Make Your Own Audio Cables
 
By Joseph Levy, The Vinyl Tourist
Edison Phonograph

Don't have time for DIY? Please visit Tempo Electric, our sister site, where we fabricate custom interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords for only a modest increase above the cost of materials. We also sell a full range of pure silver wire with Teflon jacketing by the foot or by the meter for DIY projects.

Update: 2 April 2010 It's been a couple of years since the last major revision, so I'm in the process of rewriting this entire article in order to clear up the patch-work of updates, fix the broken links, and straighten out some bits of contradictory information. Over the past few days, I've finished updating the corresponding page on the Tempo Electric site, including several new concepts which are not mentioned below. So, if you happen to read this page and then follow the link to the other site, you'll still see a number of contradictions and inconsistencies. In those cases, take the information on the Tempo Electric page to be the most accurate and up to date. Over the next week or so, I plan to transpose much of it over here, so they'll both be on the same track.
 
 
Introduction
 
Are you an audiophile who's been frustrated by the high cost of loudspeaker cables and interconnects? If your introduction to hi-fi dates back to the 1960s and '70s, then you remember the days when "zip cord" (18 gauge lamp wire) was everyone's standard speaker cable and colorful, spiral-wire interconnects, complete with molded plugs, were the norm. In fact, if they accounted for 1% of your system's cost, you were probably spending too much. It wasn't until Bob Fulton introduced "Fulton Brown" and "Fulton Gold"" audio cables in the late 1970s, that anyone give these a second thought.
 
Today, when the audio mantra is "Everything makes a difference," we typically budget 10% of our audio dollars for these ancillary items. Speaker cables, often made from a variety of exotic metals, have been known to cost up to $40,000 per pair and interconnects can be just as pricey. Luckily, there's an antidote to this madness. While it will take a bit of time and patience on your part, there's a relatively short learning curve and the results are clearly worth the effort.
 
But first, a note from the lab. Although this page has been online in one form or another since 1997, it was only in the winter of 2005-2006 that I was able to put together a dedicated listening room with an audio system sensitive enough to allow listeners to distinguish even the slightest modification. With this long awaited tool at my disposal, I've set out to re-examine the subject, try some new ideas, and revisit some old ones.
 
 
Interconnects
 
Interconnects terminated with WBT-0110Ag NextGen Locking RCA Plugs

  
Cable Types and Their Differences
 
Home audio cables fall into two broad categories, interconnects and speaker cables. The former connect the source (turntable, CD player, tape deck, music server, tuner, and so on) to the control center (preamp, receiver, or integrated amplifier), as well as the preamp to the power amplifier. The latter connects the receiver or amplifier to the loudspeakers.
 
Interconnects come in several types:
  • Unbalanced or Single-Ended
    These are the most common interconnects found in home audio and are usually terminated at each end with an RCA plug, similar to the ones shown above. They have one positive (+) and one negative (-) conductor.
     
    Sometimes there's a third "drain" wire, which is connected to the negative line at one end. The idea is that this wire, which is braided with or wrapped around the other two, acts as a shield and drains away any stray magnetism caused by the interaction of the principal conductors. However, its coverage is so skimpy, that it's always struck me as useless. If there is a drain wire present, there's often an arrow pointing to the connection end. Although most audiophiles point the arrow in the direction of the signal, from source to amplifier, it should really point toward the preamp or control center. That way, the preamp acts as the center of a star ground, which is a more effective configuration.
     
    In contrast, a true shield is a copper braid which covers the entire length of the cables and is attached to a separate wire, also called a drain. To be completely effective, the drain should be connected to the earth ground in either the audio system (usually a component's metal chassis) and ultimately to the ground in the home wiring scheme (that's the third prong on an AC receptacle which is tied to the green wire inside the walls). Connecting the shield to both ends of the negative audio signal (B- rail or system ground) will create a potential ground loop, only making the problem worse. You most often see the shield and drain on tonearm or turntable leads, because these cables are the most sensitive to outside interference, either EMI (Electro-Mechanical Interference) or RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). However, if an air gap is not left between the shield and the signal conductors, the shield can also truncate the high frequencies, dulling the overall sound. Truly shielded cables are non-directional, because the copper shield should be connected to an earth ground at both ends, independent of the negative audio signal.
     
