I got tired of having excess cables for my home theater system, and wanted to make my own. I used this video and am now kicking myself for not finding this channel… the cables I made sound better than $150 king cobra cables I bought. Excellent video my friend
WOW, Tharbamar!! So you’ll probably never see this but I just made these exact RCA cables plus the Mogami speaker wires in your other vid. I waited until both sets were done, played my gear with the old amazon interconnects and 2002 monster cable, immediately swapped to my new hand made cables leaving all volume and sound settings the same. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Playing a Marantz 2265b and Hafler DH220 on Klipsch Hereseys using Tidal from my iPad through a Schiit Modi DAC. Not sure if it’s that combo or if it’s the vintage gear that really brings out the difference or what, but I’m totally blown away. MOST. HELPFUL. VIDEO. EVER!! I owe you one!! I’m making my dad and sister sets for Christmas now.
I just finishing making this cable. I used Mogami W2534 and Neutrik ProFi Locking RCA plugs. Wow Amazing. Crystal clear audio with completely silent background. Thank you so much!
Sir, You are doing everyone a great service. Thank-you for this and other tutorials. You have so much credibility given the sound demos you put up. If you can pass your test then it must be quality...
This video is great. The calmness of your voice, and the detail of your method actually makes me think I can do this myself. We shall see... haha! Thank you!
Thank you very much for your advice and tell us about your experiences. A couple of weeks ago I made my own patch cables using Canare F-10 RCA connectors and MOGAMI Neglex w2549 shielded cable, which has two wires and a shield, the outer diameter is 6mm, perfect for the RCA CANARE F-10. According to the data sheet, the resistance, capacitance and inductance values are practically identical to the w2543 cable. I joined the two wires and soldered them to the center pin that I insulated with heat shrink tubing and then wrapped the mesh around the heat shrink and crimped with the RCA connector jaws. To finish, I have placed a second heat shrink that isolates all the contacts. The change has been noticeable, the sound is cleaner, sharper in the mid/high frequencies. I have added red and white heat shrink to your proposal to differentiate the L and R channels.
Thank you for the tutorial Sir! Now I have a new project. A couple of weeks ago I saw your diy speaker cable video, and last weekend I made my own. I enjoyed very much doing my own cables, and they not only helped my system sound way much better, they also look great! All the best.
@@garrettgiuffre7298 I may have snipped the cable a tiny bit, I was going willy nilly. But yea small fiskars would work, and take your time. I enjoyed making the cables and it does not need to be rushed.
I made the same rig and it works perfect as the extra hand. This method is so easy to apart to and am to sound great as long as you keep it clean with no stray ground whiskers
Thank you for this video. It got me on a journey. And what I ended up with is quite the opposite: shield soldered to ground on source end, but no shield on amp end.
You inspired me to make my own RCA interconnects using Canare L-4E6S Star Quad cable and Paillics locking RCA plugs. They sound much better than the Audioquest Diamondbacks I was using.
@ Harry Harriman I'm using them in and out of a Schiit Mani 2 phono preamp. The Diamondbacks were a little too sibilant and the soundstage was narrower.
I made a pair of these for my dac in 3 foot length and man did they make an improvement from my generic 17 foot rca cable. The sound is more open and the highs are better on my system noticeable right off the bat. Thanks for the tutorial.
I've been using the Switchcraft/Belden cables for a few years now. It basically ended my cable swapping habit. I also use the same Switchcraft connectors with twisted pair Duelund wire. Equally good with a more minimalist look. These recipes first appeared on another audiophile blog a while back. I know of at least one prospering cable manufacturer who slips the Belden/SC combo in a braided sleeve, rebrands it and sells it with a very hefty markup. Just goes to show you...
Mike, I grown up in Japan and I'm using these methods even before anyone one knows publicly. I like both cables in my system but I might preferred Mogami C-Type for richer and quieter sound signature.
@@Tharbamar Makes sense, the fellow that posted the recipe on the blog I was referring to is also Japanese. I'm using a pair of Mogami ICs (not DIY) for the audio out on my BluRay player. Can't remember the model number. Will check later, it's too hot for me to go crawling in back of my gear right now.
I love it, you are awesome and your video has helped me! I would like to share with you a tip I have learned along the way. If you have nitrile gloves on when you make your cables, you wont get any skin oil on your cable insides. Thanks again brother and cheers!
first of all love the content i thought it was amazing, then when i saw everything was readily available with free shipping and similiar price to the us while being from the uk was mindblowing. you dont get this stuff with the likes of keyboard cables
i dont mean to be off topic but does anyone know a trick to log back into an instagram account? I was dumb forgot the account password. I would appreciate any tricks you can give me!
@Otis Luciano i really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
Nice using the car visor sunglasses clip for cable hand I picked up a helping hand at a yard sale it has 4 aligator clips on adjustable arms and a stainless cup for water or solder sponge they can be expensive though
Hi, it's been a long time, but in the comments it was said several times that the shielding should be connected only on one side, but no one explained properly why it should be done that way and what advantage it has. This connection system is taken from the studio equipment when connected by XLR which is connected by three wires 1-GND; 2-positive signal; 3 negative signal - if any interference is induced on the route to the cable connected in this way, it will affect both the positive and negative wires, in the target device these two signals will merge again and thus the induced hums will be canceled - this connection works at very long distances. Our home devices mainly use RCA connectors (cinch) where we only have a combined signal on the center pin - to reduce the interference of such connections (it only works for short distances) the so-called directional connection of cables is used - we need a shielded cable with two inner wires - one of the wires connect the active pin, on the signal side (e.g. CD player) connect the second wire and shielding to the external contact (GND), connect only the second wire to the external contact at the connector on the signal output side! we terminate the shielding so that it cannot touch this external contact. The shielding must therefore always be on the side of the signal source! never the other way around! Cables are also sold that have directly printed arrows between the text indicating the type of cable (I always connect cables that do not have arrows so that the direction of the signal corresponds to the direction of the text). How does it actually work - if a disturbing signal is induced on the cable connected in this way, it is on the shield in antiphase with the GND wire and it is partially canceled - tested in practice and it works - I have not only all the cables of my HI-FI connected this way, but also the test cables used in audio equipment repairs where there is a lot of interference at the workplace. I always recommend GND soldering Nice day 🙂 Tom
Thanks Tom. Are you saying for home RCA short run usage connect the shield to ground at one end, that end being used for the source, ie CD, other end for Amp? Ta.
