustics makes a version which I actually like more (better construction, tighter fit), but don't sound any better:
12 AWG Screw-On Banana Plug Speaker Connector - 4pk - Cables To Go

Who, in your opinion, makes the absolute best RCA-type connector?

I'm really happy with my F-Conn (ICM Corp), but there is no 'best'. Almost everyone who makes RCA connectors, makes decent ones. I just would rarely use them in a 'normal' installation, just stuff I am making custom cables for.

Who, in your opinion, makes the absolute best value RCA-type connector?

Nobody does. They all tend to be extremely overpriced. Once again, I got a crazy deal on my stuff, so I got about 1,200 connectors for under 25 cents each. So, what I have will last me forever and I know they work well.

What do you think of ultra-premium cable manufacturers like Pear Cable, and the like?

They are trying to screw over consumers who are unaware of the math. They write poetry to deceive those who are to foolish to just use basic common sense.

What do you think of premium consumer brands like Monster?

I am not a fan of these guys either. Monster more for their business practices. But, 'overpriced' brands help stores make money, and the stores are selling them and paying bills. If a consumer isn't willing to spend a half hour (or five minutes) researching a $50+ cable purchase, then I don't blame the company that makes it or the store that sells it.

Quality is king though - Monster (by example only) tends to make a product which does what it is supposed to do. So, $50+ spent, is not wasted on junk which harms the audio quality.

Who makes the absolute best digital interconnect for less than $200?

Nobody - Digital is digital. Get the zeroes and ones to the detination reliably, and you are good to go. I use 99% Monorprice. I also use Monoprice cat-5/6 extenders for digital. They all work flawlessly.

I've run 1080p @ 85' over their 22 gauge HDMI cables. Top shelf for well under $100 at that length. Under $20 for 6' and less. Yes, that's what everyone SHOULD be paying.

Do you prefer/use hand-made or machine-made cables?

Quality is quality. I like a good fit/finish to my final product, so if I can't get a pre-fab cable which is the right length, I will make it myself. This just isn't always possible with pre-fab cables and I can't make HDMI cables from scratch unless I'm using HDMI extenders.

What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

While there are 74 specied of swallow in the world, the European swallow has an estimated average airspeed of 24MPH. For African swallows, you will need to ask the king.