    Unbalanced and unshielded cables are actually fine for short distances of a meter or two. As long as the source impedance is low and there are no nearby sources of RFI or EMI, there will be very little line noise and the signal will be fine.
     
  • Balanced or XLR
    These have three conductors, plus a shield as additional protection against noise. The conductors are Positive (In-Phase), Positive (Inverted-Phase), and a shared Negative. The shield should be a copper braid that covers the entire length of the cable and is connected to the earth ground, as described above.
     
    In a balanced circuit, the two out-of-phase positive signals are recombined into one at the output. Any noise that was picked up along the way will be seen to have the same polarity on each wire and is not seen by the receiving component. Only signals that are out of phase (of opposite polarity) are picked up. The noise on both wires is called common-mode noise and a properly balanced circuit will amplify the desired signal, while rejecting the common-mode noise.
     
    Balanced cables are terminated with a 3-pin XLR connector, typically male at one end and female at the other, which also features a simple lock to keep them bonded with the equipment. The metal shell or body of the XLR, itself, is typically used to connect the shield. This configuration differs slightly for professional audio applications, where balanced cables are also used with microphones and other studio equipment.
     
    The argument in favor of balanced lines is that they are immune to EMI and RFI, especially in long runs (typically over 12 feet or 3 meters). That's why they're the standard for professional audio, where they're used to connect a microphone to an amplifier or sound board and so on. The advantage for home audio mainly exists if the components they join together are designed with balanced circuits in the first place. If not (and most are not), there's no real point in using them. You'd only have to buy RCA-to-XLR adapters to interface the balanced cables with the unbalanced circuit. The only possible reason to use them in an unbalanced circuit is the presence of the independently grounded shield.
     
  • Coaxial or 75 Ohm
    These are sometimes used in digital audio, as well as many video applications. Coaxial cables consist of a single positive wire, embedded in insulation (typically foam) that's surrounded by a copper braid which covers the entire length. The braid serves as both a negative conductor and a shield. The ones most commonly seen are used for video signals and require a special threaded connector, called a BNC, whose outer ring is crimped to the grounding shield, allowing the positive wire to protrude through the center. It's the type of wire that your carries your cable company's signal in from the street.
     
    The coaxial configuration can also be terminated with conventional RCA plugs and, in the 1930s, was developed to meet the original specification for audio cables. DIY coaxial for home audio is more difficult to fabricate, but not impossible. For the moment, it's beyond the scope of this article, though it may be added in the future.
     
  • I2S
    Pronounced "Eye-squared-S," this is a special 5-conductor cable that's found in a few digital audio components and is used mainly to connect separate CD transports to DACs. It requires a 5-pin DIN connector and because of the miniature solder pins inside, is also more challenging for the DIYer to fabricate.

Commercially made loudspeaker cables usually have a spade, banana plug or, in less expensive designs, a heavy pin at one or both ends. However, they can also be fabricated in the balanced configuration, terminated with XLRs.
 
To build state of the art (well, state of the DIY art) audio cables, you only need two basic ingredients—an appropriate length of fine silver wire (never sterling or silver-plated copper) to make the conductors and a spool of Teflon® PTFE Spaghetti Tubing to use as an insulating jacket. Because of they way they typically interface with home audio components, interconnects will always need a connector, usually the RCA or XLR. On the other hand, speaker cables don't actually require terminals and can just be inserted into the center hole of a 5-way binding post. Alternatively, the ends can be formed into a loop and hooked around the posts which are then tightened. They can also be pushed into those cheesy spring-loaded clamps that grab the wire on cheaper electronics and speakers.
  
Wire Gauge Selection
 
There is some debate about which gauge of wire is optimal and where. The late Harvey "Gizmo" Rosenberg used 18 AWG (American Wire Gauge) speaker cables in his personal system at The Triode Guild and mentioned that Dan D'Agostino of Krell preferred the heavier 16 gauge wire. (See Gizmo's article in Positive Feedback for more on this subject.)
 