@@boydsargeant7496 Yes, the other end where the shielding of the cable is not connected is intended for a device that processes the signal, it can be the amplifier you mentioned, or a mixing console or, as in my case, a direct input to a tape deck. Shielding is always connected at the signal source.
Te cables I made from this wire and 8412 were every rolled off and bottom heavy. I used them to poser my subwoofers. I used Canare F10 RCAs and Wonder Solder. I tried the 3103 speaker cables from Mogami and they were fine.
Use Mogami 2549, one wire hot, one wire return, with the shield connected only at the source. Then take all your other cables and throw them in the garbage.
@@ChicagoRob2 (edited because I misunderstood)I'm pretty new to this level of audio equipment but I can easily build cables. I have a CAT S1 black path and Music Reference RM-9. Would the 2549 be acceptable for a 12ft length? I just want to be sure to do it right the first time. Also, What RCA terminal do you recommend?
@@crherniman No problem running 12’. Use Neutric Rean RCA connectors: NYS352G for positive, and NYS352BG for negative. Get them at Performance Audio. Cheap, but very high quality.
Thank you for your knowledge! I ordered a roll of Mogami W2534 and 40 Neutrik plugs for way cheaper than I could get a handful of decent interconnects, and I know they will be the right length for my audio project. Awesome!
This is such a great video. I've made one set of the Belden so far and tested them on two systems, both with Naim amps. The Supernait 2 and XS 3. PMC speakers and Neat speakers. Both systems have the Blusound Node. It's such a vast improvement over some top name interconnects, including Chord and Rega. The dynamic range is superior and the sound is richer. If you're looking for more of a "3d sound" then I'd recommend giving this a try. I will probably give the speaker cable video a try at some point but it's harder to find that cable in the UK for some reason. Thanks for your expert instructions on how to make these.
As a professional sound engineer with 35 years of experience using millions of dollars in equipment... I have never heard all of the glorious improvements in sound stage, imaging, fluid detail -- whatever that means. I should be worried but, all of my counterparts have never heard it either. Believe me... we hear a lot of things.
The one issue of not soldering the ground and just folding it over the cable and then crimping over is that you're putting wires between the rubber cable jacket and the metal crimp part of the connector, so when you crimp the connector, it's not gripping on tightly onto the rubber cable jacket, but is instead holding onto the "slippery" metal. I mean you can imagine the difference in grip levels between two metal pieces in contact and a metal in contact with rubber. This way only your signal wire is actually really solidly connected on both ends. It's all fine if nobody ever pulls on the cable violently. I always solder the ground as well, and then use a shrink tube with glue, so that it actually shrinks and glues everything together. That way you have no issue of breaking the cable at the connector, since you have the signal wire soldered, ground wires soldered, shrink tube glued on and the crimp holding everything together.
My question would be if there was any audible significance by not soldering the ground vs crimping the ground. I know Audioquest tries to steer clear of using solder and prefers machine crimped cold welds.
What if you don't have preamp but just DAC and AMP? Not shielded goes to DAC? What are benefits of having one side not shielded? Today I spoke to my repair guy, he is making custom soldered cables and he said it doesn't make sens.
@@KonradSkowronski Tell the repairman to think or go back to school, I added a separate comment explaining how the directional cable works. Nice day 🙂 Tom
@@KonradSkowronski “Directional” cables with the shield connected at the source and “floating “ at the other end are more transparent and open sounding than a cable constructed with the Japanese method. I’ve been building my own cables for 45 years and the directional method is a better sounding solution that can easily be heard. I’ve conducted hundreds of real-world comparisons and every listener, regardless of background, has chosen the directional cable as superior in every way.
Industrial instrumentation cable only has one end of shield connected to common of the receiving end for best shielding. This explains arrows on high end connectors that this guy showed in another vid but didn't know why.
I did one like this from van damme cable, same 4 wires inside with shielding. I have done a van damme silver series, and a simple mogami copper coax with shielding. they all sound the same. maybe the van damme silver series a tiny bit different 'better' in sound but they pretty much the same.
Very good video , I used the belden cable with some solderless locking connectors though I connected the shield to one end only , very good interconnect , though I would like to know why connecting shield to both ends is a good thing or not , thanks again. Ian
thanks for sharing BTW, if you are doin' it alone you can also use ruberband in nose and mechanical pliers so you can easily and cheaply convert them into crab pincers, i do it all the time also, using silver solder would be propper for high end
Tharbamar have you tried only soldering one side of the braided shield to one end and leave the other braided end disconnected? This is another method and you attach the connected side to the source of your equipment such as the DAC. Apparently it offers better noise rejection, something called a "Faraday cage" when you do it this way.
I got so excited I ordered all the wires and parts and I have no clue what is going on anymore. My wires cost more than my speakers. But I ordered the interconnects first and now I have no clue what is going on.
