Ha ha....yes I can, and most often do build my own cables. Instrument cords, balanced XLR's and especially Speakons, they're even easier with no soldering involved. Although I ended up in middle management, I started my career as a computer hardware engineer in the days when disc drives had to have their head alignments checked using an oscilloscope, so I have a digital electronics degree and I'm no stranger to the soldering iron.
But, even so there are times when you need some cables in a few hours...no time for internet ordering so you call into Maplin for the bits, only to find that in that particular branch the only suitable speaker cable they have is priced at 1.49/metre, that they only have 2 of the NL4 connectors you want at £6 something each and only 1 lonely NL2... So not even enough to make up the cables you want...suddenly, just grabbing a pair of ready made items off the shelf becomes a lot more attractive.
As for piezos, I thought that I would check Bill's assertions that even allowing for shipping and duty, you could buy them cheaper from Leland. Sure enough, I paid the customs duty on-line yesterday and a delivery driver has called within the last few minutes with a box of 50 Goldwood 1016s plus all the crossover components I need from Speaker Hardware. Subtracting the cost of the crossover bits, I reckon that the piezos work out around £2.60 each...so, IITP