Allen Wright, author of The SuperCables CookBook, is a vocal advocate of using the thinnest wire possible, such as 30 AWG (or smaller) for interconnects and a thin ribbon of silver foil, 25 mm wide x 0.05 mm thick, for speaker cables. Do the math and you'll find that the latter actually translates into a cross section equivalent to 16 gauge, as well, albeit with a much larger surface area than round wire.
 
On the other hand, Martin DeWulf, editor of the Bound For Sound Report, published an article in January, 2004, which extolled the virtues of 6 AWG copper speaker wire made from a cable type commonly found in the electrical departments of home supply stores. In the 1980s, the late Enid Lumley, then a columnist for The Absolute Sound magazine, also shared this view (she called them "welder's cables"). Naturally, there are cases to be made on both sides. Gizmo's final experiments suggest that thinner is better and you can read the whole story in his article entitled "Less Is More."
 
I tried the 6 AWG copper cables for myself and found them to be surprisingly good, especially since the price was only 30¢ per foot. While 6 gauge silver wire should do copper one better, keep in mind that DeWulf and Lumley were referring to multi-stranded copper that adds up to 6 gauge. Solid silver in 6 gauge is more like a rod than a wire, but conceptually, it occurred to me that one could try bundling nine 12 gauge silver wires to approximate 6 AWG. Curious to see if this idea had any merit, I attempted to make a set of 8 gauge silver cables using multiples of both 13 and 16 AWG, but found that the mechanics were not as easy as they seemed. This configuration was frankly messy and difficult to manage. In the end, I concluded that it was best to stay with a single strand of wire, regardless of its gauge. In my own system, extra soft temper 16 gauge solid silver wire out-performed all of the heavier copper gauges, including the 6 gauge home supply store wire. It also bested the very expensive Kimber 8AG, a multi-conductor silver cable, equivalent to 9 gauge and fabricated from eight medium temper wires braided together. The DIY silver cables were clearly smoother sounding, more open, and allowed more detail to emerge from the recording.
 
Whether it's copper or silver, if you do take the 6 gauge route, don't bother with spades or other connectors. One of the five ways a five-way binding post works is the hole in the center. Just insert the bare bundle and tighten. Since the conductive properties of silver are substantially higher than those of copper, an 8 AWG silver conductor will closely approximate the transmission properties of 6 AWG copper. However, given the cost and malleability of solid silver wire, 10AWG may be as high a gauge as one needs to use.
 
In my personal system, the verdict regarding which gauge to use was out for a long time. After much trial and error, I've standardized on a minimum of 16 gauge for loudspeaker cables and 24 gauge for interconnects. However, in December, 2009, I compared 30 gauge wire with 24 as a tonearm-to-phono preamp interconnect and, to my surprise, preferred the 30 gauge. Though the difference was subtle, it seemed to open up the sound stage a bit more, as well as lift a very faint veil, bringing me closer to the performers. As of this writing, I've yet to try the 30 gauge wire as either a digital-to-line stage or preamp-to-amplifier interconnect. By the end of January, 2010, I hope to clarify this issue further.
 
So, what if you're already using 20 or 24 gauge interconnects or speaker cables, as I once recommended? Should you ditch them in favor of 30 and 16 gauge, respectively? It really depends upon your level of obsession, your budget, and the overall responsiveness to subtle improvements in your audio system. For entry-level and mid-fi systems, it will be difficult to hear any difference. Only if you have the most refined set-up is it worth considering a change. Of course, if you're just starting down the silver path, why not standardize on 30 AWG for interconnects and 16 AWG (or heavier) for speaker cables to begin with?
 
Recently, I put these tables together as an aid in determining the best gauges to use for most situations, taking into account application, distance, and power.
 
Interconnects: Phono (Turntable or Tonearm) to Preamplifier
 
If your total length is:
Up to 8 Feet (2.4 Meters) Over 8 Feet (2.4 Meters)
I recommend this gauge (or diameter) wire
in this gauge (or diameter) Teflon jacket:
30 Gauge (0.25mm) Wire in
28 Gauge (0.32mm) Teflon Tubing		 30 Gauge (0.25mm) Wire in
24 Gauge (0.5mm) Teflon Tubing
30 Gauge is also recommended for rewiring your tonearm.

