Sexy Jihad

Some guy wrote a tutorial on how to make your own Audiphile level speaker cables with humble CAT5 networking cables:

This all started back in 1995 when I read a letter published in SpeakerBuilder extolling the virtues of using Cat5 network as high-end speaker cable. I bought a 1000 ft. spool and spent over 1 year tinkering around with different configurations to best optimize the use of this cable for high-end audio. After countless hours (and many blisters on my fingers), this construction was found to be the most ideal. In direct side-by-side comparisons I found this cable to be sonically better than Audioquest Midnight, Straightwire Maestros, and even equal to or better in some areas than the Kimber 8TC in my system.

Why I used this type of construction:
Low inductance: It has been demonstrated that low inductance is a desirable quality to have in a speaker cable due to the strong relationship between inductance and signal risetime. My source for this information was an article in the Winter of 1995 Audio Ideas Guide by a retired Bell Labs engineer named James H. Hayward. His conclusions were, simply put, the lower the inductance, the faster the risetime when using a cable in the amplifier/speaker interface. By using twisted pairs (with each wire within the pair used as opposite polarity), we keep the inductance to a minimum.

Symmetrical field interactions: By using the braiding technique described, it substantially reduces any asymmetrical field interactions since no pair (or wire) “rides” on either the inside or outside of the cable more than any other pair/wire. I learned this theory from reading an interview with Roger Skoff (XLO) published in Stereophile a few years back.

Wow, this could save me a fortune whenever I get enough cash to upgrade my hifi set to Audophile level

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