Making A/V cables used to be a hobby of mine. That was before HDMI took over my gear though. But just a few short years ago, all my A/V equipment was hooked up with homemade cables. The process is easy enough as long as you can use wire cutters and crimpers. Speaker and audio cables are the cheapest to make as they generally do not require any special tools but component cables aren’t that expensive if you’re making multiple sets.
 

Here’s guide [via BBG] should help you through the making of speaker cables with banana plug tips. The end result is something that looks and performs great. Btw, the wooden pieces are just there for decoration and not some audiophile snake oil.

AVSforum and this Revision3 System video helped me a lot when I first started making cables. I went on to make a DIY guide for component cables. If you get the right tools and cables, it’s really not that hard. There’s nothing better than having matching, custom length cables connecting everything together. Too bad DIY HDMI cables are still a thing of the future.