 
Interconnects: All Other Signal Sources to Preamplifier, Preamplifier to Power Amplifier
 
If your total length is:
Up to 8 Feet (2.4 Meters) Over 8 Feet (2.4 Meters)
I recommend this gauge (or diameter) wire
in this gauge (or diameter) Teflon jacket:
24 Gauge (0.5mm) Wire in
20 Gauge (0.8mm) Teflon Tubing		 20 Gauge (0.8mm) Wire in
16 Gauge (1.3mm) Teflon Tubing

 
Speaker Cables: Power Amplifier to Loudspeakers
 
Amplifier Output
(Per Channel):		 If your total length is
up to 8 Feet (1 - 2.4 Meters),
I recommend the following:		 If your total length is
over 8 Feet (2.4 Meters),
I recommend the following:
1 - 19 Watts 16 Gauge (1.3mm diameter) Wire in
16 Gauge (1.3mm diameter) Teflon Tubing		 16 Gauge (1.3mm diameter) Wire in
14 Gauge (1.6mm diameter) Teflon Tubing
20 - 100 Watts 16 Gauge (1.3mm diameter) Wire in
16 Gauge (1.3mm diameter) Teflon Tubing		 12 Gauge (2.1mm diameter) Wire in
10 Gauge (2.6mm diameter) Teflon Tubing
101 - 200 Watts 12 Gauge (2.1mm diameter) Wire in
12 Gauge (2.1mm diameter) Teflon Tubing		 10 Gauge (2.6mm diameter) Wire in
8 Gauge (3.3mm diameter) Teflon Tubing
Over 200 Watts 10 Gauge (2.6mm diameter) Wire in
10 Gauge (2.6mm diameter) Teflon Tubing		 10 Gauge (2.6mm diameter) Wire in
8 Gauge (3.3mm diameter) Teflon Tubing

  
Materials and Sources
 
"Fine silver round wire" can be purchased from jewelers, silver crafters, and other sources, including our sister site Tempo Electric. Purity should be at least .999 ("three nines"), but keep in mind that much of the gold and silver you may purchase has been refined from existing stock and is not necessarily "virgin" or newly mined. Poor refining of ore or recycled metal can leave a larger proportion of impurities, so buy from a reputable source.
 
Fine Round Silver Wire
 
Coils of Fine Round Silver Wire

Regardless of form, sales of precious metals, including silver, are based on weight multiplied by today's spot market price, plus a percentage to cover the refiner's overhead and profit. On a given day, this can be as much as half-again or even double the spot price. For example, if today's price of silver is USD $18 an ounce, a refinery may it sell for $27 an ounce or higher, depending upon the form it's delivered in. In turn, the retailer will mark it up again to cover overhand and generate some income. Remember, the price of silver changes from day to day depending on the world market, so it can pay to check the spot market for trends. Generally speaking, the price for precious metals tends to be lower from January to July. Interestingly, part of the demand occurs because the Indian wedding season occurs in the fourth quarter of the year and gold and silver coins are a popular gift at wedding ceremonies.
 
Purity
 
Commercial or bullion grade silver is typically 99.9% pure, expressed in the industry as .999 or 3-nines pure. The balance (0.1% or .001) consists of various other trace metals that naturally exist in silver ore, are blended in with recovered silver, or are too expensive to refine out. To get 99.99% ("four nines") purity, you'll pay a hefty premium—as much as 500% over the cost of 3-nines. Be wary of silver advertized as 5-nines or higher. It really doesn't exist in the market place and if it did, the cost would be so high that you wouldn't be thinking of DIY cables in the first place.
 
Commercial audio cable makers have made a fetish about metals' purity that just doesn't make sense in the real world. Look at the signal path, as a whole, in your audio system. The leads on resistors, the foil used to form capacitors, the traces on circuit boards, and the formulation of solder all add up to a potpourri of metals—gold, nickel, copper, aluminum, tin, zinc, chromium, rhodium, even lead. Look beyond the hype and audio paranoia. In my experience, spending more on a level of purity that's higher than .999 is a waste of money and the stuff that advertising is made of.
 
