Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions pics of my speaker wires

Hey all,

Thought I'd show you my homemade speaker wires. They were fun to build, and I think they turned out well. I used Axiom, Radioshack, Cableorganizer.com, and my father's solder equipment. What do you think? Later. (Also included is a pic of my Wharfedale Atlantic 200 on a Sanus stand.)

-ksimple

http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ksimple2004/album?.dir=/6a55

Well, I'd sure like to see 'em, but all I get is a "The File You Are Looking For Is Inaccessible" message.

...and a Vegas ad.

I've got a popup/script blocker so I didn't get the ad.

Oh. You missed it. Incredibly hot rear-view of a be-thonged Vegas showgirl with legs up to her ears.

First time I've ever regretted having a popup/script blocker. DRAT!

Jack, I depressed CTRL to deactivate my popup blocker and with eager anticipation clicked on the link, only to be rewarded with an ad for the American Express card....

Yeah, when I did that after Mark's (BigWill) post about the ad he got, I got a Sprint ad. Oh well.

Oops. I changed the settings, so it should work now.

WOW! Very nice looking, and a real good job.

Yeah, those are really, really nice. Where did you get the wire wrap?

They were fun to build, and I think they turned out well. I used Axiom, Radioshack, *****Cableorganizer.com*****, and my father's solder equipment.

You're losing it, Ken... all that boutique cable talk, now this?

Bren R.

Sweet...how much did the entire process set you back? I'd love to put together my own.

My mind is going, Dave... I can feel it...


Dai----sy, Dai----------sy...

Sorry guys, I was JK. I feel so guilty I Googled up this link for you:

http://hidden.brunette-sex.biz/showgirls/las-vegas-showgirls.html

JK? You were "just kidding"? OK John, I've got his address. You know anybody handy with explosives?

whoah. I sure hope you didn't Google up that link at work!

(that link is NSFW)

NSFW?

Not Suitable For Work?

I didn't know it was raunchy until the site popped up.

When I googled "Vegas showgirls" I was expecting something more innocuous. Oh well, I'm tenured.

Nice work,

Could you explain the soldering process to those of us that don't have a clue.

I ordered from Cableorganizer as well. I chose the cheapest delivery possible and in one week it was up here in Canada. Good company to deal with.

In reply to:

---

Could you explain the soldering process to those of us that don't have a clue.

---

Ummm... one wire to each banana jack terminal.

Bren R.

I think he's looking for a little more specifics about the actual soldering...

All I can tell you is heat the metal, not the solder. The solder should melt onto the bit you're soldering, not the soldering iron.

thanks kcarlile
In addition to heat on the plug do you also heat the wire? Plumbing I can do but this is all new to me.

Ya know, I really don't remember. I don't think so. I think you sort of put the two together (if there's a little hole you can feed the wire through on the connector, it's easier) then heat. Then apply the solder to coat the join. It's been a long time since I've done it, and I really don't know how good a job I did. Also remember that copper is an excellent conductor of heat, so be careful if you're heating the wire! (been caught on that one...)

Ford... repeat to yourself... heat the joint, heat the joint... same as plumbing... you want to heat both sides, solder runs to the hot side. With electronics, shiny is good, dull is a cold joint, and unlike plumbing do NOT unnaturally quick-cool the join (like with a wet rag)... and use rosin-core or straight solder for electronics - not plumbing acid-core.

Bren R.

Sorry it took so long, but we've had some sweet storms over here today. Anyway, costwise: (I'm guessing a bit here) $28 for 32 feet of the Axiom cable (I liked the black sleeving), about $15 for 30 feet of the braided sleeving from Cableorganizer.com (luckily they did not require a minimum order), $18 for 4 pairs of banana terminals from Radioshack, $2.40 for assorted shrink wrap from Radioshack (pretty scketchy quality, and not very 'shrinky'), and some electrical tape, solder and wire clippers. So, a little over $60 bucks for the whole thing.

As for the solder, all answered.

A couple of tips: make sure you have all the wrap and plug covers on before you solder. I made one mistake, and it's hard trying to get a cover on once the terminal is on. In regard to the braided sleeving - if you are using Axiom's stuff, or any cable that is flatter versus rounder, make sure both the cable and the sleeving are situated so that they mate all the way through the length. If it gets twisted, it gets ugly real quick, and you'll have to back-track. I also had that problem. Next time I'll use circular cables I think, so that'll be easier.

