The perfect RCA cables

[steve_1979]

Clicky

They're just really good quality shielded cables. The pictures don't do them justice but build quality seems to be much better than most of the 'proper' hifi branded cables that I've come accross and best of all they can be picked up for penuts.

They're available in almost any length from loads of different sellers on eBay and Amazon. They're easy to recognise because of the distinctive plugs with the word 'digital' on them.

 

[drummerman]

Perfect?

Cheap. I give you that.

 

[Al ears]

I bought these today ...

http://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-2phono-to-2phono-cable-1m/p231694887

... the first RCA 2 phono - RCA 2 phono, analogue interconnect i've owned in five-and-a-half years (for my new Pro-ject Tuner Box S).

I can't fault it. It's been used continuously for the last four hours and hasn't gone wrong once!

It's stayed exactly where I connected it (at both ends), so far, and I have complete confidence it will stay like that.

Atttaboy, I cannot stand those RCA cables that disconnect themselves or fail to work.

 

[chebby]

I bought these today ...

http://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-2phono-to-2phono-cable-1m/p231694887

... the first RCA 2 phono - RCA 2 phono, analogue interconnect i've owned in five-and-a-half years (for my new Pro-ject Tuner Box S).

I can't fault it. It's been used continuously for the last four hours and hasn't gone wrong once!

It's stayed exactly where I connected it (at both ends), so far, and I have complete confidence it will stay like that.

 

[drummerman]

They will curl up in shame at the sight of the exalted company they find themselves in.

Disgraceful

Go send them to do some serious weight lifting followed by a spa and beauty salon visit.

 

[bigfish786]

To laugh or cry.

oh well. Taste is a personal thing.

*stop* *dash1*

 

[NSA_watch_my_toilet]

In Switzerland, those cables are sold under the brand "Revox", but are much more expensive trhough that. Maybe we should brand them as Goldkabel or HMS, and they would sound great again.

 

[lindsayt]

Clicky

They're just really good quality shielded cables. The pictures don't do them justice but build quality seems to be much better than most of the 'proper' hifi branded cables that I've come accross and best of all they can be picked up for penuts.

They're available in almost any length from loads of different sellers on eBay and Amazon. They're easy to recognise because of the distinctive plugs with the word 'digital' on them.

They look very much like the cables I was using from my CD player at the ATC, AVI, EV bake-off on Friday.

I bought them off ebay for about £1.49 (0.5 m length). They're on sale for £1.39 with free postage at the moment.

Their build quality is relatively poor. They feel loose as you push them onto RCA sockets. Like they could with being crimped up a bit with a pair of pliers. I also suspect they have the thinnest, flimsiest conducting cores.

Sound quality wise, compared to 0.5m Puresound interconnects (that I got free but used to sell for about £18 new) and 1.5m Atratus (£139) cables, on some tracks I thought I could hear a little bit of lack of treble sweetness on the cheapo "Digital" ones. It's the sort of difference you could send yourself crazy deciding if you actually heard it, swapping back and forth. Apart from that I couldn't hear any differences between the 3 cables - in my system with my test tracks.

I therefore agree with steve_1979's recommendation. For £1.39 you might as well buy them and try them.

 

[drummerman]

Well, I wouldn't use them myself but what I do wished is for manufacturers to make shorter lengths than the usual 0.5m.

30cm's in my case would be ample with 25 being perfect.

 

[steve_1979]

They look very much like the cables I was using from my CD player at the ATC, AVI, EV bake-off on Friday.

I bought them off ebay for about £1.49 (0.5 m length). They're on sale for £1.39 with free postage at the moment.

Their build quality is relatively poor. They feel loose as you push them onto RCA sockets. Like they could with being crimped up a bit with a pair of pliers. I also suspect they have the thinnest, flimsiest conducting cores.

Sound quality wise, compared to 0.5m Puresound interconnects (that I got free but used to sell for about £18 new) and 1.5m Atratus (£139) cables, on some tracks I thought I could hear a little bit of lack of treble sweetness on the cheapo "Digital" ones. It's the sort of difference you could send yourself crazy deciding if you actually heard it, swapping back and forth. Apart from that I couldn't hear any differences between the 3 cables - in my system with my test tracks.

I therefore agree with steve_1979's recommendation. For £1.39 you might as well buy them and try them.

Are you sure yours are the same ones?

The ones I use fit in nice and snuggly without any sign to being loose, the plugs are made of metal rather than plastic feeling very solidly put together, especially compared to the usual cheap cables. The guage of the cable itself is reasuringly thick too.

Sound quality wise? Well we all know that any 'normal' cables won't make a difference (and if you can really hear a difference then why haven't you claimed your $1,000,000 prize from James Randi).