Temper
 
"Temper" refers to the degree of hardness of the metal and is determined by the amount of heating and reheating used in the refining and finishing process. For years, I only purchased "regular" temper silver wire. However, with the recent completion of the new listening room, I was now in a position to do some serious investigation into the subject. In March, 2006, I ordered some "extra soft" temper wire from my refiner to try as loudspeaker cables. The difference between regular and extra soft was not at all subtle and the improvement was obvious from the very first note! All of a sudden, the sound stage doubled in size, transparency increased by a similar magnitude, and details that were previously hidden, emerged from the darkness. When you make your purchase, be sure to specify "extra soft temper, pure silver, round wire." Given a choice, the importance of extra soft temper trumps a higher degree of purity every time.
 
Handling
 
When it arrives, the silver wire is bare. Avoid handling it with your fingers—over time, the acidic oils on your skin can degrade the metal's surface. Ideally, you should wear a pair of nylon, polyester, or cotton gloves, such as lint-free film handlers' gloves available from a professional photo supply store. An alternative are the thin latex gloves that people in the medical arts and food industries favor, typically found at your local pharmacy. Industrial supplier McMaster-Carr sells Nylon tricot "inspection gloves" (their catalogue #5443T22), as well as those made from cotton (catalogue #5452T2).
 
 
Nylon Film Handler's Gloves
 
Nylon Film Handler's Gloves

Jacketing
 
As if life weren't exciting enough, the type of jacket or insulating material used on audio cables has become a hot topic in the high-end community. While PVC is a relatively inexpensive plastic, it only has moderate dielectric (insulating) properties—pass it up in favor of Teflon. From an electrical point of view, Teflon or it's generic types such as FEP or PTFE, are far superior.
 
Alternatively, it's become trendy to install audio wire in cotton tubing or even silk. Merits aside, never use cotton or silk insulation over wires that are used for high voltage applications. This includes the active circuits of amplifiers, preamps, or other components. You can use it as signal wire, but never in any part of the circuit where high voltage is present. A voltage spike can easily jump across the hot and neutral lines, burning through the insulation to cause a short circuit, damaging your component, or even igniting a fire.
 
To date, I have not tried natural fiber insulators on my cables, so really cannot comment as to their value when compared to Teflon. However, this review in the 6moons eZine of several very expensive cable sets, jacketed with both natural and synthetic materials, ends with the conclusion that the ones insulated with a form of Teflon were the best sounding of all. Perhaps there should be more important things to keep you up at night—like listening to a great recording.
 
 
PTFE Spaghetti Tubing
 
PTFE Spaghetti Tubing

PTFE Spaghetti Tubing, Standard Wall Thickness, (which is the technical name of the Teflon insulating jacket) can also be purchased from McMaster-Carr. A 100-foot (33 meter) roll of 16 AWG tubing costs about $18.00, 20 AWG tubing costs $14.00 for 100 feet, and 24 AWG costs $8.00 for 100 feet. The catalog numbers for 16, 20, and 24 AWG tubing are 5335K16, 5335K13, 5335K12, respectively. To locate it in their online data base, do a keyword search using those numbers. There will be a link to the full page where you can find other gauges, as well. Some DIYers prefer thin-wall PTFE tubing, which can be sourced from Small Parts, Inc. Prices per 100 feet are somewhat higher, however.
  
Form Factor
 
Symmetry
 
Regardless of their form or gauge, it's important to keep both left and right cables equal in length, even if your electronics are closer to one speaker than the other. This keeps the audio circuit symmetrical and prevents the possibility of phase shift—the arrival of the signal at each speaker (as well as your ears) at different times.
 
Shielding
 
As with all other factors, how to form the wires into the cable, itself, is also the subject of differing opinions. The major issue revolves around avoiding noise in the form of RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) and EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference). Audio cables will not only conduct the audio signal, itself, but can act as an antenna picking up RFI, mainly in the form of AM and short wave radio broadcasts, and EMI, usually a hum or buzz that's caused by a nearby electrical field. That field can be caused by a power supply transformer, a turntable motor, or an AC power line—even one that's hidden inside a nearby wall or under the floor.
 
