I will not go into the extreme of detail for making these cables as there are may videos on YouTube that get you pointed in the right direction. What we have here is a set of speaker cables using Mogami W3103 2 conductor wire. I will cover some of the more difficult points of the build and there is a parts list below.
As mentioned this speaker cable is Mogami W3103 which is a oxygen free 12/2 cable. Mogami wire is used throughout the recording industry and is highly regarded in many of the audio forums and since I am not a total cable snob I think it is probably “good enough”.
The first step was to obviously cut the 12 foot cable into 2 six foot sections. Get your big cutters as this is not lamp cord. 🙂 The next step was to prepare the 14mm cable pants and to do this I simply cut each leg of the pants so that it was 2 inches long from the Y.
Next step was to remove the cables outer jacket to expose 3 inches of wire. To cut the cable I used a utility knife and basically rolled the cable using the knife to score the cables outer jacket. Once scored I bent the cable and used the knife to carefully cut through the jacket making sure to not nick the wires.
The manufacturer of this nylon cable sleeve recommends cutting it with a hot knife. Since I do not have one I decided to use my propane torch to heat a spare knife and I must say it worked perfectly. The knife cut the material and sealed the end against fraying.
Installing the cable pants over the cable and sleeve was one of the more challenging tasks. I initially used heat shrink to hold the sleeve to the cable before it is covered by the pants, but I soon discovered that the heat shrink tubing made it too thick for the cable pants – just barely. I found that using electrical tape to hold the sleeve to the cable was more workable as the tape is just a bit thinner than the shrink tubing. It is also challenging to get the wire through the pant legs as the wire itself has a large diameter. Take your time and work with it and they will go on and it gives you a very tight and clean looking cable.
To finish, simply strip the wire and terminate with whatever type of connectors you need for your application. I know some of you are saying the best connector is no connector but I like a clean looking cable and I will probably be swapping out amps and speakers on a semi regular basis.
Parts List and Suppliers
Redco Audio – They appear to be the cheapest option for Mogami cable. They sell the W3103 2 conductor as well as the W3104 4 conductor wire if you want to make a set of bi-wire cables.
Link to Mogami W3103: https://www.redco.com/Mogami-W3103.html
Sub Signal Wire Parts via Amazon
Mediabridge 14/2 wire: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N18VBSI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
8mm Cable pants: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009XQPFC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
3/8 cable sleeve: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074LVPH3J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Spade connectors: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MF73D9P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Pin connectors: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TYR46BK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Speaker Wire Parts via Amazon
14mm Cable pants: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009XVRF0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
1/2 cable sleeve: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074LRSL3H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Banana connectors: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07226P8ZF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Heat Shrink kit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073R69KNB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1