Hope this helps and is not too much of a bore. Have fun.

I was getting ready to do my cables, and I've realized that I'm not sure how to do the heatshrink ends. Did you put the heatshrink entirely over the banana plugs? I know that my design is a little different, but if anybody's got any tips on this...

I'm doing these, surprise, surprise...

I was thinking about heatshrinking the bananas to the twisted pair of wire, then heatshrinking the two leads together a little further down before they go into the jacket.

kcarlile,

I didn't have the right wrap to do the clips. I would have, just to clean it up a bit. Those cables look cool in that article. Here's where I think I'm going to get my wrap for the next set:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=73

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-768

You could wire your entire house with that. Good luck.

Mapleshade Clearview Double Golden Helix Plus Speaker Wires.

twoby, almost looks like a fetus in the womb. those wires must add a comfort factor to the music.

I've finished the speaker cables. They were a pain to put together, mainly because I know jack about heatshrink cable. I'll post pics later. Needless to say, it went a lot faster after I started using a butane lighter instead of a hair dryer...

Sweet, can't wait to see them. Butane lighter?! Damn, you must be impatient. I had no problem with my dryer going quickly.

Actually, I probably won't be posting those pics. It didn't work out so well... I didn't cut the outer casing low enough, so it was putting a lot pressure on the jacks on my receiver. I had to cut them down and remove all of the heatshrink this morning. If I fix it, I'll post pictures of that.

I'm not that impatient. It took 30 minutes to get the black stuff to partially shrink with the hairdryer. The lighter only took a few seconds. Lit a bit of it on fire, but hey...

I told you ya had to be careful not to scorch it!

I don't know what height you had the flame on the lighter set too, but it should be set very low. It'll still get the job done. Start with the flame a good distance away from the shrink, and slowly move it closer until you see some shrinkage taking place. You want the HEAT from the flame, not the flame itself, to cause the shrinkage. When you see that shrinkage begin, slowly (or rapidly, depending on how fast the shrink is shrinking) rotate the wire between your thumb and finger so you apply the heat evenly to the shrink wrap. If you don't, you end up with an uneven shrink (which, of course, can be very damaging to the psyche {double entendre intended}). Learning can be such a painful process. Good on ya for doing it yourself, Ken.

Wow. And all along I thought the best way to achieve shrinkage was to jump into cold water.

Well, I think I'm going to give it another shot with my other banana plugs, after I get some longer heatshrink. Radio Shack has it, right? (too impatient to wait for the web, and I just can't stand the shipping prices Parts Express charges...) This may be necessary for the M22/M50 comparison anyway, unless someone knows how to set up the 525 for easy (and I emphasize easy) A/B speaker selection. I know I could use the multiroom stuff, but it seems horrifically complicated to use, and to adjust the volume, I'd have to get another remote receiver, etc, etc.

In any case, the speaker wires sound fine, and I think they look pretty cool if you ignore the ends!

Yeah, they have a couple to choose from. I got a variety pack. One note - I had to use some electrical tape to build up the diameter of some spots, as the wrap doesn't shrink that much.

Thanks for the tip!

Go to a local elecronics shop for heat shrink tubing. They will have several kinds with different properties. I found that the shrink wrap that looks dull, like rubber, shrinks more with less heat than the shiny plastic looking stuff.

Today's off topic conversation about heat shrink:

While at the farm this past few days, I went to visit my fiancee's cousin. When I pulled up, he was mowing his lawn and his brother-in-law's car was in the driveway with the hood up. I asked what was up. He said that he'd tried starting it and it would stall seconds later, so he popped the hood and found a woodchuck sitting on the engine staring at him, and that it had eaten a wiring harness. I asked if he'd killed it, he said he hadn't, that it was still in the engine compartment.

Between him poking at it with a stick, the dog crawling under the car and barking at it and me with a garden spade waiting to cosh it over the head, it dropped out under the car, but kept climbing back up into the engine compartment. Finally he gets a good poke at it with a piece of rebar and its legs and torso stick out through the frame, but it's managed to wedge its head between the oil pan and crossmember.