Hmm but wouldnt putting both wires together increase capacitance? Even the official mogami rep that i asked said its better to put one wire to ground. What do you think? Did you ever notice any difference or even tried and compared both methods?
Tried mogami for headphones but they dont offer the clarity of silver cable, and silver cable is so direct and crisp in its sound you need to use gold on the negative. Combine those two and youve got an amazing quality sound. I picked up a used set of single crystal silver cables ($30), i have a set of gold plated ofc ($30), and ive ordered 2m of gold filled copper cable (actual gold layer fused to a copper core ($20 for 2m). Im going to run a length of silver and the gold plated ofc as the positive and the gold filled alongside the remaining silver as the negative. Using cotton shoelaces (2mm) and a layer of shrink wrap to protect the cables. And terminated in mini aviation sockets. About $110 overall. You wont find a pro set of equal quality under the 10k mark. More money than sense. Btw found soviet airforce comunications wire for aircraft (pure single crystal silver) for dirt cheap on bthe bay, great sound out of that but its very stiff cable, no good for my headphones but for interconnects it could be perfect...and its very cheap
Just ordered 1) 0.7m of mogami 2534 pre built with Neutrik plugs. 2) 3m of Mogami 3104 speaker cable. 3) 5m of Canare 4S8G speaker cable. 4) Almit KR-19RMA soldering iron. for my Mid-Fi and Lo-Fi at a total of 9,000Yens only shipping to my city. Have high hope of them😄. PS: I don't buy banana plugs because I can reuse my QED Screwloc and Audioquest Suregrip 100 by cutting out some of the wires at the ends.
i bought my own RCA connectors ( good quality ones) from Amazon. But the difference being is…. I’m using solid copper electrical wire; as opposed to the stranded, flexible type. The difference in sound quality is very noticeable; depending on whether you have a good musical ear or not. I’m also using bi-amp / wire speakers. Sunday am 23rd October 2022. U.K. Southampton
Please tell me why or what is the benefit of using the 2 pair inner (whites) as a connect to the shield and ground? Is this a better shielding result versus just using the shield as ground ONLY? And if so why? My first thoughts are that its worse because you are bringing signals closer to the actual feed wires (blue) vs just an outer shield grounded that is farther away from the feeds. (blue). OR is what you are doing here in this video (Japanese Method) actually creating and Outer and Inner shielding effect that is overall a better shielding scheme? Thank you for this awesome video too....and in advance if you are able to answer my question for better understanding of the benefits of what you are suggesting in this video.
Help please. Does connecting ground to both ends--either the Yazaki-san method, or coax with shield connected to both ends--risk ground loop issues? Wouldn't this be worse than a 2-conductor cable wired with the shield and ground at the source end only? Thanks for any input.
Can you use each individual conductor on the mogami to make a single rca pair or is that not recommended? Looking at making my own cables for multiple amps in the car but with as little separate cables as possible
I wish I could get you to wire up a complete wiring harness for my sound system in my truck 4-channel amplifier component speakers with a monoblock powering two 10in subwoofers
hello tharbamar, question, is it worth using an rca cable to xlr female, from the interconnection of the dac to the amplifier? Or I continue with the rca cables.
Wondering if you connect shield at both ends. Typically your hot and grounded conductor carry the signal and the shield only connects at one end so it shields the cable but carries no signal.
Very interesting and informative Video. But I have a Problem. I need interconnects to plug my record Player in. How do you get the ground with These cables. Do I just put a spade on the ground you connected to rca shell? Thank you in advance.
Great video! Which cable & connectors would you recommend for a diy interconnect phono cable? I'm getting lots of EMI from mine, so I guess it's time to change it for a low capacitance one.
Awesome video. I will try some before long. I do have one question, which I believe I already know the answer, but will ask anyway: Subwoofer RCA cables are done the same way correct?
O and w hat is your experience with silver lines in cable??? Because what i heard between the lines is that it can give us a quick direct response in interconnect's.yes or.....?or the van de hul things with carbon(because that i don't get!)the DUTCHMAN
Grea vid Do they work Both Directions?,I have a Question,I have made my own RCA cables for Technics Turntables for years, typical white Red connection from the PCB Board to two connectors White Red all good,one Day I've decided to Make my own RCA,male to male for plug and unplug RCA Turntables,they worked Both Directions fine,the problem is that,I've tried to build more and now they don't work at all,same cables same connectors and I don't even remember what I did the first time to make them Work Both Directions! Any help?
Its me again, planning for purchasing dac : ares 12th or draco to go with SX11, do you still recomend belden 8402 or 8412 made XLR cables for these combinations ? BTW my speaker is Sonus Faber Sonetto I .
@@Tharbamar I ask because I recently took apart my old Monster Cable Reference 2 RCAs. I noticed they took the shield and wrapped it into the ground wire and soldered that into the post of the connector. I notice that the configuration of that wire is no different than what you were using. So, I really wonder if that cable is really all that bad?
@@TharbamarRIP! lol. how did they sound? im new to cables and was looking into making these cables. I followed your other video on making speaker cables using Mogami W3082 you made a year ago. Was hoping to get some insight
Question: On the last cable why no on the source end connect the clear jacketed conductors to the plug ground along with the braided coax shielding, then only connect the clear jacketed conductors at the opposite end not using the braided coax thus creating an FR frequency dump? Does this work??
To be honest when i was about 19 i tried making my own phono cables and hated the experience then in 2012 i decided to have a dedicated home cinema room but i let QED do all the hard work and spent over £1200 on there reference and signature range of speaker cables have life time warranty and still happy to this day and 9 years later still going strong so for each year i have had it now just works out to £120 per year BARGAIN LOL
@Sean MacDonald Forgot to reply! Went brilliantly, very happy with the results and way more transparesnt and dynamic than a couple of other sub 30€ interconnects i had at hand to compare to.