 

[lindsayt]

No I'm not sure they're the same ones. That's why I said they looked similar.

Now that you mention it, it probably wasn't the £1.39 ones that I bought:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TWIN-2-RCA-Phono-PLUG-to-Lead-24k-OFC-CABLE-Gold-TV-Audio-Video-Amp-/291177739864?var=&hash=item43cb8bb658:m:mipjBDpXSNIzhkBwuT6c0IA

It was probably these £1.95 triple ones:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gold-Pure-Pro-OFC-Triple-RCA-Lead-3-Phono-to-3-Phono-Cable-in-1m-3m-5m-10m-/331464150405?var=&hash=item4d2ccd8d85:m:mxe0TL3hPpmM4APC0oI_5Jw

It's not even worth posting my pair to anyone to try out, as for the postage costs there and back you might as well splash out £1.95 and just go ahead and buy them.

I wouldn't count on the quality control of the plugs being up to anything, which might explain why they're loose for some and tight for others.

When I tried the Atratus cables I was frightened of breaking the collars when I forced them onto my CD player sockets.

 

[TrevC]

In Switzerland, those cables are sold under the brand "Revox", but are much more expensive trhough that. Maybe we should brand them as Goldkabel or HMS, and they would sound great again.

Yep. It really is all in the minds of the clueless. The laws of physics cannot be broken.

 

[TrevC]

Well, I wouldn't use them myself but what I do wished is for manufacturers to make shorter lengths than the usual 0.5m.

30cm's in my case would be ample with 25 being perfect.

Why wouldn't you use them?

 

[steve_1979]

...they do look different to yours.

 

[steve_1979]

I wouldn't count on the quality control of the plugs being up to anything, which might explain why they're loose for some and tight for others.

I have about 10 of them now which are used for everything. The 0.5m ones for interconnects and the several meter long ones are used for speaker cables to active speakers and sub. All of them seem to be of the same high quality.

Most of mine have the black cable rather than the blue but apart from the colour and length they all seem the same.

I've never seen any with the shiny plugs like yours though so they may well be different to the ones I use. Mine all have matt grey metal plugs rather than the polished mirror effect metal like on yours.

 

[lindsayt]

Is this like a Spot the Difference competition.

The only difference I can see is in how far the collars stick out of the sheathes. You can adjust this by how far you screw the sheathes on.

Strain relief looks the same. Cable thickness and colour looks the same.

Sheathes look the same. The difference in the shineyness is down to different lighting in each photo.

"DIGITAL" written in the same font and size.

Same selling price, give or take a couple of quid.

 

[muljao]

If you want shorter or longer ones they are probably not to hard to make. I was in an electrical store yesterday that sounds like a thing to navigate roads, and there were plugs in red and black etc, I'm sure a good thick speaker cable would do the trick

 

[TrevC]

If you want shorter or longer ones they are probably not to hard to make. I was in an electrical store yesterday that sounds like a thing to navigate roads, and there were plugs in red and black etc, I'm sure a good thick speaker cable would do the trick

It would need to be a screened cable. The thickness isn't all that important. Being good at soldering will help.

 

[spiny norman]

They're easy to recognise because of the distinctive plugs with the word 'digital' on them.

Which of course they're not.

 

[steve_1979]

They're easy to recognise because of the distinctive plugs with the word 'digital' on them.

Which of course they're not.

I did smirk at the inappropriate use of the word 'digital' myself.

 

[TrevC]

They're easy to recognise because of the distinctive plugs with the word 'digital' on them.

Which of course they're not.

I did smirk at the inappropriate use of the word 'digital' myself.

You plug them in using your fingers, don't you?

 

[drummerman]

They're easy to recognise because of the distinctive plugs with the word 'digital' on them.

Which of course they're not.

I did smirk at the inappropriate use of the word 'digital' myself.

 

You plug them in using your fingers, don't you?

A rare instance of humour from you. Must be nearly Xmas.

 

[Al ears]

They're easy to recognise because of the distinctive plugs with the word 'digital' on them.

Which of course they're not.

I did smirk at the inappropriate use of the word 'digital' myself.

You plug them in using your fingers, don't you?

A rare instance of humour from you. Must be nearly Xmas.

 

[muljao]

If you want shorter or longer ones they are probably not to hard to make. I was in an electrical store yesterday that sounds like a thing to navigate roads, and there were plugs in red and black etc, I'm sure a good thick speaker cable would do the trick

It would need to be a screened cable. The thickness isn't all that important. Being good at soldering will help.

Forgot about the screening Just as well it wasn't me doing a DIY job on them