Thanksgiving cables

Blizzard

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Blizzard in some cases I am sure the savings could be 400-1000% off retail.

Yes I was referring more to if you were a bargain hunter. If you shop by name and buy the most popular cables most people use, then yes your figure is likely more accurate.
 

Blizzard

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Sep 30, 2015
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I think Blizzard oversimplified the process of making cables. It isn't hard per say just requires some hand eye dexterity and soldering skills. You can buy connectors and wire that is very inexpensive to start the learning process which the process is, a learned skill.

Blizzard please interject with anything I may have missed.

The cables I built were pretty straight forward. All you need to do is strip the wire on the ends, and solder the ends on with good silver bearing silver solder.

But you can also get fancy and use multiple single strands like what Dave sells at Zen audio. This takes a bit more effort. Going this route you can also make your own hybrid blends with the different metals. Then you can tune the cables to the sound profile your looking for. This is more advanced, and requires time, practice and skill.
 

nc42acc

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Nov 10, 2015
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And this is what makes it fun.....

But you can also get fancy and use multiple single strands like what Dave sells at Zen audio. This takes a bit more effort. Going this route you can also make your own hybrid blends with the different metals. Then you can tune the cables to the sound profile your looking for. This is more advanced, and requires time, practice and skill.
 

amirm

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Apr 2, 2010
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Seattle, WA

amirm

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Apr 2, 2010
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I didn't realize DaveC was a Furutech/Neotech dealer. He even has some special silver/gold alloys, and teflon coated silver and copper 26 gauge bulk cable!! Also good prices on the connectors. I think I know where I'll be getting my next bulk cable/connectors :)

His pre-terminated stuff looks beautiful as well. Prices look very reasonable for what you get.

http://www.zenwaveaudio.com/diy-parts/

PS: I've also learned something here about Neotech. I had no idea Furutech was no longer licensed to make the OCC wire anymore:

http://www.zenwaveaudio.com/home-3/667-2/


I'm very impressed with everything I see on this website. No snake oil here, this is the real deal!

Looks like he has been holding out on us :). I had actually landed on his web site without realizing until that now that it was his! Maybe we can rope him to help here! :)
 

amirm

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Apr 2, 2010
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For anyone new, I would start with speaker wires, not interconnects. And to the extent they are screw terminated, you don't even need to solder.
 

nc42acc

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Nov 10, 2015
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Very good advice. Speaker cables are rather easy to configure and terminate. The Canare 4S11 sounds great and is easy to work with. Just google it and you will find many places who sell it in bulk form.


For anyone new, I would start with speaker wires, not interconnects. And to the extent they are screw terminated, you don't even need to solder.
 

Blizzard

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Sep 30, 2015
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Looks like he has been holding out on us :). I had actually landed on his web site without realizing until that now that it was his! Maybe we can rope him to help here! :)

Yes his special silver/gold Neotech alloy cable looks awesome. And his pre-terminated cables are works of art. No simple rebranded standard Neotech with different braided casing like some do with him!
 

Andre Marc

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Yes for the couple minutes it takes to build your own, you save about 200-300% VS retail pre-terminated cables of the same quality.

Blizz, I am with you here all the way. DIY cables are just a great way to go if you have the skills. One of my oldest high school buddies back in NY has only purchased
a handful of good quality cables, from Kimber, and otherwise built every cable in his system, from PCs to digital and they look and sound amazing. Your cable looks quite
rugged and attractive too.
 

Blizzard

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Sep 30, 2015
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Very good advice. Speaker cables are rather easy to configure and terminate. The Canare 4S11 sounds great and is easy to work with. Just google it and you will find many places who sell it in bulk form.


Yes and when your ready for the finest of the fine, the Neotech and Dueland bulk cable Zenaudio sells is the way to go. I'm dying to hear that silver/gold alloy now. I bet it's to die for. The caps I've used that use silver/gold alloy foil are incredible. I don't think you can do better.
 

