$30 Audiophile Grade RCA Interconnects, DIY Better Sounding High Quality Cables 

Sir, You are doing everyone a great service. Thank-you for this and other tutorials. You have so much credibility given the sound demos you put up. If you can pass your test then it must be quality...

WOW, Tharbamar!! So you’ll probably never see this but I just made these exact RCA cables plus the Mogami speaker wires in your other vid. I waited until both sets were done, played my gear with the old amazon interconnects and 2002 monster cable, immediately swapped to my new hand made cables leaving all volume and sound settings the same. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Playing a Marantz 2265b and Hafler DH220 on Klipsch Hereseys using Tidal from my iPad through a Schiit Modi DAC. Not sure if it’s that combo or if it’s the vintage gear that really brings out the difference or what, but I’m totally blown away. MOST. HELPFUL. VIDEO. EVER!! I owe you one!! I’m making my dad and sister sets for Christmas now.

Thank you for the tutorial Sir! Now I have a new project. A couple of weeks ago I saw your diy speaker cable video, and last weekend I made my own. I enjoyed very much doing my own cables, and they not only helped my system sound way much better, they also look great! All the best.

This video is great. The calmness of your voice, and the detail of your method actually makes me think I can do this myself. We shall see... haha! Thank you!

This is a very enjoyable and informative video. I can"t wait to make some of those cables for my system.

Thank you very much for your advice and tell us about your experiences. A couple of weeks ago I made my own patch cables using Canare F-10 RCA connectors and MOGAMI Neglex w2549 shielded cable, which has two wires and a shield, the outer diameter is 6mm, perfect for the RCA CANARE F-10. According to the data sheet, the resistance, capacitance and inductance values are practically identical to the w2543 cable. I joined the two wires and soldered them to the center pin that I insulated with heat shrink tubing and then wrapped the mesh around the heat shrink and crimped with the RCA connector jaws. To finish, I have placed a second heat shrink that isolates all the contacts. The change has been noticeable, the sound is cleaner, sharper in the mid/high frequencies. I have added red and white heat shrink to your proposal to differentiate the L and R channels.

Thank you for your knowledge! I ordered a roll of Mogami W2534 and 40 Neutrik plugs for way cheaper than I could get a handful of decent interconnects, and I know they will be the right length for my audio project. Awesome!

I got tired of having excess cables for my home theater system, and wanted to make my own. I used this video and am now kicking myself for not finding this channel… the cables I made sound better than $150 king cobra cables I bought. Excellent video my friend

Thank you for this video. It got me on a journey. And what I ended up with is quite the opposite: shield soldered to ground on source end, but no shield on amp end.

I just finishing making this cable. I used Mogami W2534 and Neutrik ProFi Locking RCA plugs. Wow Amazing. Crystal clear audio with completely silent background. Thank you so much!

Beautiful presentation, it's refreshing to see someone not drowning everything in solder... :)

The sunglasses holder to clamp the wire is genius!

A freaking visor sun glasses holder... It's so brilliant. It literally makes me mad. I didn't think of it first.

I made a pair of these for my dac in 3 foot length and man did they make an improvement from my generic 17 foot rca cable. The sound is more open and the highs are better on my system noticeable right off the bat. Thanks for the tutorial.

I made the same rig and it works perfect as the extra hand. This method is so easy to apart to and am to sound great as long as you keep it clean with no stray ground whiskers

I've been using the Switchcraft/Belden cables for a few years now. It basically ended my cable swapping habit. I also use the same Switchcraft connectors with twisted pair Duelund wire. Equally good with a more minimalist look. These recipes first appeared on another audiophile blog a while back. I know of at least one prospering cable manufacturer who slips the Belden/SC combo in a braided sleeve, rebrands it and sells it with a very hefty markup. Just goes to show you...

You inspired me to make my own RCA interconnects using Canare L-4E6S Star Quad cable and Paillics locking RCA plugs. They sound much better than the Audioquest Diamondbacks I was using.

Excellent visual and your commentary is spot on.=!!!!!!!!!!!!

first of all love the content i thought it was amazing, then when i saw everything was readily available with free shipping and similiar price to the us while being from the uk was mindblowing. you dont get this stuff with the likes of keyboard cables

Love your work. Thank you!

Thank you for tutorials.Your video will help a lot of us music enthusiasts.

Excellent! You made it soo simple. Will be giving it a try. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for the best instructional video on making cables

You’re the best! Subscribed and thumbs upped!

Excellent video. Thanks for sharing.

This is such a great video. I've made one set of the Belden so far and tested them on two systems, both with Naim amps. The Supernait 2 and XS 3. PMC speakers and Neat speakers. Both systems have the Blusound Node. It's such a vast improvement over some top name interconnects, including Chord and Rega. The dynamic range is superior and the sound is richer. If you're looking for more of a "3d sound" then I'd recommend giving this a try. I will probably give the speaker cable video a try at some point but it's harder to find that cable in the UK for some reason. Thanks for your expert instructions on how to make these.