Hello Tharbamar, you said in one comments that you preferred the Belden 8402 over the Mogami StarQuad... so: 1. How did it compare to the BJ LC1 that use their Belden custom made wire with utralow capacitance? 2. Since the new Belden generation (8412) seems to have a quad (8412P) with lower capacitance, did you find that the Mogami StarQuad was quieter at the end? Thanks! Very good demo!
Hi, I also have LC1 which is good neutral sounding cable but 8402 is much better cable for sound quality for me. I have not tried 8412 to give you right answer, thanks
Thanks for the question Antoine. I was about to ask the same:) I also have BJ LC-1 and custom (made by myself) Belden 8412 and Mogami 2549. To be honest I can't hear significant differences between them having pretty good ears ( I am musician, mix music). Maybe LC-1 has a bit more extended high frequencies but it can be just a self-suggestion. They are all good interconnects but I'm choosing Mogami - it costed me 15 bucks vs $60 for BJ LC-1 which is 4 times more expensive and not sounding 4 times better.
Hi - did you ever post any observations on how these cables performed and sounded? I’ve made some Mogami cables with floating ground and am about to build some more.
@tharbamar on you Japanese method, did you fan out the ground wires before crimping them? Is there a benefit to spreading out the ground strands? I'm making these now and It seems easier to keep the ground tight and crimp it that way. TY!
If you don't have sound grounding, as your reference point, you will end up chasing your tail. In other words, if you have a good ground in your electrical system, there's really no reason not to connect both ends/terminations of the copper conductors to their respective connection points...and that includes both the signal conductor and the low/shield. I've worked in an electrical lab for more than 30 years and all of the coaxial cable we use has the shielding connected at BOTH ends. We do, however, also have a great copper ground bus that encircles the entire lab, so, once again, all of your electrical must be referenced to a good ground.
Shouldn't you ground only one end of the white wires? As far as I know, such a cable becomes directional. It is grounded from the source to the amplifier.
I watched the movie again. I noticed that part where you bend the white wires from the other end breaks off. You can't see that you've stripped off the white insulation. So the cable is directional from ground bond to empty bond.
Could you please clarify - others claim that one end of the sleeve should be left “floating” I m confused, the other half claim grounding both end of the sleeve?
I got tired of having excess cables for my home theater system, and wanted to make my own. I used this video and am now kicking myself for not finding this channel… the cables I made sound better than $150 king cobra cables I bought. Excellent video my friend
WOW, Tharbamar!! So you’ll probably never see this but I just made these exact RCA cables plus the Mogami speaker wires in your other vid. I waited until both sets were done, played my gear with the old amazon interconnects and 2002 monster cable, immediately swapped to my new hand made cables leaving all volume and sound settings the same. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Playing a Marantz 2265b and Hafler DH220 on Klipsch Hereseys using Tidal from my iPad through a Schiit Modi DAC. Not sure if it’s that combo or if it’s the vintage gear that really brings out the difference or what, but I’m totally blown away. MOST. HELPFUL. VIDEO. EVER!! I owe you one!! I’m making my dad and sister sets for Christmas now.
Beautiful presentation, it's refreshing to see someone not drowning everything in solder... :)
I just finishing making this cable. I used Mogami W2534 and Neutrik ProFi Locking RCA plugs. Wow Amazing. Crystal clear audio with completely silent background. Thank you so much!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
@@Tharbamar Helllo, can i use this type of cable for my subwoofer or its beter to make it from coaxial cable?
Thanks
Sir, You are doing everyone a great service. Thank-you for this and other tutorials. You have so much credibility given the sound demos you put up. If you can pass your test then it must be quality...
This video is great. The calmness of your voice, and the detail of your method actually makes me think I can do this myself. We shall see... haha! Thank you!
4 year old video and still a great video. Good job man thanks for the video
Thanks for watching!
A freaking visor sun glasses holder... It's so brilliant. It literally makes me mad. I didn't think of it first.
Thank you very much for your advice and tell us about your experiences. A couple of weeks ago I made my own patch cables using Canare F-10 RCA connectors and MOGAMI Neglex w2549 shielded cable, which has two wires and a shield, the outer diameter is 6mm, perfect for the RCA CANARE F-10. According to the data sheet, the resistance, capacitance and inductance values are practically identical to the w2543 cable. I joined the two wires and soldered them to the center pin that I insulated with heat shrink tubing and then wrapped the mesh around the heat shrink and crimped with the RCA connector jaws. To finish, I have placed a second heat shrink that isolates all the contacts. The change has been noticeable, the sound is cleaner, sharper in the mid/high frequencies. I have added red and white heat shrink to your proposal to differentiate the L and R channels.
Thank you for the tutorial Sir! Now I have a new project. A couple of weeks ago I saw your diy speaker cable video, and last weekend I made my own. I enjoyed very much doing my own cables, and they not only helped my system sound way much better, they also look great! All the best.
Awesome!! Thanks
The sunglasses holder to clamp the wire is genius!
That's what this is,I know I seen this gadget
Yea so dope. I want to see if I have one now!!
I verbatim said the same thing. So using it. Yay no more damaged wires trying to clamp it
Those bonsai scissors?
@@garrettgiuffre7298 I may have snipped the cable a tiny bit, I was going willy nilly. But yea small fiskars would work, and take your time. I enjoyed making the cables and it does not need to be rushed.
I made the same rig and it works perfect as the extra hand. This method is so easy to apart to and am to sound great as long as you keep it clean with no stray ground whiskers
What is that holder thingy he used to hold the cable in place while soldering ?
