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  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    61

    DIY audiophile-grade +12V trigger/data cables

    Hi all,


    Today - in spirit of complete overkill, but mainly wanted pretty, custom length fit - I started an experiment to create audiophile-grade 3.5mm +12V trigger and McIntosh data cables. I really got tired of generic TRS cables from Amazon that never really fit my system. It also isn't apparent which cable is which (data vs. trigger), because they're all black and a spaghetti mess.





    I ordered 20' of Canare L-4E6S cable. Both in red and blue.





    I decided to use red for +12V trigger cables and blue for data cables, because Ethernet carries data and the standard color is blue. Just made sense for me.


    The Canare L-4E6S is the little brother of the Canare 4S11 speaker cable. The Canare L-4E6S also uses the star quad design and has stainless shielding for the ground connection.


    The TRS connectors are Canare F12 stereo jacks. Very solid and durable construction with bend radius springs.





    You'll need quite a bit of tools to create these 3.5mm TRS cables. They're a PITA because you have to have steady hands, magnifying glass, and solder very small wires.


    The first step is to take off the satin finished outer sheath. You will want to unwrap the shield into its own wire and tin it with your soldering iron.





    The next step is to cut the other wires to length so that they fit into the Canare F12 jack perfectly. Now tin them. The white goes with white and the blue goes with blue. The reason behind this is that the wires are twisted into a star quad pattern throughout the cable to balance things out.





    Now you simply solder the pairs of wires to the Canare F12 tips. I decided to solder the blue pair to the center pin and the white pair to the outer pin. Obviously the shielding will attach to the outer leg that supports the crimp.





    What you're left with is a very nice TRS connector with very durable construction. Best part is that you can measure exactly how much length you need between components and achieve perfect cable management.





    What do you guys think? I think it's beautiful.





    Here is the new trigger cable plugged into my McIntosh MC275.





    Finally here is the new trigger cable plugged into the rear of my McIntosh C2600.





    All in all it's great to have top-shelf build quality and perfect length trigger cables in my system. It takes about an hour per cable, so if you need to make a lot of cables, be prepared to spend all day knocking this project out.





    Hope to see more of you getting into DIY and sharing with the forum.
    Living room:
    - McIntosh D1100
    - McIntosh MC601 mono blocks
    - Focal Sopra 2
    - McIntosh MCT450
    - Aurender N10

    Office:
    - McIntosh D1100
    - McIntosh MC452
    - Focal Sopra 1 + Focal Utopia headphones
    - REL T9i subwoofer
    - Aurender N100C

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Staten Island, New York
    Posts
    703

    Re: DIY audiophile-grade +12V trigger/data cables

    They look fantastic Doug! I might give it a try myself.
    Paul

    Speakers: Von Schweikert VR-5 Anniversary MK II Front L/R, LCR-35 Center, VR-1 Rear L/R Sub: JL Audio F113
    Amps: PS Audio BHK Signature 300 Mono, McIntosh MC207 Pre-Amp PS Audio BHK Signature and Gold Note PH-10 Phono Stage/PSU-10 Power Supply
    Turntable: VPI HR-X 12.7 TONEARM (2) and SDS, Stillpoints LPI
    Tape Deck Otari 5050B II2
    Music Server: Aurender N100H
    Cartridges: Ortofon Cadenza Black, Lyra Helikon Mono Digital Source: Oppo UDP-205 DAC: Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE
    SSP: Marantz AV8801 Cables: Wireworld Electra 7 (P) Wireworld Silver Eclipse 7, Shunyata Delta NR (I) Wireworld Silver Eclipse 7 (S)
    Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 (USB)
    AC Power Regeneration: PS Audio DirectStream P15 Power Plant and Shunyata Denali 6000s V2.

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio, USA
    Posts
    530

    Re: DIY audiophile-grade +12V trigger/data cables

    Congratulations on fitting 10 pounds of wire into a 5 pound connector.

    * * * * * * * * * * *
    Before I knew better, I built some star-quad RCA interconnect cables. I found it a challenge getting all those wires into the larger RCA connector.

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Boynton Beach, FL
    Posts
    1,010

    Re: DIY audiophile-grade +12V trigger/data cables

    Doug - you did a great job. I’m beyond impressed. I would’ve gotten fat finger frustrated and quit. I’m sure there’s a market for custom length cables. Start selling them


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Preamp/Digital: Meitner MA3
    HT Processor: Bryston SP3
    Amps: Bryston 14b3, Bryston 4b3
    Speakers: Kef Reference 5, Kef Reference 4c
    Sub: REL Carbon Special
    Power: Shunyata Denali, Bryston BIT15
    Wires: Wireworld Silver Eclipse XLR & SC, Ethernet - WW Platinum USB
    Other: Stillpoint Ultra SS, ISO-Acoustics ISO Pucks

    -Kyle

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DIY audiophile-grade +12V trigger/data cables

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