These phenomena are completely local and somewhat unpredictable. By way of example, for almost 15 years, I lived in a very rural part of New York State where the neighboring properties were principally dairy farms, spaced miles apart from each other. Yet, every evening, if I put my ear close to the loudspeakers, I could distinctly hear a far-off radio station. And every night from 8 PM through 1 AM, for two of those years, there was a distinct buzz, probably caused by a poorly grounded mercury vapor lamp hanging from a barn up the road, perhaps a couple of miles away. The buzz was apparently travelling down the single power line that serviced every house on the road. Today, my listening room is in an office building (unusual, but true) located in the heart of a mid-sized city. There's a college radio station within sight, sitting on a hill five blocks away, a taxi stand across the street that communicates with its fleet via short-wave, and who knows what else. Yet, despite all this, I've never heard anything at this location, other than music, coming from my stereo. I mention this, because it's the urban environment, not the rural, that's notorious for RFI, so these problems are often unpredictable.
 
Technically speaking, the only way to completely make one's audio system immune from RFI and EMI is total shielding with full copper braid and a shield-to-earth connection. This is the way balanced or XLR cables are constructed. Unfortunately, I've found that this type of direct shielding also tends to restrict the higher frequencies (>10KHz) which, in turn, reduces air and transparency. However, I'm experimenting with configuring a shield that avoids this problem and will publish my findings as they progress. Based on personal experience, most audio systems (like my current one) don't require shielded cables, but be aware that in some locations it may be a necessity.
 
Cable Geometry
 
Under ideal circumstances, hot and neutral wires that are completely separated work perfectly well. You can arrange them an inch or more apart and impress your friends by calling it an "air dielectric." Nelson Pass, well-known amplifier designer and frequent contributor to Audio Xpress magazine, suggests that 6 inches is the ideal, but in my experience the exact distance isn't critical—each conductor can dangle freely without ill-effect.
 
If you're truly obsessive and demand precise separation, you can purchase dowel stock at the hardware store or lumber yard. Cut the dowel to appropriate lengths, make a notch at each end, and insert the (+) cable in one side and the (-) in the other. For a variation on this technique, you can even drill holes through the dowels about a half inch or so from each end, thread the cables through before terminating the second end, and use Mortite insulating putty or modelling clay to secure the wires. Odd looking, but it works!
 
The problem with the "free air" arrangement is that it's not very practical. Between all of the cables dangling or crossing one another, it can easily become one giant mess. In addition, there are those who feel that loose wires, even those run in parallel, are still antennas and an invitation to RFI, especially when used as interconnects to pass low level signals. They advocate braiding or twisting the conductors, with or without some sort of shield or drain.
 
After years of trial and error, I've found that simply adding gentle twist to the conductors at a rate of 3 or 4 twists per foot, works well for both interconnects and speaker cables. Through it adds a bit of capacitance when compared to parallel conductors in free air, it's a simple cure for the lowest level EMI and simplifies cable dressing or arrangement.
  
Assembling The Cables
 
Enough theory—let's make some cables!
 
To begin, simply cut the silver wire to the desired lengths. As a test, you may want to use some cheap copper wire first in order to verify the correct run between your components. It's important to allow enough length to avoid sharp turns or bends, which stress the outer skin of the wire. When you cut the wire, use the type of clippers that are designed for electronics. Hold them so that the blades are at right angles to the wire strand. That way, the surface of the cut end will be perpendicular to the length of the wire, itself. This minimizes burrs, which make it difficult to thread the conductor into the jacket.
 
Polishing the Wire
 
Inserting the wire into the jacket is much easier if you polish it with steel wool, first. I even recommended this for short runs. Many DIYers, as well as manufacturers, say that polished wires sound better, but this is a level of minutiæ that I have not been able to verify. On the other hand, it only takes a few minutes, doesn't add to the cost, and by straightening out any kinks or turns, makes the operation much easier.

 
Polishing the Silver Wire With Steel Wool

 
To polish, hold the wire with one hand and, to avoid kinking it, burnish it with the other hand, always drawing the steel wool over the wire in one direction, away from the anchor point. Alternatively, you can hold one end in a table-mounted vise or clamp and carefully draw the wire out toward you with one hand while using the steel wool to burnish it with the other, drawing the wire out and backing away from the clamp as you go.
 