I love it, you are awesome and your video has helped me! I would like to share with you a tip I have learned along the way. If you have nitrile gloves on when you make your cables, you wont get any skin oil on your cable insides. Thanks again brother and cheers!

thanks for sharing BTW, if you are doin' it alone you can also use ruberband in nose and mechanical pliers so you can easily and cheaply convert them into crab pincers, i do it all the time also, using silver solder would be propper for high end

Thank you! Would appreciate a video on DIY audiophile XLR cables.

I did one like this from van damme cable, same 4 wires inside with shielding. I have done a van damme silver series, and a simple mogami copper coax with shielding. they all sound the same. maybe the van damme silver series a tiny bit different 'better' in sound but they pretty much the same.

Very good video , I used the belden cable with some solderless locking connectors though I connected the shield to one end only , very good interconnect , though I would like to know why connecting shield to both ends is a good thing or not , thanks again. Ian

Nice using the car visor sunglasses clip for cable hand I picked up a helping hand at a yard sale it has 4 aligator clips on adjustable arms and a stainless cup for water or solder sponge they can be expensive though

Te cables I made from this wire and 8412 were every rolled off and bottom heavy. I used them to poser my subwoofers. I used Canare F10 RCAs and Wonder Solder. I tried the 3103 speaker cables from Mogami and they were fine.

I love you videos you are an amazing guy honesty is King God bless

I was educated today. 🙏🏼 thank u

4 year old video and still a great video. Good job man thanks for the video

Your soldering station is brilliant!

Hi sir tharbamar ,may I know what is a characteristically of this mogami w2534 and w2497 and belden 8042 , I need to joint pre to power amplifier ,pls help tq

Tip... Put the connecter shell, spring and heat shrink on the cable, before doing all the stripping.. will save you hassle of getting them on after

Wondering if you connect shield at both ends. Typically your hot and grounded conductor carry the signal and the shield only connects at one end so it shields the cable but carries no signal.

Intrigued! I will build a pair for my phono stage and try them out.

Any comment on the sound signature of these two builts? Can you use these for digital transmission via COAX port?

@tharbamar on you Japanese method, did you fan out the ground wires before crimping them? Is there a benefit to spreading out the ground strands? I'm making these now and It seems easier to keep the ground tight and crimp it that way. TY!

Question: On the last cable why no on the source end connect the clear jacketed conductors to the plug ground along with the braided coax shielding, then only connect the clear jacketed conductors at the opposite end not using the braided coax thus creating an FR frequency dump? Does this work??

Hello Sr! I made my cables using Mogami 2534 and Canare F10 for analog connections. My question is if I can use them as coaxial? Thank you!

I have a question. Can you use these as subwoofer cables, or do you prefer/suggest another type of cable?

Great video Tharbamar, have a question, what do you think is the MOGAMI 2534 is better than 2549 for subwoofer connect?. I plan to make cable for subwoofers. Thanks in advanced

Industrial instrumentation cable only has one end of shield connected to common of the receiving end for best shielding. This explains arrows on high end connectors that this guy showed in another vid but didn't know why.

What is the best rca jacks for car audio amp what do you think about DD Audio RCA JACKS Z-WIRE

What cables and terminals are recommended to also assemble $10,000 speaker cables ?

Hi - did you ever post any observations on how these cables performed and sounded? I’ve made some Mogami cables with floating ground and am about to build some more.

I got so excited I ordered all the wires and parts and I have no clue what is going on anymore. My wires cost more than my speakers. But I ordered the interconnects first and now I have no clue what is going on.

Awesome video. I will try some before long. I do have one question, which I believe I already know the answer, but will ask anyway: Subwoofer RCA cables are done the same way correct?

With some extra time will save you some extra bucks. Thank you for sharing. Good job.

The one issue of not soldering the ground and just folding it over the cable and then crimping over is that you're putting wires between the rubber cable jacket and the metal crimp part of the connector, so when you crimp the connector, it's not gripping on tightly onto the rubber cable jacket, but is instead holding onto the "slippery" metal. I mean you can imagine the difference in grip levels between two metal pieces in contact and a metal in contact with rubber. This way only your signal wire is actually really solidly connected on both ends. It's all fine if nobody ever pulls on the cable violently. I always solder the ground as well, and then use a shrink tube with glue, so that it actually shrinks and glues everything together. That way you have no issue of breaking the cable at the connector, since you have the signal wire soldered, ground wires soldered, shrink tube glued on and the crimp holding everything together.

