The best DIY interconnect

I am getting close to publishing my memoir! It's called 99% True and it is chock full of adventures, debauchery, struggles, heartwarming stories, triumphs and failures, great belly laughs, and a peek inside the high-end audio industry you've never known before.

[peacetrain]

Try watching Paul at 2x speed. It’s great! You get all the best advice in half the time! Love your work, Paul!

[ChicagoRob]

I’ve been making my own ICs for 35 years. I’ve finally settled on what I feel is the best sounding solution. I start with Mogami 2549 microphone cable, which is very high quality. One conductor goes to hot, one conductor goes to return. The shield is tied to ground at the source end and “floated” at the other end. Numerous listening sessions determined that connecting the shield at both ends reduced transparency and dulled the sound. I have found this interconnect to be extremely neutral and true to the source. A typical 3’ set can be constructed for less than $15.

[thomshere]

Paul, you are absolutely one of the good guys of audio! You have taken years of debate and easily cleared it up (at least) for me so thank you, thank you, thank you! Not only that, you have just saved a ton of money for people willing, wanting to build their own cable. I really do appreciate all you great videos and advice!

[mariocassar]

After all these years I’m enjoying exceptional dynamic range, expansive soundstage and am listening to my system more than ever, after making my own speaker and interconnect cables. Waisted a lot of money on Audience, Audioquest, and Red Dawn cables, without any enjoyment. I thought that because These expensive cables guaranteed good sound. On the contrary, the sound was flat and unexciting. But I was impressed by the able reviews of the magazine reviewers. What a waiste of time!

[Justas-M]

Made a 70cm length silver wire pair on masking tape, that is the best cable I have ever heard in my system. Thanks!

[jesuscostantino]

Had never seen nor thought of that easy “ribbon” method. Super handy!

[nicholascremato]

Great question. All of my cables are DIY. I have a few engineering books on cables and it's lots of fun to make that journey.

[odizcvw]

I have used DIY ribbon cables for years. I like solid silver the best, but even 24 gauge copper magnet wire is very good. I use packing tape, but I can imagine masking tape might sound better because paper has a very low dielectric value. Then also use very low mass RCA plugs like the Eichmann and you will have an amazing sounding cable. Keep em as short as required.

[philipw]

kimber select is all I ever use absolutely some of the best cable I have used in my 40 + years in this hobby

[audioupgrades]

I agree that shielding compresses the sound. However, for phono interconnects, you usually need shielding to avoid hum and noise. In those cases, it turns out that coax is a pretty good option. Although RG59 isn't the greatest, you can find other coax cables with low capacitance and inductance. The cables made for HDTV are usually more than enough, for analogue audio too. You can diy a phono rca cable with shielding but it's a lot of work and you won't have the precision to keep a constant space between the conductor and shield, which is necessary for low capacitance and inductance. So, buying coax is a viable option.

[steveaustin]

I use magnet wire(22 gauge) on two inch packing tape. Terminated with Eichmann bullets. Sound better than any premium ic I've used.

[tnarch]

Most of your videos have useful simplified scientific knowledge, necessary for understanding the basics, and not only. Thanks for sharing!

[oscarmarfori]

Wow! Now I can make my own interconnects out of ordinary cables which will save me a lot of money

[thomashoffmann]

By testing I made my ic same way you explain.. I did not use tape. I made some plastic spacers on my laser. Capacity is world record 9.2 pf/meter. :-)

[RobWhittlestone]

As a hobby audiophile having spent a lot of my professional life in engineering of various kinds (I'm a physicist), *I feel so at home with your workbench chats!* Delightful. And all good info. I'm also a fan of Ray Kimber's cables. All the best, Rob

[azzinny]

Paul. Could you double check with your engineers? If the pair of wires are closer, series inductance decreases (loop area decreases). You said the opposite in the video.

Parallel capacitance rolls off high, too, when combined with the series resistance (or inductance) of the output stage of the source gear.

[duroxkilo]

I just finished a little experiment involving a 10mH inductor. The only way I was able to alter the inductance readings was by introducing a strong magnetic field in the close proximity of the inductor (the more neodymium magnets I used, the lower the inductance and resistance for that matter. I observed the inductance readings between 9.38mH and 0.75mH depending on the nr of magnets and their proximity to the inductor coil; the resistances read between 1.2ohm and 0.7ohm).

I used 1in, 1ft and 2 ft leads and finally two 12ft 18awg speaker wires. I've tried all kinds of 'geometries' with the wires to no avail... Parallel lines, twisted lines, made 'coils' out of the speaker wires and put them in all kinds of positions in regard to eachother. Static or fluctuating magnetic fields in the proximity of the wires (any geometry) made no difference in the readings.



I suspect that the shielding and the resistance of the wires are of greater importance when it comes to audio signals... We could try some little experiments involving capacitance too :}







Self-inductance is a electro-magnetic phenomenon taking place in a circuit, conductor or coil. The current flow generating the magnetic field influences the voltage in that circuit as some electric energy is converted to magnetic energy and back each time the magnetic field is generated and then when it collapses.
Mutual-inductance is an inductive effect where a change in current in one circuit causes a change in voltage across a second circuit. This is possible when a magnetic field links both circuits (as in a transformer).
Concerning speaker wires, only self-inductance would apply since there is just one circuit, in essence a wire loop including the filter and motor coils.
For interconnects, both types of inductance apply as we have separate circuits as in left and right channels.



Fun question: why does a driver behave like a resistor when facing up and as a inductor in series with a resistor when facing down? :}

[finscreenname]

I guess that's why you (Paul) use braided power cables. As for interconnects, why not use 2 shielded cables? Why would high end audio even use a RCA plug and not separate the 2 wires with their own connections in the equipment? Would it be better to use optical connections? What happens if the ribbon connections have other ribbon connectors on top, around, beside them? I wonder what they use for the lights on my offshore compasses? Any magnetic field could make them off even by a tiny bit and that could be a big deal and it's not like they can compensate being the lights are only on now and then and not constant.

[reidtallmadge]

Thanks for vindicating me Professor Paul. I braided my by-wire cables a couple years ago. 6' Martin Logans on 400 watt Emotiva mono blocks. Sounds pretty good (hi-rez from a Note9 into a dbx go>Rack or my BBE rack mount eq). 3 pairs braided and a set of 4 individuals braided into bananas.Braided jumpers at first. Not my $10, 000 dream system. Working on it.Tekton, Kinki, Schiit and maybe your GainCell DAC. I'm XLR and PANAMAX conditionar. Maybe a couple of your PowerPort Classics. Braid me some power cord! Braided XLRs? Why not.? Toss in 99% True and some Ocatav Records and we got a deal. Love what your doing!

[ericm.]

Wow, don't think I've ever seen so many responses to one of Paul's videos. No wonder you're always cautious of talking interconnects!