 
PanaVise Model 301                PanaVise Model 381
 
PanaVise Models 301 and 381

 
I use a device called a PanaVise. The Model 301 (left) is designed to bolt directly to a workbench, but for the weekend DIYer, there's also the Model 381 (right) which features a suction base. If you use the 381, a good way to secure it to the table top is to dampen the base with water before activating the suction clamp. Otherwise, I've found that the suction seal can break unexpectedly. The vise section of both units features a protective plastic cover on the clamps which prevent the wire from being damaged while being held in position.
 
 
0000 Steel Wool

 
While Allen Wright recommends using silver polishing paste, this can get rather messy. I use type 0000 steel wool and find that it does a perfect job. Just polish a few inches at a time by burnishing it with 3 or 4 strokes of the steel wool, being careful not to kink the wire. Making kinks are very easy to do, especially with 20 AWG and smaller. For ease in working, you'll need to work in a space that's long enough to allow you to keep uncoiling the wire to the finished length, since keeping it taut as you walk backwards makes the process easier.
 
Threading the Conductor Into the Insulating Jacket
 
Next, carefully insert the bare wire into the Teflon tubing. If the end of the wire is rough or has a slight burr, you may need to file the ends first to eliminate this. Also, make sure the overall length of the Teflon tubing is at least 0.5 inches (12mm) shorter than the finished length, so that 1/4-inch (6mm) of bare wire is exposed at each end.
 
Insert the Silver Wire Into the PTFE Tubing

 
When you're ready to thread the wire, first check to see that the end of the insulating jacket is perfectly round. Often, when you cut the jacket, there is a tendency for the clippers to compress the body of the tubing into a oval. This not only makes insertion difficult to begin with, but it add fraction and increases the possibility of creating a kink in the wire. When you insert the wire, you may want to start with the free end—this is, the end opposite the one which was held by the clamp or vise. While not fatal, there's always the possibility that the clamped end was slightly compressed out of round, which will increase the chance of friction in the tubing.
 
Still wearing gloves, hold the tubing in one hand while inserting 1 or 2 inches at a time with the other hand. The wire is very easy to kink and kinks make smooth insertion difficult. As you tread more and more wire into the tubing, there will be a natural increase in resistance and you may find it easier to push smaller and smaller sections in as you go along. There's a pretty short learning curve to all of these steps, but if you don't rush, you should have no problems.
 
If you happen to kink the wire (and you probably will at some point), just withdraw a few inches and smooth over that section with the steel wool. The straighter and smoother you can keep the line, the fewer problems you will have inserting it into the tube.
 
Terminating the Interconnects
 
To terminate the interconnects, you'll need a good quality RCA plug. Cardas makes a very nice silver plated version (Model SLVR) which retails for about $20.00 per pair. Again, I prefer the WBT-0110Ag NextGen Locking RCA Plug which makes a much tighter fit, especially with it's matching socket. But with a suggested retail price of $360 for four pieces, they're very pricey and, for some, this calls into question the point of DIY economy. A new kid on the block is Eichmann Bullet Plug, also available in solid silver. A set of four in silver retails for about $185.00, but because of their plastic bodies, some users find them more difficult to install without causing damage. Recently, Eichmann introduced a version with an metal body (for about $20 more) that solves this problem.
 
 
Cardas Silver RCA Plugs
 
Cardas Silver RCA Plugs

When you solder the wires, the hot signal (+) always goes to the center pin and the neutral (-) is attached to the outer ring. Because some plugs are sold without channel markings, the convention for color coding is red for right and black or white for left.
 
 
Interconnects In Action

Interconnects In Action

 
Finishing the Loudspeaker Cables
 
Depending upon the terminal or binding post on your amp or speaker, you can either solder a good quality spade or pin or just use the bare wire itself, which is what I prefer to do. As Wright says, "The best connector is no connector." For the latter, you can either take a pair of needle-nose pliers and bend the end into a loop to use around the binding posts or just insert the straight end into the post's center hole. Silver is soft, so tighten gently for a firm fit. For proper orientation, mark the ends of one conductor with red (for positive) and black or white (for negative) tape or heat shrink tubing. If you prefer to use them, Michael Percy Audio offers a wide selection of spades (as well as silver solder) at reasonable prices. Among spades, my personal choice is the very expensive WBT-0660Ag or WBT-0680Ag Silver Signature Spade. For under $15 each, an economical alternative is the Goertz Audio Silver Spade. If you go the Goertz (formerly Alpha-Core) route, use lead-free WBT solder to attach them to your wires. The main reason to use spades instead of bare wire is durability. As mentioned, silver is relatively soft and if over tightened repeatedly, the bare wire can deform or even break-off.
 
