Cable Asylum: REVIEW: DIY by Chris VenHaus Cat5 Speaker Cable Cable by Salby

Model:	Cat5 Speaker Cable
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	materials cost about $45
Description:	Braided Cat5 Network Cable
Manufacturer URL:	DIY by Chris VenHaus
Manufacturer URL:	DIY by Chris VenHaus

Review by Salby ( A ) on March 04, 2003 at 18:19:33
IP Address: 63.208.67.254

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This will shock and amaze the guys here on Audio Asylum, I imagine, but I am a 50 year old housewife and just finished building a 6 foot pair of Chris' cables. I have loved music and electronics throughout my life, encouraged by a father and uncles that were curious and inventive, I guess. I am also fortunate to have a husband who gives me free rein to improve my sound system.

My system is mid-fi: an Arcam Alpha 8R integrated, Paradigm Studio Ref 20 v.2 monitors, an Infinity Servosub 10, and a Denon DCM370 CD changer. I am very pleased with the results of building these cables: with just about 18 hours of use, they are remarkable. I am waiting to hear if the somewhat prominent highs will smooth down--the Paradigm Monitors have a metal tweeter and listener fatigue can be a problem

I benefited from the suggestions offered in the reviews here. Start braiding at the mid-point and do one half and then turn the cable around to do the other half. I used a medium (2-3") bag clip on each cable to hold the loosely coiled excess of each length and keep it out of the way until I braided that far. This helped enormously to counter the reverse braiding problem. Each braid was clamped to a bookshelf about 5 1/2 feet from the floor.

My biggest problem with the whole thing was getting connectors onto the cables after everything was done. The heavier braids for the woofers had so many conductors that fitting them into the screw-on AQ BFA's I had was really a chore. If a person plans to build these BE SURE TO LEAVE the last 5 or 6 inches of each braid "unbraided" to use for pigtails in connecting to binding posts.

I am very glad it is all finished, but the results are really rewarding. Soundstage, detail are great and I hope that 60 to 100 hours of burn-in (as some have recommended) will smooth the highs. Thanks to Chris for a fun and interesting project that has such a great result. Yes, women can do this stuff too!

Product Weakness: Long break-in.
Product Strengths: Many attributes--but soundstage and air around the instruments seems great.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Arcam Alpha 8R
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Denon DCM-370
Speakers:	Paradigm Studio Ref 20 v.s
Cables/Interconnects:	DIY CAT 5
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classica/acoustic/rock
Room Size (LxWxH):	24 x 20 x 10
Room Comments/Treatments:	Nothing special
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1 week
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Panamax Max 1000+
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Long break-in.
Product Strengths:	Many attributes--but soundstage and air around the instruments seems great.