Andre Marc

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Mar 14, 2012
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I didn't realize DaveC was a Furutech/Neotech dealer. He even has some special silver/gold alloys, and teflon coated silver and copper 26 gauge bulk cable!! Also good prices on the connectors. I think I know where I'll be getting my next bulk cable/connectors :)

His pre-terminated stuff looks beautiful as well. Prices look very reasonable for what you get.

http://www.zenwaveaudio.com/diy-parts/

PS: I've also learned something here about Neotech. I had no idea Furutech was no longer licensed to make the OCC wire anymore:

http://www.zenwaveaudio.com/home-3/667-2/


I'm very impressed with everything I see on this website. No snake oil here, this is the real deal!

Spot on. Dave is a true, true gentleman.

I have an entire loom of his cables and his SurgeX (ZenWave Ed.) in my system now for review.

Lovely sounding, very well built, and premium parts. You are right on the money, no snake oil here,
and while not "cheap", very fairly priced. I have no financial affiliation with ZenWave.
 

nc42acc

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Nov 10, 2015
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A very good friend now owns and sells the Bren1 cables. I am currently using the Oasis speaker cables that I have compared with DH Labs Q10 signature, Kimber 12tc, Canare 4S11. The configuration is a unique use of Teflon silver coax.


Yes and when your ready for the finest of the fine, the Neotech and Dueland bulk cable Zenaudio sells is the way to go. I'm dying to hear that silver/gold alloy now. I bet it's to die for. The caps I've used that use silver/gold alloy foil are incredible. I don't think you can do better.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
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Seattle, WA
Very good advice. Speaker cables are rather easy to configure and terminate. The Canare 4S11 sounds great and is easy to work with. Just google it and you will find many places who sell it in bulk form.
Funny you should mention Canare 4S11 as that is one of the speaker cables I put in my magnifier in this review of different 12 gauge wires: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?14134-When-12-Gauge-Wire-is-not-12-Gauge!

As I showed here, it had the least resistance of any of the wires I tested:



Which by the way was better than my Transparent Audio and Monster Cables I have on hand!
 

nc42acc

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Amir great thread comparing cables. I didn't see anything comparing the sonic qualities of each or was this just looking at resistance?
 

amirm

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Amir great thread comparing cables. I didn't see anything comparing the sonic qualities of each or was this just looking at resistance?
That's correct. It was just resistance. It got triggered from an argument on AVS Forum where I saw people recommending monoprice left and right. Looked up their specs and it looked suspect. Folks didn't believe so I set out to measure it.

Objectively we can show that speaker cable can act like an audible EQ if its impedance is a notable fraction of the loudspeaker. Once you get to a proper 12 gauge wire, in typical lengths used in our listening rooms, that concern goes away. Whether there are other audible effects, that would be above my pay grade to know :).
 

DaveC

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Nov 16, 2014
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Awesome. The Furutech cable is amazing, but a very close 2nd is the Neotech brand. They both use the same Ohno Continuous Casting Process, and are among the few who do. Several 3rd party OEM cable manufacturers buy their cable from them, put fancy braiding on it, and sell for much more. You can read a bit about it here:

http://www.audiotweak.co.za/items/1306765741-0910.pdf


I'm using the Neotech 3004 UP-OCC copper cable for my speakers. However they just came out with a NEW 3004II, that uses 2 silver plated strands kind of like you have done. The sliver is also made with the Ohno Continuous Casting Process as well.

http://www.neotechcable.com/technology.php


I'll be trying it next. IMO Neotech is one of the best deals in audio. The performance is far above the price level.

FYI, Furukowa stopped making OCC wire, it's being replaced by a cheaper alternative. I'm not sure if Furutech just had a big stock because Furukowa stopped making OCC wire in '13. Neotech supplies dozens of cable companies and many now-famous brands built their reputations on it before switching to a cheaper alternative. Right now Neotech is the only company producing OCC wire for consumer audio use, but there are a few companies in mainland China that have a "similar" process ;)

Neotech is who I buy all my wire from, if you want the best I have them make an OCC silver/gold alloy wire to my specifications that I use in my D3 and D4 IC cables and SMSG speaker cables. It's a significant improvement over UPOCC silver.
 

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