Out of the responses so far, hardly anyone has provided Aldres with answers to his question, "how DIY cables compare to audio brand speaker cables." I suspect we can be of more help to him. I do agree with Tgrisham that a forum search would yield many results. I suggest trying Audio Asylum's Cable and Tweeker's forums. The DIY possibilities range from simply terminating Canare 4S11 or HD power cords, both of which have their fans, to silver wires in teflon tubes as has been suggested, to more time consuming constructions such as JR CC89259, Cat5, and the newer VH Audio wire where you have to strip a bunch of fine wires and terminate. Personally, I have built a bunch of the CC89259 cables including the quad version, and found they worked pretty well, and compared well with low to moderate priced commercial brands such as DH Labs and low to mid priced AQ cables, but were beaten by my current Luminous cables. You can check Element Cables website for a professional review of the CC89259. If you don't want to spend the time, there are several companies including Element and Blue Jean Cable, which basically make cables from DIY receipes, put them in jackets and sell them to people not inclined to DIY.
DIY cables Vs Mass market cables.
Just wondering how DIY cables compare to audio brand speaker cables such as straightwire, audioquest, etc. Considering the amount of money some speakerwire cost that have been recommended. I am considering doing my own from fine silver wire and some tubing? Any ideas recommendation.