After pummeling it repeatedly with the spade while it hung there, effectively turning it into a bag of pulp, we both came to the realization that... we had succeeded in killing the critter, but it was now hanging under the car, up to the groin laying on the ground.

I suggested we fix the wiring harness (the talk of shrink tube triggered this for me) and tell him it's one of those car audiophile ground straps.

Bren R.

Dear Bren,

Thank you for your graphic depiction of the slaughter of a wild animal. I particularly liked the mention of how it's head was wedged, and the nonchalant tone of the description. I personally take pleasure in dropping large stones on mice that get caught in glue traps, and kicking pigeons that walk across my path at the park. Perhaps we should get together sometime to show rodents and other small animals that they should fear us because we are vastly superior to them in all respects.

Sincerely yours,
Andrew

PS: I will bring the alca-seltzer, can you bring a bb-gun?

I too am a bit too left of center to have enjoyed reading that...

Back to shrink wrap tubing...

Once all the pieces arrive for my speaker cable experiement, I'll let you know how it goes. I'll post pics even if it turns out to be a disaster.

You can pick up a heat gun on ebay for about $10. This is the tool for heat shrink. Also polyolefin rather than pvc heatshrink is much better. I also like the dual wall or adhesive type heat shrink. You can find it on ebay too.

this story has finally answered the question,

HOW MUCH WOOD WOULD A WOODCHUCH CHUCK, IF A WOODCHUCK, COULD CHUCK WOOD??

apparently, not very much when its wedged between the oilpan and a crossmember.

i am not fond of little furries either.. we get squirrles in the attic sometimes.. i gotta go up there and get postal on'em.

bigjohn

That's polyolefin. The shiny plastic is PVC, isn't as flexible, and doesn't last as long.

Ouch, guess I should have asked for a show of hands from PETA members first.

Ringmir - next time I'll give you a call and you can come out and give it a written invitation to a pancake breakfast.

Bren R.

I wrote that mostly for humor value, although the nonchalantness did come across a little harsh. In all seriousness though, I like innocent animals, and I hate guilty ones. For example...the pigeons walking across my path go kick-free. However, mice found rummaging through my food get capital punishment (although not gleeful rock smashing). Squirrels in my attic would be murdered in their sleep if I got the chance, that sounds damned annoying. I think chewing through the wiring harness of a car is a sufficient crime to warrant the punishment, I just wonder if you could have gotten him out with a hose or something.

Ringmir-
Whew... was hoping I wasn't being made out as a criminal - I draw the same distinctions - I've taken in strays, contribute to the local no-kill animal shelter and was even a vegetarian for 2 years (until I became anemic - I have enough trouble balancing a diet being able to eat anything, never mind removing a whole food group!)

Although, back to soldering - one of those times when I wish I'd had my own equipment around, replacing a 20ga. wiring harness using only a butane flame-type (not even a butane one that heats a tip!) soldering gun(?), a 4" piece of electrical solder, and the wild choice of 16ga. stranded or 14ga. solid wire was less than fun. Though they did have some P.O. shrink tube in nearly the right size. Ah, well, at least I didn't have to use my Zippo and put on my metallurgists hat and build my own solder out of a chunk of lead and a chunk of tin.

Bren R.

Hmmm.. There is such a thing as a woodchuck? I figured they were like Snipes of the East Coast.
In my minds eye I saw muddy water in the background, thick tick infested underbrush and trees, overalls, sweet smell of fresh baked pie and was that banjo's playing through the rear surrounds?

It would have been quicker to just blast him, Bren.

Changing the oil pan to get rid of the hole would have taken a while, though...

I'm a registered PETA Member
(People Eating Tasty Animals)

Well, back to the subject of homemade speaker cables...

I just got my tech flex in the mail and realized I ordered the wrong size. Duh.

So I decided to make some more simple cables for my brother. I have some 10ga copper sitting in a box, so I threaded the 10ga through the 1/4" techflex, then crimped on a set of bananas. Heat shrinked the techflex down, and tahdah! Really cheap 10ga cables that look pretty decent.

I'll post pics later.