Thank you for this fabulous tutorial! I just made my first interlink cable set, exactly according to your instructions. You are a true inspirator.
Thank you!
Thank you for this video. It got me on a journey. And what I ended up with is quite the opposite: shield soldered to ground on source end, but no shield on amp end.
You inspired me to make my own RCA interconnects using Canare L-4E6S Star Quad cable and Paillics locking RCA plugs. They sound much better than the Audioquest Diamondbacks I was using.
@ Harry Harriman I'm using them in and out of a Schiit Mani 2 phono preamp. The Diamondbacks were a little too sibilant and the soundstage was narrower.
I made a pair of these for my dac in 3 foot length and man did they make an improvement from my generic 17 foot rca cable. The sound is more open and the highs are better on my system noticeable right off the bat. Thanks for the tutorial.
I've been using the Switchcraft/Belden cables for a few years now. It basically ended my cable swapping habit. I also use the same Switchcraft connectors with twisted pair Duelund wire. Equally good with a more minimalist look. These recipes first appeared on another audiophile blog a while back. I know of at least one prospering cable manufacturer who slips the Belden/SC combo in a braided sleeve, rebrands it and sells it with a very hefty markup. Just goes to show you...
Mike, I grown up in Japan and I'm using these methods even before anyone one knows publicly. I like both cables in my system but I might preferred Mogami C-Type for richer and quieter sound signature.
@@Tharbamar Makes sense, the fellow that posted the recipe on the blog I was referring to is also Japanese. I'm using a pair of Mogami ICs (not DIY) for the audio out on my BluRay player. Can't remember the model number. Will check later, it's too hot for me to go crawling in back of my gear right now.
I've been reading about the Belden switchcraft combo. Even Jim Smith reccomends them. What are your toughts on these?
I love it, you are awesome and your video has helped me! I would like to share with you a tip I have learned along the way. If you have nitrile gloves on when you make your cables, you wont get any skin oil on your cable insides. Thanks again brother and cheers!
first of all love the content i thought it was amazing, then when i saw everything was readily available with free shipping and similiar price to the us while being from the uk was mindblowing. you dont get this stuff with the likes of keyboard cables
Tip... Put the connecter shell, spring and heat shrink on the cable, before doing all the stripping.. will save you hassle of getting them on after
i dont mean to be off topic but does anyone know a trick to log back into an instagram account?
I was dumb forgot the account password. I would appreciate any tricks you can give me!
@Hendrix Harvey instablaster :)
@Otis Luciano i really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now.
Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Otis Luciano it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. I am so happy:D
Thanks so much you saved my ass :D
@Hendrix Harvey You are welcome :D
Nice using the car visor sunglasses clip for cable hand I picked up a helping hand at a yard sale it has 4 aligator clips on adjustable arms and a stainless cup for water or solder sponge they can be expensive though
Hi, it's been a long time, but in the comments it was said several times that the shielding should be connected only on one side, but no one explained properly why it should be done that way and what advantage it has.
This connection system is taken from the studio equipment when connected by XLR which is connected by three wires 1-GND; 2-positive signal; 3 negative signal - if any interference is induced on the route to the cable connected in this way, it will affect both the positive and negative wires, in the target device these two signals will merge again and thus the induced hums will be canceled - this connection works at very long distances. Our home devices mainly use RCA connectors (cinch) where we only have a combined signal on the center pin - to reduce the interference of such connections (it only works for short distances) the so-called directional connection of cables is used - we need a shielded cable with two inner wires - one of the wires connect the active pin, on the signal side (e.g. CD player) connect the second wire and shielding to the external contact (GND), connect only the second wire to the external contact at the connector on the signal output side! we terminate the shielding so that it cannot touch this external contact.
The shielding must therefore always be on the side of the signal source! never the other way around!
Cables are also sold that have directly printed arrows between the text indicating the type of cable (I always connect cables that do not have arrows so that the direction of the signal corresponds to the direction of the text).
How does it actually work - if a disturbing signal is induced on the cable connected in this way, it is on the shield in antiphase with the GND wire and it is partially canceled - tested in practice and it works - I have not only all the cables of my HI-FI connected this way, but also the test cables used in audio equipment repairs where there is a lot of interference at the workplace.
I always recommend GND soldering
Nice day 🙂 Tom
Thanks Tom. Are you saying for home RCA short run usage connect the shield to ground at one end, that end being used for the source, ie CD, other end for Amp? Ta.
@@boydsargeant7496 Yes, the other end where the shielding of the cable is not connected is intended for a device that processes the signal, it can be the amplifier you mentioned, or a mixing console or, as in my case, a direct input to a tape deck. Shielding is always connected at the signal source.
Thanks!
Your soldering station is brilliant!
Thanks
What clamp are you using for your soldering station please?
@@ericscott769 I think it's an eyeglass holder/clip.
Te cables I made from this wire and 8412 were every rolled off and bottom heavy. I used them to poser my subwoofers. I used Canare F10 RCAs and Wonder Solder. I tried the 3103 speaker cables from Mogami and they were fine.
Use Mogami 2549, one wire hot, one wire return, with the shield connected only at the source. Then take all your other cables and throw them in the garbage.
@@ChicagoRob2 (edited because I misunderstood)I'm pretty new to this level of audio equipment but I can easily build cables. I have a CAT S1 black path and Music Reference RM-9. Would the 2549 be acceptable for a 12ft length? I just want to be sure to do it right the first time. Also, What RCA terminal do you recommend?
@@crherniman No problem running 12’. Use Neutric Rean RCA connectors: NYS352G for positive, and NYS352BG for negative. Get them at Performance Audio. Cheap, but very high quality.
