I don't know if it's the bleach but the nada has some weird powdery starchy stuff in it so what I do is always wash it well and dry it thoroughly before I use it. I've had interconnects made from washed nada that has lasted 8+ years. Still going strong.
@keith_correa has ASR measured nadas?
I too have made Interconnects using various wires. Maybe someone can help me understand any wire not to use or avoid
1) 16 or 18 awg Speaker wires
View attachment 67916
This will not do. Cable capacitance will be in picofarad range. The lowest I see is 20 nF (nanofarad). But since you have this, try measuring it in the lowest range and see what value you get. But you can get this posted below. I have tested this against a calibrated LCR meter and it is decent enough
Again this will not be immune to noise. It should be soldered otherwise. One wire of both the twisted pair goes to center lug and the remaining two wires goes to the ground lug. Best is to use just one pair
Yes that's a problem. The wire breaks easily. Just use one pair and use a glue gun to pour molten wax and it will be strong enough
Yes. They give real low capacitance. IIRC it was just 2 pF for a single plug. I presume the low capacitance is because this plugs have just around 5mm long pins for the signal as well as the ground connection. There is no ground barrel surrounding the center pin like in the traditional RCA plugs. Effectively they have reduced the surface area of the metal plates of a capacitor. So this added just 4 pF for plugs added at both ends.
Wow. You have separated the strands and increased the distance between the conductors. This will give even lower capacitance. Looks very good too. Any way you can measure the capacitance? Extremely curious to know. Maybe I will hunt for some naada and try this weekend.
That was the general idea behind the "naada" and the braiding.
I will when I get to it. Currently, it's connected and I want to let sleeping dogs lie.
You should. It's extremely cheap to make, looks good and performs well. Nothing to not like. Don't forget the Teflon tape wrap; it makes the "naada" slippery, easy to braid and provides some stiffness to the floppy "naada". And since we majorly hear through our eyes, your ears will like it as well.
An couple of issues with the those banana plugs used for the speaker cables are;
If you like making your own cables then try this combination, Van Damme cables and Neutrik connectors. It will beat many 200gbp worth cables
Inspired by this DIY i have tried threading the CAT5 wire through the cotton naada ( JUSST ISNT HAPPENING), no matter how i try the wire either comes out the naada midway...really clueless as to how Keith has woven this so well. Just Amazing how neat this looks.
You must be pushing the wire from the end of the "naada". While that works for the first couple of inches, it will not go in smoothly thereafter. What you should be doing is to coax the wire inside by holding the end of the wire that is inside the "naada" and scrunching the naada. It's easy and you also need to make a small loop at the wire tip. That will ensure that the pointy end is bent back so that the end is blunted and won't pierce the "naada" midway. Try it. It WILL work.
Hats off Chief.....the depths you've gone to explain the method is simply commendable & I'm the kind who will not let that go to waste. Will get this done and dusted no matter how long it takes. Thank you for your time.cheers.
A two year old post that's still attracting replies - so here's mine. Well designed systems perhaps need the least expensive cables - for speaker cable, fat cable is good - 10 AWG OFC - end of story. For interconnects - characteristic impedance is the most important - pick Mogami patch cords (both RCA and XLR) and for digital cables, just pick up any "certified" cable. It's that simple. And now - let the flames erupt. And by the way - not all cables sound alike - Highly marketed cables might actually add new parameters to the mix(L/C/R), and might modify sound in a way that's pleasant, such as a slightly rolled off top end. Fat chance of doing very much to bass though. Ever wondered how any sound ever makes its way through PCBs and internal interconnects - which probably do not spend all that much money or attention on branded cables?
