*** The DIY Audio Thread ***

DiG said:
Hi, just made some speaker cable out of Cat5 (easy I know, buy I'm just starting out!)

They sound good but the bass seems to be very weak, it can still get down as low as it did before, but at a much lower volume

What have I done wrong?

Thanks
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Not an expert by any means but it may help if you state the rest of your equipment :p
If you just used a single strand of cat for each channel & ground , that could be the problem as the wire is too thin which may effect bass.

I'm sure someone else will give you a better answer , but this may help :p


Also , I've looked at the suppliers posted further up the page and they're components aren't exactly cheap ! So if I'm looking to build a cheap CMoy , where should I buy the components from ? Thanks ;)
 
DiG said:
What have I done wrong?
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You've used cat 5! :p :D

It could be the capacitance of the cable killing the bass, or more likely it could be the fact that cat 5 is not really intended for large amounts of current.

How many strands are you using and so you know the AWG rating or thickness of each strand? You can always add in more stands if you don't mind using a bulky cable.
 
I'm using 3 strands braided together, its 0.52 plain copper strands.

Is this not enough? I thought about using more but the 18 meters cost me £20 already!
Thanks for the replies

EDIT: I'm using a Yamaha AX-396 amp and Castle Kendall II speakers if this helps
 
Be certain you haven't wired the speakers out of phase with each other when installing the new cable! I can't see the cable making such a noticeble difference otherwise, even though it is thin cable to use for speakers and apparently a long run.
 
DiG said:
I'm using 3 strands braided together, its 0.52 plain copper strands.

Is this not enough? I thought about using more but the 18 meters cost me £20 already!
Thanks for the replies

EDIT: I'm using a Yamaha AX-396 amp and Castle Kendall II speakers if this helps
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A good idea is to take a look on the bay, you can get ~100m reel/roll for about £24 which should enable you to make a larger braid using more strands.
 
People pay for cat5? :D

I think one of the big reasons cat5 is popular for with DIY'ers is the fact is can be had very cheaply or often for free. I would go with more strands personally, maybe 9 per connection. As Dr. EM said, check for phase. If they are out of phase, the cones will move a lot but it won't sound very bassy...

Finally, how far are your speakers from the amp? Short runs should have less issues.
 
Just to double check, by stands you mean lengths of cable? If you mean strands as individual cables then its actually 12 per terminal, so 24 per cable.

I just went to ******, didn't even think to check the bay! I presume by out of phase you mean - connected to a +? I was quite careful to avoid this but I will check when I'm home

Thanks
 
Just checked, and its all connected up properly. Shame because the cables made a significant different otherwise!
 
You're better off just getting a decent gauge of speaker wire. 3 core power cable is suitable.

Cat5 is less than optimal for speaker cable because each pair has a different number of turns. More turns = greater length.
Effectively you've got signals all leaving at the same time, and arriving at different times (we're talking fractions of a second, but it would influence the sound). Added to this, very low gauge and field effects with more power being used than Cat5 spec.

Anyway, it's just a hobby. :)
 
Just finished putting together a redesigned cmoy, using a TLE2426Cp voltage divider chip... Made a noticible difference to the sound, for the better.

Put together a diagram for it (after building it) which I am 99% sure is correct:

4263556386_11ec8ef3a2_o.gif


LED can be offboard, as can its resistor
 
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Yamahahahahaha said:
Cat5 is less than optimal for speaker cable because each pair has a different number of turns. More turns = greater length.
Effectively you've got signals all leaving at the same time, and arriving at different times (we're talking fractions of a second, but it would influence the sound).
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Really? Wouldn't the difference in length be at most, mm's? Not saying your wrong, just would have though you would need a much bigger difference in length, more like a few meters, before you got even fractions of a second's difference?
 
DiG said:
Really? Wouldn't the difference in length be at most, mm's? Not saying your wrong, just would have though you would need a much bigger difference in length, more like a few meters, before you got even fractions of a second's difference?
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I agree.

I think the difference in length is more likely to affect the series inductance/shunt capacitace of the cable which will introduce a low pass filter effect and mute the highs. It could also introduce a significant phase shift.
 
I have just soldered together the grubDAC, but I bridged 2 pins on the PCM2706 DAC and can't seem to get it right! Any tips?

I have purchased some .8mm solder braid and a new solder tip as mine is crapola but those won't be here for a day or 2.

Anyway it looks awesome lol, soooo tiny. I just wish I could fix this solder bridge!

img4825q.jpg
img4827o.jpg
 
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