Thank you for your knowledge! I ordered a roll of Mogami W2534 and 40 Neutrik plugs for way cheaper than I could get a handful of decent interconnects, and I know they will be the right length for my audio project. Awesome!
This is a very enjoyable and informative video. I can"t wait to make some of those cables for my system.
I love you videos you are an amazing guy honesty is King God bless
Thank you for tutorials.Your video will help a lot of us music enthusiasts.
This is such a great video. I've made one set of the Belden so far and tested them on two systems, both with Naim amps. The Supernait 2 and XS 3. PMC speakers and Neat speakers. Both systems have the Blusound Node. It's such a vast improvement over some top name interconnects, including Chord and Rega. The dynamic range is superior and the sound is richer. If you're looking for more of a "3d sound" then I'd recommend giving this a try. I will probably give the speaker cable video a try at some point but it's harder to find that cable in the UK for some reason. Thanks for your expert instructions on how to make these.
My pleasure. Thanks for sharing.
As a professional sound engineer with 35 years of experience using millions of dollars in equipment... I have never heard all of the glorious improvements in sound stage, imaging, fluid detail -- whatever that means.
I should be worried but, all of my counterparts have never heard it either. Believe me... we hear a lot of things.
You should try leaving one side of the shield floating. I prefer it better that way
Which side do you float?
@@ChicagoRob2 One side 😊 and you turn it as needed. Usually I find it best to be tied on the source side and floating on the receiving end.
Floating it makes it a one direction cable from what I know
When "floating", then the connected sid is always the giving side (Sackschirmung). Its a very old German Technique.
The one issue of not soldering the ground and just folding it over the cable and then crimping over is that you're putting wires between the rubber cable jacket and the metal crimp part of the connector, so when you crimp the connector, it's not gripping on tightly onto the rubber cable jacket, but is instead holding onto the "slippery" metal. I mean you can imagine the difference in grip levels between two metal pieces in contact and a metal in contact with rubber. This way only your signal wire is actually really solidly connected on both ends. It's all fine if nobody ever pulls on the cable violently. I always solder the ground as well, and then use a shrink tube with glue, so that it actually shrinks and glues everything together. That way you have no issue of breaking the cable at the connector, since you have the signal wire soldered, ground wires soldered, shrink tube glued on and the crimp holding everything together.
My question would be if there was any audible significance by not soldering the ground vs crimping the ground. I know Audioquest tries to steer clear of using solder and prefers machine crimped cold welds.
Thank you for the best instructional video on making cables
Glad it was helpful!
I always recommend connecting the shield on only one side. The side has to be marked. Connected side goes to preamp.
How come?
What if you don't have preamp but just DAC and AMP? Not shielded goes to DAC? What are benefits of having one side not shielded? Today I spoke to my repair guy, he is making custom soldered cables and he said it doesn't make sens.
@@KonradSkowronski Tell the repairman to think or go back to school, I added a separate comment explaining how the directional cable works.
Nice day 🙂 Tom
@@KonradSkowronski “Directional” cables with the shield connected at the source and “floating “ at the other end are more transparent and open sounding than a cable constructed with the Japanese method. I’ve been building my own cables for 45 years and the directional method is a better sounding solution that can easily be heard. I’ve conducted hundreds of real-world comparisons and every listener, regardless of background, has chosen the directional cable as superior in every way.
Sorry it's psychoacoustics only. @@Edisson. Can you give me real proves like scientistic data of frequency response etc?
Industrial instrumentation cable only has one end of shield connected to common of the receiving end for best shielding. This explains arrows on high end connectors that this guy showed in another vid but didn't know why.
I did one like this from van damme cable, same 4 wires inside with shielding. I have done a van damme silver series, and a simple mogami copper coax with shielding. they all sound the same. maybe the van damme silver series a tiny bit different 'better' in sound but they pretty much the same.
Very good video , I used the belden cable with some solderless locking connectors though I connected the shield to one end only , very good interconnect , though I would like to know why connecting shield to both ends is a good thing or not , thanks again. Ian
The Mogami 2534 currently costs €3.41 per metre, the Belden 8402 €17.50, so the decision in favour of the Mogami is quickly made.
thanks for sharing BTW, if you are doin' it alone you can also use ruberband in nose and mechanical pliers so you can easily and cheaply convert them into crab pincers, i do it all the time
also, using silver solder would be propper for high end
Fine video sir Berkeley also a fine school.thank you peace
Tharbamar have you tried only soldering one side of the braided shield to one end and leave the other braided end disconnected? This is another method and you attach the connected side to the source of your equipment such as the DAC. Apparently it offers better noise rejection, something called a "Faraday cage" when you do it this way.
This is the way many cable makers do.
Yes,I have done that many times and I like the my C-Type & J-Type more than any method I tried.
I got so excited I ordered all the wires and parts and I have no clue what is going on anymore. My wires cost more than my speakers. But I ordered the interconnects first and now I have no clue what is going on.
Hmm but wouldnt putting both wires together increase capacitance? Even the official mogami rep that i asked said its better to put one wire to ground. What do you think? Did you ever notice any difference or even tried and compared both methods?
Tried mogami for headphones but they dont offer the clarity of silver cable, and silver cable is so direct and crisp in its sound you need to use gold on the negative. Combine those two and youve got an amazing quality sound. I picked up a used set of single crystal silver cables ($30), i have a set of gold plated ofc ($30), and ive ordered 2m of gold filled copper cable (actual gold layer fused to a copper core ($20 for 2m). Im going to run a length of silver and the gold plated ofc as the positive and the gold filled alongside the remaining silver as the negative. Using cotton shoelaces (2mm) and a layer of shrink wrap to protect the cables. And terminated in mini aviation sockets. About $110 overall. You wont find a pro set of equal quality under the 10k mark. More money than sense.
