DIY RCA cable components

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geolemon

New member
I'm actually stunned that I'm not finding threads on my two favorite car audio forums, searching for "DIY RCA cables", "Custom RCA cables", "DIY RCA", etc.

I'm in the process of building an amp rack in a tight space - I'll have 3, possibly 4 amps and a DSP very close coupled, so I thought it would look slick to lay the DSP and amps out where they look best, then custom-build my own interconnects to the exact length needed for each of the 11 channels I'll have, routed and secured to make some nice lines.

I wasn't necessarily expecting threads on exactly what I'm doing - but I KNOW people out there are building their own out there.

Bear in mind I'm not a believer in the supernatural - copper is copper, and I am proficient in soldering (even SMT). Not looking to impress the solid-silver crowd.

All I'm really searching for are
1) suppliers - connectors and cables
2) best practices - good connectors and good cables, best "bang for the buck"
3) different approaches to quality cosmetics - single vs multichannel (ie. star quad vs mic cable vs _____), barrels, boots, shrink, cable pants, techflex, etc.

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Clarification -

All I'm making are the typical single-ended (read: not balanced or differential) RCAs, so I am surprised not to find a hundred - or even ten - threads on this.

I'm a Parts Express fan, I have looked through what they sell - I'm sure I'll be able to find decent cable there, but not finding anything great for barrels there.

Looks are important - Hoping for some good looking short-barrel RCAs... Don't need to be some fancy name brand... and I could modify screw-type to be solder type so no need to suppress those.

Please share your supplier and sources if you have made some...

Or even if you've just "read a thread", if you can share it and link it, no sense reinventing the wheel, right? Was hoping not to need to...

Thanks! :cool:

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i followed shinjohn's how-to, including the same gepco 61801ez cable. i used some pailiccs RCAs because i needed smaller ends resulting in needing some narrow cable to fit the openings

https://pbase.com/shinjohn/diyinterconnects

i did a group buy with some friends for a whole spool of cable and like 200 ends, reduced the price to about $3-4/channel. i still have a lot of ends and cable left over.

i did a version with two channels in a single techflex run, but it made "left side amplifier/right side amplifier" runs not satisfy my OCD. (left channel of stereo rca pair = tweeter, right channel of stereo pair = midrange, etc). also made removing/repairing a single channel issue more difficult.

IMG_2693.jpeg


this is the single-channel, thinner tech flex. yellow heatshrink notes source-side. glue-lined heatshrink to hold techflex in place. now all the black channels go to the left amplifiers, red channels go to the right amplifiers :)

IMG_0315.jpeg
 
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switchcraft 3502 are short as well (not 3502a)

i like the pailiccs ends because they're solid brass, split center pin, and hurricane barrels.
 
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Thanks!

I know the Neutrik connectors have some legit credibility, I'm just "meh" on their appearance.

Those "streetwires" barrels actually look decent - and I'm soldering, so I can ensure quality... especially for such short runs.

I have seen the Canare quad (or any quad) mic cable as a good one to use - I definitely will read that article. Seen a couple ways to deal with the potentially redundant negative and / or ground and I'm speculating there's probably also an opportunity to simply ground the unconnected (and insulated) shield to operate as a drain.

I saw these - my Civic comes with fake carbon fiber dash trim, so thought this might look cool from a cosmetic angle...
But I can't find these ends.

I can find some other CF-clad ones, but they are like $6/each and don't look as good as these and are longer... I will need 26 so it adds up. $160 for ends isn't terrible compared to buying RCAs, but if I'm making them I want them to not look just "whatever".
2d4c704516a8b8ec55f257eee50995be.jpg


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nadams5755 said:
i connected the extra shield/foil to the source side as recommended in general.
Click to expand...
Source side - as in center pin?
Or do you mean ground side?
I'm surprised if you mean signal, just because with traditional coax cable, ground side travels through the shield.

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i wanted to shield the center pin, so this meant folding back the shield and ground over the jacket, slide the heatshrink down, and solder the center pin.

heatshrink large enough to fit over the outer jacket (1/8") was too large to shrink over the center pin

tried a tip from another nerd - use a hemostat to stretch out heatshrink over the jacket. solder the center pin, slide down the heatshrink, melt it, solder the ground+shield, profit.

60972889637_68AD3FAD-45A3-4E8C-9236-7BD6A2BDCF08.jpeg
 
geolemon said:
Source side - as in center pin?
Or do you mean ground side?
I'm surprised if you mean signal, just because with traditional coax cable, ground side travels through the shield.

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Click to expand...
Source as in whatever is upstream...radio, DSP, etc. On the source end, you hook the red to the center pin, and the black and shield to the outer terminal. On the downstream side, you put red to center, black to outer terminal, and leave the shield unconnected. This is why some RCA's you buy are directional
 
I make all my own rcas, techflex is essential so they look decent in my install, I tend to favour rean plugs and other a little modifying I can get 8.5mm cable into them…

a few examples…
 
dumdum said:
I make all my own rcas, techflex is essential so they look decent in my install, I tend to favour rean plugs and other a little modifying I can get 8.5mm cable into them…

a few examples…
Click to expand...
Those all look awesome. I'm hoping mine come out that well -
I ended up buying WTB plugs that look a lot like those, quad-shield, and a black and grey braid. Looking forward to having them all exact length in the rack.

I spotted those labels - is there shrink you can print on? I'm wanting to print some of those myself - I've got 11 channels and an amp rack the size of a postage stamp - and I'm going to have 3D printed wire routing structures throughout. I could sure use some slick labels like that. [emoji41]

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Ayrton said:
... I print regular labels and clear heat shrink over them.
Click to expand...

Same here. Use my old trusty Brother label maker with its PC Label Designer software that connects to an old Windows laptop PC via USB and cover the labels with the clear adhesive-lined heat shrink. They come out looking slightly yellow-ish instead of crystal clear but I don't care.

And years ago the parent company of Streetwires/MTX had a bunch of stock liquidation sales on eBay on all types of car audio wiring accessories. Two of the best items they were selling dirt cheap were the CBR44M fused distribution blocks and bulk packs of 50pcs of the Streetwires Zero Noise ZN5.0 RCA connectors (shown below). I bought a boatload of both and have used them with excellent results throughout the years.

View attachment 15879

I use Sommer Cable SC Peacock MK-II twin-lead "zip cord" type microphone cable for my custom-length RCA interconnects. It's available in either blue or black.

View attachment 15880

I usually don't bother with the Tech-Flex anymore unless they will potentially be in an area where they need some extra protection...

Most of my installs are OEM/Stealth where I'm not concerned so much with showing them off.

Below is a Link to some Photos of the RCA interconnect cables that I've made using the above ZN5.0 RCA connector ends and Sommer Cable twin-lead microphone cable just so you can get an idea of their size, etc. The RCA cables shown were the process of being installed on a 3/8" thick King Starboard plastic amp rack board that has been reused and through at least 3-4 iterations of equipment with various amps & DSPs, etc. There have been as many as 4 amplifiers mounted to the back side and it is buried under an OEM rear cargo area side trim panel and never seen, so that's why it's so messy & fugly. ;) I wasn't concerned with it looking pretty at that point, LOL.

https://1drv.ms/a/s!AmW70ymwG0gjsBPKdrPeR_hVSH9L
s!AmW70ymwG0gjsBPKdrPeR_hVSH9L
 
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