RCA interconnects from AVR to AMP

[Scolburn79]

Do you really need to spend a fortune on these cables? I need 5 x 2m. Will the high quality ones from jaycar surfice or can anyone suggest some cheaper alternatives?

[stiben]

10 minutes ago, Scolburn79 said:

Do you really need to spend a fortune on these cables?

No

 

Before buying from Jaycar at least do these two searches on eBay and consider your options "canare 2m rca" and "mogami 2m rca"

[andyr]

39 minutes ago, Scolburn79 said:

Do you really need to spend a fortune on these cables? I need 5 x 2m. Will the high quality ones from jaycar suffice or can anyone suggest some cheaper alternatives?

 

I suggest "high quality" and "Jaycar" in the same sentence ... is an oxymoron, S! 

 

But I'm afraid i disagree with @stiben ... interconnects certainly do affect the SQ.

 

Andy

 

[Addicted to music]

46 minutes ago, Scolburn79 said:

Do you really need to spend a fortune on these cables? I need 5 x 2m. Will the high quality ones from jaycar surfice or can anyone suggest some cheaper alternatives?

Jaycar, Altronics, bunnings will definitely do!   

 

Mogami, Canere,  Van Damme etc are direct from the manufacturers... great suggestions without paying for audiophile prices.

[stiben]

10 minutes ago, andyr said:

But I'm afraid i disagree with @stiben ... interconnects certainly do affect the SQ.

 

I didn't suggest they didn't

I only posted better value options

[Scolburn79]

44 minutes ago, andyr said:

 

I suggest "high quality" and "Jaycar" in the same sentence ... is an oxymoron, S! 

 

But I'm afraid i disagree with @stiben ... interconnects certainly do affect the SQ.

 

Andy

 

In all honesty, a cable is a cable. Being in the electrical and data industry they are all the same. Unless the conductors are large inside the cable then the performance is going to be the same. I can just make my own but just wanted to know What other people are using. I'll be stuffed if I'm going to pay $90+ for a single rca cable

[hopefullguy]

hmm 5x$15=$75 so buy from jaycar and if they dont work get a refund and look at say cable chick, selby etc.. or just spend $450 from the start... easy choice really

[Scolburn79]

4 minutes ago, hopefullguy said:

hmm 5x$15=$75 so buy from jaycar and if they dont work get a refund and look at say cable chick, selby etc.. or just spend $450 from the start... easy choice really

Yeah, ain't going to happen. Do you even know cable dynamics???

[Snoopy8]

9 hours ago, Scolburn79 said:

In all honesty, a cable is a cable. Being in the electrical and data industry they are all the same. Unless the conductors are large inside the cable then the performance is going to be the same. I can just make my own but just wanted to know What other people are using. I'll be stuffed if I'm going to pay $90+ for a single rca cable

Why start this thread then?

[MrC]

51 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

Why start this thread then?

Me thinks he is just seeing what others would suggest perhaps to confirm his own view.

[hopefullguy]

"Yeah, ain't going to happen. Do you even know cable dynamics??? "

 

sorry what is the problem? dont understand sarcasm? its a cable from an avr to an amp for i guess 5.1

 

you asked if a jaycar $15 cable would do the job.. i dont know "dynamics" but i know when a cable works and when it doesnt = sound heard or no sound heard....its not rocket science.

 

were you after cheaper cables? is $15 too much? plenty around cheaper best go look.

[Scolburn79]

Sorry @hopefullguy , I didn't pick up on your sarcasm. I don't want to go bottom of the range but I ain't going top. I will hunt around. Probably end up making my own.

[Steffen]

1 hour ago, Scolburn79 said:

Probably end up making my own.

For me that's definitely the way to go. I use quad-shield RG6 with compression connectors. The cables are easy and cheap to make (once you've got the tools required) and beyond reproach as far a signal transmission and RFI rejection are concerned. Only downside is, they're stiff as a [left as an exercise to the reader]...

 

No point in buying into the audiophile woo-woo.

 

[gibbo68]

Space Saturn series, very good for the price, I replaced some jaycar ones I was using while waiting for these to come in the mail. Noticeable improvement. Needed some extras to go with wireworld lunar 7 I was already using so thought I would give them a try. In my opinion at least as good as the lunar 7 at 1/2 the price.

https://www.spacehifi.com.au/cables-and-connectors/stereo-cables/stereo-rca-cable-space-saturn-series

Edited August 9, 2019 by gibbo68

[Scolburn79]

Buying the cable and ends and making my own. My next question is, where would you find a 3.5mm mono plug in about a 3 m length for the 12vm trigger side?

[Irek]

https://www.nbspeakercables.com.au/collections/interconnects/products/the-gymnast

 

[MaxPlumage]

I bought interconnects from RedGum, and I'm very happy running them, from AVR to AMP. They actually publish specs for their cables (few do!), and you get discounts on bulk buys.

[Scolburn79]

On 09/08/2019 at 12:40 PM, Steffen said:

For me that's definitely the way to go. I use quad-shield RG6 with compression connectors. The cables are easy and cheap to make (once you've got the tools required) and beyond reproach as far a signal transmission and RFI rejection are concerned. Only downside is, they're stiff as a [left as an exercise to the reader]...

 

No point in buying into the audiophile woo-woo.

 

I ended up making my own. But I used 99.98% OFC rg6 copper cable and High Quality RCA Compression ends. This cable is as flexible as hell and is all copper.

 

Just be aware the RG6 Quad shield has Aluminium strands as the outer braid and a tinned copper core an not 100% copper. Audio doesn't travel too well down that sort of conductor. It is fine for TV but not sound. If it is normal RG6 Quad Shield TV cable you have used, I would change it. 