Btw found soviet airforce comunications wire for aircraft (pure single crystal silver) for dirt cheap on bthe bay, great sound out of that but its very stiff cable, no good for my headphones but for interconnects it could be perfect...and its very cheap
Just ordered
1) 0.7m of mogami 2534 pre built with Neutrik plugs.
2) 3m of Mogami 3104 speaker cable.
3) 5m of Canare 4S8G speaker cable.
4) Almit KR-19RMA soldering iron.
for my Mid-Fi and Lo-Fi at a total of 9,000Yens only shipping to my city. Have high hope of them😄.
PS: I don't buy banana plugs because I can reuse my QED Screwloc and Audioquest Suregrip 100 by cutting out some of the wires at the ends.
Very nice, enjoy!
Excellent visual and your commentary is spot on.=!!!!!!!!!!!!
Excellent! You made it soo simple. Will be giving it a try. Thanks for sharing!
With some extra time will save you some extra bucks. Thank you for sharing. Good job.
why do you ground the braided shielding at both ends? is 1 end not recommended?
I learned 45 years ago from my friend with an EE degree to only connect the shield at source.
Can you do this to a thicker cable to with 4 strands for a car amp 2- 4 channel system? running up to 8 of these to an amp will be ridiculous.
Do the connectors that you use have copper in their signal pin at all?
i bought my own RCA connectors ( good quality ones) from Amazon. But the difference being is…. I’m using solid copper electrical wire; as opposed to the stranded, flexible type. The difference in sound quality is very noticeable; depending on whether you have a good musical ear or not. I’m also using bi-amp / wire speakers.
Sunday am 23rd October 2022. U.K. Southampton
Please tell me why or what is the benefit of using the 2 pair inner (whites) as a connect to the shield and ground? Is this a better shielding result versus just using the shield as ground ONLY? And if so why? My first thoughts are that its worse because you are bringing signals closer to the actual feed wires (blue) vs just an outer shield grounded that is farther away from the feeds. (blue). OR is what you are doing here in this video (Japanese Method) actually creating and Outer and Inner shielding effect that is overall a better shielding scheme? Thank you for this awesome video too....and in advance if you are able to answer my question for better understanding of the benefits of what you are suggesting in this video.
I added a separate comment where I explained how the directional cable works.
Thanks for the great video. Which cable is best to use with a subwoofer?
Help please. Does connecting ground to both ends--either the Yazaki-san method, or coax with shield connected to both ends--risk ground loop issues? Wouldn't this be worse than a 2-conductor cable wired with the shield and ground at the source end only? Thanks for any input.
I’ve used it all the time without any issue in my system.
Can you use each individual conductor on the mogami to make a single rca pair or is that not recommended? Looking at making my own cables for multiple amps in the car but with as little separate cables as possible
Yes you can because it’s insulated.
I wish I could get you to wire up a complete wiring harness for my sound system in my truck 4-channel amplifier component speakers with a monoblock powering two 10in subwoofers
You’re the best! Subscribed and thumbs upped!
I just had an idea of using RJ45 wires for my RCA's 😅 I hope it'll sound good lol
How much the difference between neutrik profi connector compare to Canare F10 ?
Brilliant video, can i use this kind of rca cable for my Turntable and make groundwire with it,i have RCA connectors on my turntable
Yes definitely.
@@Tharbamar ok thank you for the answer, i will make the brown cables looking forward to try it out in my system
hello tharbamar, question, is it worth using an rca cable to xlr female, from the interconnection of the dac to the amplifier? Or I continue with the rca cables.
Only if you have to use bridge option or with mono power amps, otherwise there is no extra benefits of using the conversion cable, thanks
Wondering if you connect shield at both ends. Typically your hot and grounded conductor carry the signal and the shield only connects at one end so it shields the cable but carries no signal.
12:18 did you cut two white lines?
No, they will connect as I shown in the drawing please use the drawing as reference.
Suggestion: Test the continuity before sealing with shrink wrap...just in case. It has saved me more than once.
Any comment on the sound signature of these two builts? Can you use these for digital transmission via COAX port?
Your videos are very informative and helpful, much appreciated. What is that little clamping piece you are using? That seems very convenient.
Very interesting and informative Video. But I have a Problem. I need interconnects to plug my record Player in. How do you get the ground with These cables. Do I just put a spade on the ground you connected to rca shell?
Thank you in advance.
You just need to make separate ground cable, thanks
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing.
Great video! Which cable & connectors would you recommend for a diy interconnect phono cable? I'm getting lots of EMI from mine, so I guess it's time to change it for a low capacitance one.
My favorite if Neutrik ProFi RCA plugs. thanks
Why don't you ground the shielding on just one end?
Awesome video. I will try some before long. I do have one question, which I believe I already know the answer, but will ask anyway: Subwoofer RCA cables are done the same way correct?
O and w hat is your experience with silver lines in cable??? Because what i heard between the lines is that it can give us a quick direct response in interconnect's.yes or.....?or the van de hul things with carbon(because that i don't get!)the DUTCHMAN
Can the Mogami W2534 quad cable be use to make a 2 channel interconnect within the same cable?
Thank you!
Would appreciate a video on DIY audiophile XLR cables.
Grea vid Do they work Both Directions?,I have a Question,I have made my own RCA cables for Technics Turntables for years, typical white Red connection from the PCB Board to two connectors White Red all good,one Day I've decided to Make my own RCA,male to male for plug and unplug RCA Turntables,they worked Both Directions fine,the problem is that,I've tried to build more and now they don't work at all,same cables same connectors and I don't even remember what I did the first time to make them Work Both Directions! Any help?
his voice is smooth as oil
Hello Tharbanar. Useful video. Thanks for that. I'm just curios, can all 4 cores be solder as signal and just solder the braided wire as ground?
