home made speaker cable vs. the big boys

Khrys.These comments are based on having heard the following cables.MIT MH-850 Nordst Quattro Fil,Audio quest Opal emerald Midnight,JPS superconductors and the + version.Wireworld Atlantis Eclipse III Gold Eclipse III IOXS Tara Labs Goertz.I have had them at home and have heard them at dealers.Note both the MIT and Nordst dealers would not allow me to use my Interconnect in their system to do a comparison.What where they affraid of.

Tm12, TARA LABS uses rectangular conductors, and their extensive listing of iinformation in their white papers at http://www.taralabs.com provides the science to back up their claims. These guys are leagues ahead of Nordost and MIT. For your information.... I've got TL Master Gen 2 and Audiotruth Opal right now, both of which, I feel to be excellent. Whether or not I could make the same design for less $, I dont know. I am, however, really glad to see this thread, and the information (besides the eye gouging) contained herein.

Ah, the wonderful "cable" subject again. Yes, you can certainly make your own speaker cables and interconnects, and as many others have noted here (and on the previous posts on this general topic), the key is getting quality wire and terminations. The other option, if you want to say a bit of time, is buy some Kimber Kable 4TC or 8TC speaker cable. It's great wire, isn't outrageously expensive, and in runs of 10 feet or less is hard to beat. If you want to go the DIY route, then contact Home Grown Audio at their web site: www.homegrownaudio.com

In my previous post, I should also have said that the 3rd element in getting good cables or interconnects is the quality of the termination. Some people will say you get the best connections by crimping, but I am a believer in both crimping and soldering. Hence, the quality of the solder joint is crucial. Make sure you have a tight mechanical connection before soldering (a tight crimp will provide this), and be sure to use solder that has a lower lead content, preferably with silver in the mix. You can buy this type of solder from Home Grown Audio, or from audio suppliers such as Audio Advisor.

Sdcampbell, how are you? You've now had the HomeGrown Audio silver interconnects for about a month now? What are your impressions? Are you using tube gear? I have found the cable to be stellar with tube equipment. Extended, clear, open, yet liquid. But the solid core silver prevents it from being bright(at the expense of flexibility). For those of you who don't know about this product, it is a teflon insulated, 22 ga. solid silver interconnect. It is a copy of Kimber KCAG, using solid silver conductors(instead of Kimber stranded). And, it is sold for $70 for a 1 m terminated cable! You can also braid & and solder it yourself for $40. Hopefully, we will one day see a wire revolution. But, it cannot happen without our realization of the scam the wire companies have committed on our hobby.