DIY Cat5 Speaker Cable

Why spend $1000+ on speaker cables and interconnects!! I've read about this article on diy speaker cable construction years ago and finally made one last yr. So what is Cat5 wires?. Category 5 cable is a twisted pair high signal integrity cable type or to put it simply, its a lan wire that we use for our computer connection (Ethernet). Cat5 wires are made up of 4 twisted pairs of solid core copper wires in a single cable jacket, twisting helps reduce crosstalk between the individual pairs of wire and that is the main reason for using this wire.The construction- Cut 14 pieces of the Cat 5 to a length of 6 ft. (I needed about 5- 5 1/2 feet, and allowed for some "shrinkage" of length, due to braiding). Remove the blue PVC jacket (you may have to do it a foot at a time), and remove the twisted pairs. A good trick to remove the jacket is to use the fiber "rip-cord", which you will find within the PVC jacket along with the wires. Simply secure the cable at one end and pull the rip-cord through the PVC, and you should be in business. LEAVE THE PAIRS TWISTED. You should now have 56 pairs (112 wires) of wire. You will NOT need 2 of the 56 twisted pairs (this project only needs 54 pairs). Next comes the fun, and time consuming part.Take three twisted pairs and secure with a bench vise or any other method to provide tension on one end of the cable. Next, braid the 3 twisted pairs starting with the left pair placed between the center and right pair, and then the right pair placed between the left and center pair, Continue back and forth until you have completed the entire length. Try to braid them as tight as reasonably possible in order to yield the lowest possible inductance. A good idea would be to practice on a short length first to get your technique "down". Be CONSISTENT with your braids, and DON'T braid too TIGHTLY!Start the next batch of three twisted pairs and continue until all the wire has been braided. You should now have 18 braids containing 3 twisted pairs each (6 wires). Now take three lengths of your braided wires, braid THEM together reasonably tightly . Now you should have 6 braided lengths containing 9 twisted pairs (18 wires). You now should be an expert at braiding, and will welcome the fact that you have only 2 more braids to do. Next, (you guessed it) take 3 of the 6 lengths and braid those together. Now braid the last three together. You should now have 2 lengths of 27 twisted pairs of wire (54 wires). One length is for your right speaker channel, and the other it for your left speaker channel.Your next step will also be time consuming, but trust me, it will be well worth it:Each twisted pair within each braid will have one solid color-coded wire, and one "striped" or clear color-coded wire. Separate and group together all of the solid wires and then do the same for the striped wires. With the data-twist cable that has bonded pairs, a utility knife or razor blade will be needed to start the separation of the pairs. You may have differences in the lengths of these wires- just go ahead and cut them so their are all about the same length (the ends of the wires all match up). Now strip about 1" of insulation from the ends of all the solid wires and then twist them all together tightly. Do the same for the striped wires, and then continue with the other ends of your cables.At this point all you need to do is check to make sure you REALLY have all the solids with solids and striped with striped by checking with a multi-meter or continuity tester. This is mandatory! If you don't check it with a multi-meter you may ruin your equipment if one of your pairs is mixed up, causing a short. BE CAREFUL!Lastly, you can terminate them with a spade or banana connectors..