Every now and then I run across situations where a manufacturer is just ripping me / us off. The thread below exploses one such situation:


How many more of these do we know of! Perhaps if we show a number of items in this thread, it would show the need for an area to post ideas / solutions for these situations.

Unless you are extrmely good and fast at making D sub cables, I would consider the time spent on making one (also materials). I have soldered a few, and I'm good at it. However unless you need to for a specific reason, It's a lot more practical to buy them off the shelf

Teknobeam1,

Ya gotta be kiddin me! First of all... no need to solder the DB9, buy a cable for less than $10 pre-made, with DB9's both ends. If you need 2 cables, buy a long one and cut in the middle. It's a pretty simple matter to strip back the sheath, gather the shield, strip the appropriate wires, and attach to the 1/8" stereo connector which can be purchased for about $2 at any decent electronics place.

So... $10 + $2 = $12. Since you can buy the cable for $120, and the above shouldn't take more than about 20 minutes: $120 - $12 = $108 * 60/20 => $324. So, unless you make $324 an hour, you are better off making the cable yourself!

Unless teknobeam1 happens to have the DB9 cable contract with Denon, I can't understand why he thinks this isn't a great way to save some serious $$$'s.

Um, many <$10 cables are junk. That is the point of pricier cables. Yes, $119 is too pricey for most people, but that doesn't mean buying one off the shelf at your discount computer store is a good deal. Of course, Denon's OEM cable may be junk as well, I don't know.

I make my own cables for coax, audio, video, phone, etc. My audio cables cost me around $20 each (stereo pair) for cables that are easily comparable to anything I have seen up to $300. Video has an even better price ratio. I have not dabbled in DB or other complex connectors as of yet. Finally found my soldering iron after a year, though!

Splicing is never the best route, although I suppose for a remote interface cable, it shouldn't be a problem.

I'd argue that the point of pricier cables is to take more of your money! Let's think about the issues on a 10' long RS232 DB9 cable. The data transmission speed maxes out around 115Kbps, so the bandwidth needed is only to about 150KHz. This is easily accomplished with almost any construction.

The cheap cables seem to usually contain a foil shield attached to the headshell ground. The headshell is moulded in place providing excellent strain relief and durability. I don't even think the pin material makes a difference in this application, as the current levels on RS232 are enough to break down the thin oxides that may develop on nickel plated pins. Gold plated pins do not really provide any benefit for RS232, although even many of the cheap cables will have them.


I never promoted "splicing". But even splicing one cable to another should not be an issue at these frequencies. The only issue with splicing sould be ensuring a good mechanical connection at the splice with sufficient flexibility. I did recommend buying a connector, and soldering the connector in place. This is only 3 conductors, TXD, RXD, and GND, so not a big job, even someone with poor soldering skills should be able to do a good job given 20 minutes.

Never mind. I edited out my dumb comment.

Perhaps you missed the point that I also make nearly all my cables. (probably more than you do) Perhaps you also missed where I said, "I suppose for a remote interface cable, it shouldn't be a problem." The point is, many people are not going to want to whip out a soldering iron for a complex cable.

I did put it last, usually people remember the last thing they hear or read more easily. Oh, well.

I look at the cost of the service call as well as the wire

Licustom,

I don't understand your comment. Are you trying to say that because you make a cable, that you're going to get a service call?

I would argue that if you're a professional installer, and cannot reliably fabricate a 3 conductor cable, that you've got a serious skillset problem.

If that's not what you're trying to say, what is your point?

no, sorry to be short. splicing short wires together and going the "cheap" way tend to make more service calls. I rather spend and bill a little more up front then give away a service call later