I am about to make some cables with some Belden 8412. I live in Japan so it will be pretty easy for me to get some Mogami cable. Please tell me how you like the Belden Vs The mogami. Thank you for sharing your video. Very nice!!!

Does someone know why Tharbamar is not soldering the ground wires but only crimping? Also, how are the Swtichcraft and Canare rca's better than the Rean NYS373?

O and w hat is your experience with silver lines in cable??? Because what i heard between the lines is that it can give us a quick direct response in interconnect's.yes or.....?or the van de hul things with carbon(because that i don't get!)the DUTCHMAN

Hmm but wouldnt putting both wires together increase capacitance? Even the official mogami rep that i asked said its better to put one wire to ground. What do you think? Did you ever notice any difference or even tried and compared both methods?

Iam using Mogami 2803 as rca interconnect(Canare F10), and Mogami 3173(Neutrik LXR) as balanced, what you guys think? Any better suggestions?

Can the Mogami W2534 quad cable be use to make a 2 channel interconnect within the same cable?

Hi, it's been a long time, but in the comments it was said several times that the shielding should be connected only on one side, but no one explained properly why it should be done that way and what advantage it has. This connection system is taken from the studio equipment when connected by XLR which is connected by three wires 1-GND; 2-positive signal; 3 negative signal - if any interference is induced on the route to the cable connected in this way, it will affect both the positive and negative wires, in the target device these two signals will merge again and thus the induced hums will be canceled - this connection works at very long distances. Our home devices mainly use RCA connectors (cinch) where we only have a combined signal on the center pin - to reduce the interference of such connections (it only works for short distances) the so-called directional connection of cables is used - we need a shielded cable with two inner wires - one of the wires connect the active pin, on the signal side (e.g. CD player) connect the second wire and shielding to the external contact (GND), connect only the second wire to the external contact at the connector on the signal output side! we terminate the shielding so that it cannot touch this external contact. The shielding must therefore always be on the side of the signal source! never the other way around! Cables are also sold that have directly printed arrows between the text indicating the type of cable (I always connect cables that do not have arrows so that the direction of the signal corresponds to the direction of the text). How does it actually work - if a disturbing signal is induced on the cable connected in this way, it is on the shield in antiphase with the GND wire and it is partially canceled - tested in practice and it works - I have not only all the cables of my HI-FI connected this way, but also the test cables used in audio equipment repairs where there is a lot of interference at the workplace. I always recommend GND soldering Nice day 🙂 Tom

Can I use 10 gauge on the neutrik connectors I have a bunch of this cable

which cables did you like better, the belden or the mogami???

Thanks for the great video. Which cable is best to use with a subwoofer?

good work

Tharbamar, these cables with the Mogami 2534 gave me superb results. I think I'm going to try making XLR cables with the 2534. Your thoughts?

Just ordered 1) 0.7m of mogami 2534 pre built with Neutrik plugs. 2) 3m of Mogami 3104 speaker cable. 3) 5m of Canare 4S8G speaker cable. 4) Almit KR-19RMA soldering iron. for my Mid-Fi and Lo-Fi at a total of 9,000Yens only shipping to my city. Have high hope of them😄. PS: I don't buy banana plugs because I can reuse my QED Screwloc and Audioquest Suregrip 100 by cutting out some of the wires at the ends.

Great videos, and you have given me a lot of inspiration for cable making in the near future... I do have a question... As far as subwoofer RCA cables... Would you also use 1 of these type of cables, or would you use a different wire(also shielded, not shielded, shielding ground on both ends, or not, etc), etc? Also, I have 1 sub that works mono RCA(amp) to mono RCA(sub)... Easy enough... But I have another sub I sometimes swap in, that would be mono RCA(amp) to left and right RCA inputs(sub)... You can use the sub with using only 1 of the inputs(left or right), but it sounds better, and is recommended to use both, either with stereo cables and outputs, or a Y cable and a mono output... It would be great to see the connections you would make when making a Y cable of this type... When I use this speaker, now, I have to use a mono cable and a few small connectors... It would be great to have an actual Y cable(and of good quality, of course!)... Sorry for the long comment, but I appreciate any advise! Have a great day!

i bought my own RCA connectors ( good quality ones) from Amazon. But the difference being is…. I’m using solid copper electrical wire; as opposed to the stranded, flexible type. The difference in sound quality is very noticeable; depending on whether you have a good musical ear or not. I’m also using bi-amp / wire speakers. Sunday am 23rd October 2022. U.K. Southampton

I have the Mogami 2524 as opposed to the 2534. Is there a noteworthy difference? Thanks!

