i would like to upgrade most of the IC's in my various systems, plus i'll be wanting to add 4 more pairs soon. that makes for about 10 pairs, and i would really like them to be on par with Kimber PBJ's in terms of quality. i am thinking that DIY alternative could save me a consideralbe amount of money, but i have no idea on what wire or RCA plugs to use. any and all guidance is greatly appreciated.

I´m not sure you wanna put this question here, Scott. You may end up more confused and less decided than you are now.

Ok, I´ll start. I made a few pairs from Audioquest when I went the active route, Threw some really nice WBT rca´s at the end, and I think they are as good as anything I´ve had before.

Jorge

Great topic.

There's some interesting articles about DIY cables here :

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=52044

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=72860

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=53431

http://www.laventure.net/tourist/cables.htm

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/diyce2.html

thanks Alvaro.

I tried the DIY cables cited in the 6monns zigmahornet review. not too bad especially for the price ($10). I'll post more about them soon.

this is long overdue. Mark B. sent me 6 ft. of silver wire and some shrink tubing for the first few sets in this project. i finally finished the first set today, ruining only one plug in the process.

this set is used between the NAD preamp and the Luxman R-117, where a pair of Kimber PBJ's (courtesy of Crooner, thanks Nestor!) formerly resided. the construction is one strand of the silver wire for the signal, and one strand of plain copper magnet wire for the ground. connectors are gold plated $3.99 a pair Radio Shack RCA's. assembly was straightforward enough, but my soldering skills are non-existant so i struggled in making solid connections. on the last plug i mess up and bridged the signal and ground with solder. back to the rat shack for another plug and i was back in business. one thing i did learn was to use a candle to shrink the tubing. much easier than multiple matches.

listenting impressions to follow. the next set will be all magnet wire for comparison and then i'll decide what i want to do for the rest of the IC's.

Scott, buy a heat gun, works great for a lot of things including this.

oh sure, now you tell me ...

Scott,

You never know, you could be the recipient of the QED Qunex-1 at the "Give Away" on ST´s 1st anniversary.

Jorge

hey, dont go jinxing me.

Nice job Scott. What kind of soldering iron are you using? Don't forget to keep the tip tinned.

I think you can cut back on the amount of shrink tube you're using. A couple of inches is sufficient at each end.

i really dont know what i'm doing, thats part of the exercise though. i misunderstood about the tubing, i thought it ran the length of the IC due to the fragility of the wires. i do like it this way, though i need to do a better job when i shrink it.

Then you must have used most of the shrink tube I sent on one pair. That was supposed to be enough for 4 pair. Take Kelly's advice and get a heat gun. I recommend picking up a desoldering bulb.

ah yes, a desoldering bulb, i'll do that. you sent enough shrink for another pair just like this one, at least. i'll be ordering more soon anyway.

Harbor Freight has cheap but good heat guns and the shrink wrapping.

I have this one, works great

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=35776

Shrink wrap

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=45058

and while your there get this...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...?Itemnumber=319

Has anyone tried one of these?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=91298

Are they crap?

K