Yes you can but it will increase capacitance, thanks
Its me again, planning for purchasing dac : ares 12th or draco to go with SX11, do you still recomend belden 8402 or 8412 made XLR cables for these combinations ? BTW my speaker is Sonus Faber Sonetto I .
Yes I’m still using 8402, thanks
What is the audible difference between crimping the ground with the shield versus soldering the ground and shield together on the post?
Same concept but I preferred direct contact without soldering.
@@Tharbamar I ask because I recently took apart my old Monster Cable Reference 2 RCAs. I noticed they took the shield and wrapped it into the ground wire and soldered that into the post of the connector.
I notice that the configuration of that wire is no different than what you were using. So, I really wonder if that cable is really all that bad?
is there a follow up video on these cables?
No follow up because I stopped using RCA cables and switched everything to XLR.
@@TharbamarRIP! lol. how did they sound? im new to cables and was looking into making these cables. I followed your other video on making speaker cables using Mogami W3082 you made a year ago. Was hoping to get some insight
Question: On the last cable why no on the source end connect the clear jacketed conductors to the plug ground along with the braided coax shielding, then only connect the clear jacketed conductors at the opposite end not using the braided coax thus creating an FR frequency dump? Does this work??
Intrigued! I will build a pair for my phono stage and try them out.
To be honest when i was about 19 i tried making my own phono cables and hated the experience then in 2012 i decided to have a dedicated home cinema room but i let QED do all the hard work and spent over £1200 on there reference and signature range of speaker cables have life time warranty and still happy to this day and 9 years later still going strong so for each year i have had it now just works out to £120 per year BARGAIN LOL
@Sean MacDonald Forgot to reply!
Went brilliantly, very happy with the results and way more transparesnt and dynamic than a couple of other sub 30€ interconnects i had at hand to compare to.
Hello Tharbamar, you said in one comments that you preferred the Belden 8402 over the Mogami StarQuad... so:
1. How did it compare to the BJ LC1 that use their Belden custom made wire with utralow capacitance?
2. Since the new Belden generation (8412) seems to have a quad (8412P) with lower capacitance, did you find that the Mogami StarQuad was quieter at the end?
Thanks! Very good demo!
Hi, I also have LC1 which is good neutral sounding cable but 8402 is much better cable for sound quality for me.
I have not tried 8412 to give you right answer, thanks
Thanks for the question Antoine. I was about to ask the same:) I also have BJ LC-1 and custom (made by myself) Belden 8412 and Mogami 2549. To be honest I can't hear significant differences between them having pretty good ears ( I am musician, mix music). Maybe LC-1 has a bit more extended high frequencies but it can be just a self-suggestion. They are all good interconnects but I'm choosing Mogami - it costed me 15 bucks vs $60 for BJ LC-1 which is 4 times more expensive and not sounding 4 times better.
Hi - did you ever post any observations on how these cables performed and sounded? I’ve made some Mogami cables with floating ground and am about to build some more.
What do you think about this cable Belden 1192A star quad cable?
@tharbamar on you Japanese method, did you fan out the ground wires before crimping them? Is there a benefit to spreading out the ground strands? I'm making these now and It seems easier to keep the ground tight and crimp it that way. TY!
Love your work. Thank you!
I thought only 1 end of the shielding is supposed to be connected to the ground
indeed that how we build them in the studio's, i connect the shield to the output stage, since output is low impedance.
If you don't have sound grounding, as your reference point, you will end up chasing your tail. In other words, if you have a good ground in your electrical system, there's really no reason not to connect both ends/terminations of the copper conductors to their respective connection points...and that includes both the signal conductor and the low/shield. I've worked in an electrical lab for more than 30 years and all of the coaxial cable we use has the shielding connected at BOTH ends. We do, however, also have a great copper ground bus that encircles the entire lab, so, once again, all of your electrical must be referenced to a good ground.
Tharbamar, these cables with the Mogami 2534 gave me superb results. I think I'm going to try making XLR cables with the 2534. Your thoughts?
I was educated today. 🙏🏼 thank u
Hi, what do you think about replica nordost odin speaker cables from china aliexpress?
They look good, I have no idea about sound.
I enjoy your videos, thank you. I have a question about grounding. Is it only one end or both ends being grounded?
Both end is grounded, thanks
Shouldn't you ground only one end of the white wires? As far as I know, such a cable becomes directional. It is grounded from the source to the amplifier.
I watched the movie again. I noticed that part where you bend the white wires from the other end breaks off. You can't see that you've stripped off the white insulation. So the cable is directional from ground bond to empty bond.
Iam using Mogami 2803 as rca interconnect(Canare F10), and Mogami 3173(Neutrik LXR) as balanced, what you guys think? Any better suggestions?
Mogami 8 Pair Multicore 3162. Black 110Ω AES EBU DIGITAL AUDIO Snake Cables. What connectors are recommended?
Could you please clarify - others claim that one end of the sleeve should be left “floating” I m confused, the other half claim grounding both end of the sleeve?
This is my method I do not care for other claims.
Can you please do a video on how to make twisted rcas for car audio ?
got a link to a video where u test these?
It’s been a while, I don’t have dedicated video testing them but these one of my favorite cables.
@@Tharbamar which ones?
??
I have the Mogami 2524 as opposed to the 2534. Is there a noteworthy difference? Thanks!
If you’re connecting the shield to ground at both ends, you’re defeating the drain potential of the shield.
Best to leave one end unattached
That’s the purpose.
Why not just use cable tv rg6 quad shield with rca ends on it