Fine video sir Berkeley also a fine school.thank you peace

I wish I could get you to wire up a complete wiring harness for my sound system in my truck 4-channel amplifier component speakers with a monoblock powering two 10in subwoofers

Very helpful. Thank you

Tried mogami for headphones but they dont offer the clarity of silver cable, and silver cable is so direct and crisp in its sound you need to use gold on the negative. Combine those two and youve got an amazing quality sound. I picked up a used set of single crystal silver cables ($30), i have a set of gold plated ofc ($30), and ive ordered 2m of gold filled copper cable (actual gold layer fused to a copper core ($20 for 2m). Im going to run a length of silver and the gold plated ofc as the positive and the gold filled alongside the remaining silver as the negative. Using cotton shoelaces (2mm) and a layer of shrink wrap to protect the cables. And terminated in mini aviation sockets. About $110 overall. You wont find a pro set of equal quality under the 10k mark. More money than sense. Btw found soviet airforce comunications wire for aircraft (pure single crystal silver) for dirt cheap on bthe bay, great sound out of that but its very stiff cable, no good for my headphones but for interconnects it could be perfect...and its very cheap

Thank you. I have to make a 5 meter rca to rca cables to active speakers, because now current preamp does not have xlr outputs. With 5 meter length do I have to pay attention on the rca cable quality? When I will switch to balanced I definitely will.

Can you please do a video on how to make twisted rcas for car audio ?

Your videos are very informative and helpful, much appreciated. What is that little clamping piece you are using? That seems very convenient.

You should try leaving one side of the shield floating. I prefer it better that way

Mogami 8 Pair Multicore 3162. Black 110Ω AES EBU DIGITAL AUDIO Snake Cables. What connectors are recommended?

What do you think about this cable Belden 1192A star quad cable?

Is the ground secure without solder?

Grea vid Do they work Both Directions?,I have a Question,I have made my own RCA cables for Technics Turntables for years, typical white Red connection from the PCB Board to two connectors White Red all good,one Day I've decided to Make my own RCA,male to male for plug and unplug RCA Turntables,they worked Both Directions fine,the problem is that,I've tried to build more and now they don't work at all,same cables same connectors and I don't even remember what I did the first time to make them Work Both Directions! Any help?

How many 10.000 USD cables did you compare your cable with?

Nice work - and nice English! I'll be very interested to make signal cables using the methods and materials you showed. Also very clear diagrams! Well done! Nice video! All the best, Rob in Switzerland

I just had an idea of using RJ45 wires for my RCA's 😅 I hope it'll sound good lol

Any suggestions for turntable cables?

I always recommend connecting the shield on only one side. The side has to be marked. Connected side goes to preamp.

Great video! Which cable & connectors would you recommend for a diy interconnect phono cable? I'm getting lots of EMI from mine, so I guess it's time to change it for a low capacitance one.

Help please. Does connecting ground to both ends--either the Yazaki-san method, or coax with shield connected to both ends--risk ground loop issues? Wouldn't this be worse than a 2-conductor cable wired with the shield and ground at the source end only? Thanks for any input.

Suggestion: Test the continuity before sealing with shrink wrap...just in case. It has saved me more than once.

Anyone build the Mogami 2534 cables? Any feedback on how they sound, a lot of criticism from the audiophile community on grounding both ends?

Tharbamar have you tried only soldering one side of the braided shield to one end and leave the other braided end disconnected? This is another method and you attach the connected side to the source of your equipment such as the DAC. Apparently it offers better noise rejection, something called a "Faraday cage" when you do it this way.

Is this good for coaxial spdif?

Hello there. I really enjoy your videos Can you do some XLR balanced ones? Thnx in advance. Keep up the good work Kind Regards

Very interesting and informative Video. But I have a Problem. I need interconnects to plug my record Player in. How do you get the ground with These cables. Do I just put a spade on the ground you connected to rca shell? Thank you in advance.

Dear Tharbamar, I see these Mogami 2534 cables pre built with Neutrik/Rean nys373 plugs selling for ¥1920 only on Amazon jp. I think I will get them. No need to think twice for such a price. Great video Tharbamar!

Hello Tharbanar. Useful video. Thanks for that. I'm just curios, can all 4 cores be solder as signal and just solder the braided wire as ground?

Hi am late to see this but I would like to know of the three pro cables which do you use or prefer the canare, belden or mogami as I want to make some but you didn't say if they had any differences. Thanks kindly JT

Please tell me why or what is the benefit of using the 2 pair inner (whites) as a connect to the shield and ground? Is this a better shielding result versus just using the shield as ground ONLY? And if so why? My first thoughts are that its worse because you are bringing signals closer to the actual feed wires (blue) vs just an outer shield grounded that is farther away from the feeds. (blue). OR is what you are doing here in this video (Japanese Method) actually creating and Outer and Inner shielding effect that is overall a better shielding scheme? Thank you for this awesome video too....and in advance if you are able to answer my question for better understanding of the benefits of what you are suggesting in this video.