made speaker cables out of Lan cable

3 Way Bookshelf Speakers
Tanoj

Tanoj

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Hi Friends

i just wanted to check how will the lan cables work if we use them as speaker cables.... and they work fine

Then i am using to Bi wire my speakers ... i.e using the Lan cable for the tweeters, and my old Assure rapport cable for the woofer

i feel good ... may be i should try Bi amping too once

since this is my first thread in Diy section, just wanted to share what all i did before

did PASS B1 of sachin .......... it made huge difference
did MC Phono stage of sachin
did MM phono stage of sachin

Earlier ( 1997 - 2004 ) i used to refurbish photocopiers ... it was fun

cheers guys

Happy weekend and Happy Diy ing

Tanoj
 
I think one have to ask if there is any advantage to using LAN cables for speakers.

CATn cables are very, very specifically designed to carry network signals. Is there anything in that design that would be good for speaker cables?

I do not know that the answers to these questions are negative, and welcome input. Personally, if I were not buying cable sold as speaker cable, I'd use a decent gauge mains cable; I would not use LAN cable.

Please excuse, this is not meant to be a downer, but, from the objective point of view, what you might have proved is that anything that conducts electricity can, to a point, be used as a speaker cable.
 
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Hi Tanoj,
What is the purpose of this project and what DIY designs are you looking at? Any advantages?

I would be super hesitant to put anything carrying real voltage through CAT5.
A (universally) good Speaker-Cable has a low Resistance and Inductance (though a certain balancing Act is recommended for Speakers with a non-resistive impedance) and moderately low Capacitance.

(albeit with a slightly high capacitance), but I really don't think you're going to hear any real difference in that, versus a quality pair. When you calculate the time you spend on building something like that (along with buying expensive quality connectors), you're more than likely to be cheaper just buying premade stuff.

With the above, regardless if care to make your own High-End Speaker-Cable or to use what you might have learned to avoid the worst pitfalls of buying expensive Speaker-Cables, you should be well equipped....

Cheers
 
Tanoj said:
Hi Friends

i just wanted to check how will the lan cables work if we use them as speaker cables.... and they work fine

Then i am using to Bi wire my speakers ... i.e using the Lan cable for the tweeters, and my old Assure rapport cable for the woofer

i feel good ... may be i should try Bi amping too once

since this is my first thread in Diy section, just wanted to share what all i did before

did PASS B1 of sachin .......... it made huge difference
did MC Phono stage of sachin
did MM phono stage of sachin

Earlier ( 1997 - 2004 ) i used to refurbish photocopiers ... it was fun

cheers guys

Happy weekend and Happy Diy ing

Tanoj
Click to expand...

Congratulations !

please check the following parameters of your DIY cable .

Cx- Capacitance
Lx- Inductance
Rx- Resistance.

The readings along with critical lintening will guide you yourself.

Evaluation only based on critical listening demands a lot in terms of perfection of other associated equipments and of course trained ears.

years back I made one for myself but later on rejected the same.

The LAN cable was advocated due to easy availability of 8 strands of superior quality of copper inside very thin teflon coating, which is difficult to find now [Inferior copper with thick PVC insulation].

Regards,

Vipin
 
From my theoretical knowledge, low inductance is desirable in a speaker cable. What you could do is:

Strip the sheath completely from the CAT5 cable exposing the 4 twisted pairs.

Take 2 twisted pairs and twist them both anticlockwise. Do the same with the other 2 twisted pairs too. So now you have 2 sets of 2 twisted pairs.

Now take those 2 sets and twist them clockwise. At the ends group 4 wires [one from each twisted pair] for the hot and the other 4 from each twisted pair for the return.

Inductance is reduced further from the inherent inductance of the wires because of the nature of this type of twisting.

Four 24AWG wires aggregate 18AWG which should be fine for the tweeters.

Will you be able to hear a difference? I doubt it and even if there is a difference it may be subtle. BUT, you will have made something youself which according to the textbooks should be ideal and to hell with whether it makes a difference or not :)
 
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Strip the sheath completely from the CAT5 cable exposing the 4 twisted pairs.

Take 2 twisted pairs and twist them both anticlockwise. Do the same with the other 2 twisted pairs too. So now you have 2 sets of 2 twisted pairs.

Now take those 2 sets and twist them clockwise. At the ends group 4 wires [one from each twisted pair] for the hot and the other 4 from each twisted pair for the return.
Click to expand...

I think i did the same way as you mentioned ... uploading the pic

Will you be able to hear a difference? I doubt it and even if there is a difference it will be subtle.
Click to expand...

I do see difference when playing vinyl.... i get very detailed sound ....

all the HF sounds and Hi-mid sounds are more crisp

This is just an experiment ... may or may not use it for longer ... cos more detailed sound also bothers me ...

Thank you friends for all your inputs .. i really appreciate you all

Tanoj
 
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Tanoj, I am already using it with my tv system.

See more details here -
AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Even more DIY speaker cables

I am happy about it. Though my other system uses chord classical speaker cable. Never done A:B comparison.
Click to expand...

Woow... thats for boosting my confidence sir :yahoo:

Regards

Tanoj
 
I am using the Cat5e cables for speaker connections since couple of months back. I think I did not do the same as Keith suggested of anti-clock and clockwise direction twisting of the individual strands. Frankly speaking there was not much difference with the DAC branded cables that I had earlier.
But I also use submersible pump cable which does make a difference in bass and subtle instrument separation. I looked at reubenesm thread indicating of this usage and took the queue as it was just 50/mt and it was by far better than the DAC cable. The only drawback with this submersible cable is that it is very thick and I cannot pass this cable behind my cabinets and I need to put them outside and my daughter claims it is a snake :lol:. I am planning to get some piping done behind my cabinet to hold this cable and I can permanently use them instead of the Dac or Cat5e cables.

Thanks
 
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Tanoj said:
sounds interesting , will try that

Happy Listening

Tanoj
Click to expand...

Yes look for a thread where reubensm had posted his listening impressions and he used Finolex branded cables for this purpose. But I was not able to get this near my home and I need to go to city or shivajinagar market to get this brand which is around 90/mt but instead got a Maharaja brand.
 
If one was crazy about plaiting/brading ...well, it's a time pass I suppose!

On the other hand, wasn't there a multi-insulated-strand speaker cable that blew up (the ultimate proof that cables can make a difference!) amplifiers? Maybe that was an entirely different construction and not relevant. I can search the reference if anybody wants.

I have a speaker cable idea.

1. Fashion spade connectors on end of long spike of copper of 2 to 3 mm diameter.

2. Take length of hose and two corks or close fitting rubber plugs.

3. Force connector spikes through cork/rubber plugs.

4. Insert one plug/connector and make sure seal is good.

5. Fill hose with water.

6. insert second plug/connector.

Make three more, be sure all is sealed, and stand by for a really fluid sound :lol:

Like I said: if it conducts electricity, it can be a speaker cable --- and the more time one spends on such a thing, the more the brain will create the result :). All that braiding must take hours.
 
I was going to say that it could be oxygen-free water --- and then I remembered what water is made of! :o Better to boil the dissolved air out of it, though.

Seriously: how does water compare to copper for conductivity? This could catch on.
 
I have, in the past, been known to indulge in this sort of thing! I even made an abortive attempt at "rope-work-knot" jewellery in silver wire, but lacked the skill to succeed, although I've seen examples made by better craftspeople than I.
 
The TNT guys have been monkeying around a lot with speaker cables made of CAT5 cables. There are 5 variants here.
 
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