 
WBT Solder and Three Different Spades
 
WBT Solder, Geortz Audio Silver Spade, Kimber Post Master, WBT-0680 + Torx Driver

If you're undecided about which termination (if any) is sonically superior, this paper [with emphasis on the conclusions added], written by former GE research engineer Bill Kenney and published in 1995 by the Boston Audio Society, finds that using no connector is best, followed by connectors whose metal content is identical to that of the wire, itself. In addition, his research (for a US Navy project) showed that given a choice, compression fittings are preferable to ones that are soldered on and, due to their relative lack of contact pressure, banana plugs are the worst termination of all. His observations about the sonic anomalies caused by the interface of dissimilar metals is why we use and recommend WBT silver binding posts and RCA sockets, as well as internal silver wire in the signal paths of all audio components, themselves. It's axiomatic that the more similar the conducting metal content is throughout the signal path, the better the end results will be.
  
Oxidation
 
Some correspondents have expressed concerns about the silver wire oxidizing inside the Teflon tubing. However, Prof. Alan J. Ardell of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UCLA writes, "silver doesn't oxidize at room temperature. The culprit is sulfur, which reacts with silver to form the tarnish that silver polish removes. Yes, there will be air between tubing of any kind and the wire, but to cause serious problems a fresh and ready supply of air is needed. Otherwise sulfidation will cease as soon as the local supply is used up. How much air flow is there likely to be between wire and tubing? Problems might arise from extra contact resistance of sulfurized silver in regions of contact with other conductors in the chain, but a thin layer of sulfide on the surface of silver wire won't cause any harm, at least to the conductivity of the wire."
 
In addition, Dr. Arthur Loesch, well known audio designer and Professor of Atmospheric Dynamics at the State University of New York, maintains that fears of silver oxide contaminating the sound are completely unfounded. As he puts it, "Silver oxide is still silver and it all sounds the same."
 
My personal experience is that after more than 10 years of service, there is no evidence of silver oxidation within the Teflon jacket, although it does appear on the exposed ends. Silver will oxidize, but the oxide of silver is conductive—it's actually more conductive than polished silver—so oxidized silver will still make a good signal path. Don't confuse this effect with copper oxide, which is essentially dead and definitely a bad conductor.
  
Multiple Runs, Bi-Wiring, and Mixed Wire Gauges
 
At one time, it was popular to double the run of your wire in both directions (the so-called "shot gun" configuration). My recent personal tests suggest that the improvement is marginal, if any. However, if your speakers are constructed with dedicated binding posts for each driver, you may reap some benefit by bi-wiring. That is, using separate cables for each driver, with a common termination at the amplifier end. The theory is that separate grounds for each driver create a more efficient signal path and my own experience bears that out.
 
There's also a hypothesis that different audio frequencies travel best over different gauge wires and that wherever possible you should use a bundle of different gauges collected together in a single parallel cable for each driver: one length of 16 gauge for the woofer, two lengths of 20 gauge for the midrange, and two lengths of 24 gauge for the tweeter. Again, my recent experiments suggest that using a single conductor of the appropriate gauge throughout the system is all you really need.
 
Enjoy The Music!
 
Voilà! You've now fabricated $5,000 cables for about $200 and never have to upgrade again...
At least not until you can afford to terminate those babies with NextGen Silvers.
 
 
Speaker Cables In Action

Speaker Cables In Action
 
(The amplifier's interconnect and power cord have been removed for the sake of clarity.)

 
Don't have time for DIY? Please visit Tempo Electric, our sister site, where we fabricate custom interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords for only a modest increase above the cost of materials. We also sell a full range of pure silver wire with Teflon jacketing by the foot or by the meter for DIY projects.

 
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