[Steffen]

Aluminium is a fine conductor (and the Belden 7916A quad-shield RG6 copper conductor is not tinned).

 

Although copper has a lower resistivity (and silver has a lower one still), aluminium is still a good conductor and was once widely used in fixed power cabling in houses. The reason this isn't done anymore is that when clamped to brass or some other metal terminals, aluminium diffuses into the other metal at high currents. This makes the joint unreliable and a fire hazard.

 

For interconnects, the currents are minuscule, and voltage drops over the short lengths found in home HiFi are practically not there. As far as audio is concerned, the resistivity of aluminium is just as linear with respect to frequency as that of copper (i.e. it doesn't colour or distort the sound). There is no way of telling whether an audio signal travelled over an aluminium or copper cable, other than by the slightly higher voltage drop at the end of hundreds of meters of cable run. Besides, with Belden quad-shield RG6 the resistance of the aluminium shields is actually lower than that of the copper conductor, due to the larger effective cross-section.

 

It's the low current/low energy transmission that makes interconnects particularly susceptible to RFI and EMI, this is therefore a primary concern in the design of these cables. Another concern is the frequency response – you want a cable with very low capacitance and inductance. If it can carry anything from DC to hundreds of MHz with minimal loss then it'll do fine for audio frequency signals.

[Scolburn79]

6 hours ago, Steffen said:

Aluminium is a fine conductor (and the Belden 7916A quad-shield RG6 copper conductor is not tinned).

 

Although copper has a lower resistivity (and silver has a lower one still), aluminium is still a good conductor and was once widely used in fixed power cabling in houses. The reason this isn't done anymore is that when clamped to brass or some other metal terminals, aluminium diffuses into the other metal at high currents. This makes the joint unreliable and a fire hazard.

 

For interconnects, the currents are minuscule, and voltage drops over the short lengths found in home HiFi are practically not there. As far as audio is concerned, the resistivity of aluminium is just as linear with respect to frequency as that of copper (i.e. it doesn't colour or distort the sound). There is no way of telling whether an audio signal travelled over an aluminium or copper cable, other than by the slightly higher voltage drop at the end of hundreds of meters of cable run. Besides, with Belden quad-shield RG6 the resistance of the aluminium shields is actually lower than that of the copper conductor, due to the larger effective cross-section.

 

It's the low current/low energy transmission that makes interconnects particularly susceptible to RFI and EMI, this is therefore a primary concern in the design of these cables. Another concern is the frequency response – you want a cable with very low capacitance and inductance. If it can carry anything from DC to hundreds of MHz with minimal loss then it'll do fine for audio frequency signals.

Being an electrician in the trade for over 20 yrs with all my licenses for electrical and comms (incl structured cabling ie data cable, fibre optic and Co Axial cabling), I totally disagree with you on that aluminium is a fine conductor. For an aluminium conductor to perform at the same level as copper it needs to be nearly twice the size as copper. Yes, silver is better than both. But it is hard to find and would be extremely expensive.

 

I think you will find that you cable has a tinned copper core. Copper is a soft metal and bends very easily at that size. If you can't bend 50mm of the cable with your fingers easily then it isn't 100% copper. 

[Steffen]

There is no dispute that copper is a better conductor than aluminium, but it doesn't matter for this application. The load in this case is typically in the 20kOhm to 100kOhm range, the extra ~0.006 Ohm per meter of cable do not matter in any way. And as I said above, the aluminium shields already have a lower resistance than the copper core (4.8 vs 6.4 Ohms per 1000ft).

 

And no, Belden 7916A does not have a tinned copper core, look it up (or simply look at it). Coax cable is stiff not just because of the conductors but because of its overall construction which needs to protect the dielectric from small bending radiuses. Otherwise the dielectric would get compressed and change the transmission characteristics of the cable.

[Neilsy]

Scolburn it sounds like you're in an advantageous position compared to some of us to take your industry experience and technically apply it to your hobby.

To address your post's query, I do believe in investing in every link in the chain.
A great car engine with magnificent wheels at the other end does need the right level of resistance and also durability in order to perform.

The same applies here.
If your speakers, amps, processor all bear significant investment then IMO that investment needs to cover all areas.

I would agree in investing in as high a oxygen free silver as possible or review your cost of equipment to cable ratio. That's ultimately what it comes down to. I think it has to do with less resistance and better conductivity.
I did a blind test once with el cheapos vs costly and there was a difference. Mainly more nuanced character and airy-ness

Being an electrician in the trade for over 20 yrs with all my licenses for electrical and comms (incl structured cabling ie data cable, fibre optic and Co Axial cabling), I totally disagree with you on that aluminium is a fine conductor. For an aluminium conductor to perform at the same level as copper it needs to be nearly twice the size as copper. Yes, silver is better than both. But it is hard to find and would be extremely expensive.
 
I think you will find that you cable has a tinned copper core. Copper is a soft metal and bends very easily at that size. If you can't bend 50mm of the cable with your fingers easily then it isn't 100% copper. 

[Dankeshon]

Do you really need to spend a fortune on these cables? I need 5 x 2m. Will the high quality ones from jaycar surfice or can anyone suggest some cheaper alternatives?

I use cheap Argon iN1 Silver with Rhodium.

I got it second hand for ca 20...

On generic setups in my humble opinion it's not important.. But still I would buy well constructed cables, I'm sure there is some cheap standard in Australia also.

Or else some cheap Blue Jeans/Belden or Supra or a local brand that is up to specs.

I wouldn't let freebees laces touch my setup.

But I've given it to my friends wife for caraoce system.