Speaker Cables
Music Club Presentation
January 2005
Page 2
For the rest of us who's budget minded...
DIY - High End Speaker Cables
Jon Risch is THE current DIY authority for speaker cables and various
DIY enhancement to audio gears. It is like "open source" of audio
tweeks. His design has been the bench mark, and competing well with
many so claimed high-end speaker cables and often being used in system
costing 10s of thousands. Many custom made cables are based of his design.
ps. the following seem to be outdated. Please use Jon Risch's main link above and explore.
Jon Risch's Audio Cable Pages
Some of the pictorial diagrams from his DIY site
How to cross connect 2 coax cables - fig A
fig B
Photos of actual connections
Photos of twisted pair of coax cables
Another well respected DIY site. Containing just about everything
to make your music listeninig experience a bit better.
TNT - Audio's Cable DIY page
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/diycables.html
Last Words
You should know by now that every component in an audio system
matters, each contributes to the result of entire system. We have
gone thru the basics of a transmission line, and know a thing or two
about the pros and cos of various theories and philosophies behind
many of the well known audio cable manufactures. Don't take
manufacture's words for granted, often what one manufacture's belief
is denied by another. If you don't want to go thru the mess of
building your own cables, you should audition cables you choose. Most
audio cable companies allow in home demo for some time, and offer full
refund if not satisfied. On the other hand, if you are handy with
a tight budget, the DIY solution presented here is quite good.
There is a 3rd alternative, that is, to buy custom build cables build
to or similar to Jon Risch' or other well known specifications. They
can often be obtained for little over the materials' cost. Either way
you get a lot cable for the money.
But don't go crazy on the cables alone, balance on the entire system to
get the most out your $$.
References:
In no particular order
- AudioQuest: http://www.audioquest.com
- Monster Cable: http://www.monstercable.com
- Transparent Cable: http://www.transparentcable.com
- JPS-Labs: http://www.jpslabs.com/
- Nordost Cable: http://www.nordost.com/
- Kimber Kable: http://www.kimber.com/
- Analysis Plus: http://www.analysis-plus.com/
- Cardas: http://www.cardas.com/
- MIT Cable: http://www.mitcables.com/
- Jon Risch's DIY: http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/index2.htm
- TNT Audio DIY: http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/tweaks.html
- Audio Asylum Community: http://www.audioasylum.com
By Jess Liao
Jan 2005