I really love the word "feinschmeckers"
The Lemo connectors are like swiss watches: excellent. Still they are far away from BNC in terms of interchangeability. If you go Lemo there is not way back and no bringing your gear to friends...
I have a box full of Lemo connectors and they are superior (technical, feel, look) but I can't get myself to use them for mentioned reasons.
Camac was used by Levinson. I recall the audiophiles defending the use of this
quite non standard and also expensive audio connectors being the reason why Levinson stuff sounded better ...
Hi and thanks for the interesting information
I do not know if they are these ... but when i see things like these i truly understand they are not only chocolate makers and bankers ... very very impressive ... wonderful. This kind of connectors i would expect in a high end gear ...
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
ehm ... i am afraid these are from China ... by the way the design looks just splendid
Thanks and regards, gino
Hi, I think the ones in the picture are chinese knock offs of the Lemo 75 Ohm series connectors. You could look here:
http://www.lemo.com/nl/products/connector/connector_overview.jsp
The swiss also produce excellent switches : Elma.
Rotary Switches
There is another solution : the one box approach. I already polluted other threads so I'll keep my voice down. I am testing a power DAC and it has coax/optical SPDIF inputs and speaker outputs. No interconnects, no preamp, no source switch, no expensive volume control....no gold plated audio jewelry...but also no analog inputs to push the inferior interconnects in
http://www.lemo.com/nl/products/connector/connector_overview.jsp
The swiss also produce excellent switches : Elma.
Rotary Switches
Hard wiring, or equivalent, is the only way out - the greater the potential of the system, the worse, the more audible this problem becomes, unfortunately ...
There is another solution : the one box approach. I already polluted other threads so I'll keep my voice down. I am testing a power DAC and it has coax/optical SPDIF inputs and speaker outputs. No interconnects, no preamp, no source switch, no expensive volume control....no gold plated audio jewelry...but also no analog inputs to push the inferior interconnects in
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Hi and these are wonderful indeed !!!
These Swisss they know how to make precision mechanisms indeed
I think of tape recorders for instance .. Studer, Nagra, Stellavox, ecc.
There is another solution : the one box approach.
I already polluted other threads so I'll keep my voice down.
I am testing a power DAC and it has coax/optical SPDIF inputs and speaker outputs. No interconnects, no preamp, no source switch, no expensive volume control....no gold plated audio jewelry...
but also no analog inputs to push the inferior interconnects in
Interesting ... if it has a remote control i am interested
Please feel free to email me a link
To end given that we have to stick with rca if i had a good piece i would replace them all ... with something really good.
Thanks again, gino
I agree entirely with the one box approach; but they're frequently compromised internally, by not taking enough care to separate, totally cleanly electrically, the different operational areas. A concept that appeals is multiple boxes, within an outer box - then weight issues would get on board; life's not meant to be easy ... ,
With RCAs, watch out for the female variety, - the construction of the majority of them is terrible, only the really cheap ones, and some of the expensive ones are done right, IMO ...
, With RCAs, watch out for the female variety,
- the construction of the majority of them is terrible, only the really cheap ones, and some of the expensive ones are done right, IMO ...
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I agree entirely with the one box approach; but they're frequently compromised internally, by not taking enough care to separate, totally cleanly electrically, the different operational areas.
A concept that appeals is multiple boxes, within an outer box - then weight issues would get on board; life's not meant to be easy ...
With RCAs, watch out for the female variety,
only the really cheap ones, and some of the expensive ones are done right, IMO ...
Hi thanks a lot and indeed this is what i found
I already replaced with success some panel RCAs on units. I even heard some improvements. The contact was much better for sure, at least.
Speaking of male RCAs i like the locking ones ... the have a tight fit.
I would use them especially for digital spdif through RCAs
But it is just a feeling. Thanks again. Regards, gino
SPDIF signal quality benefits from using BNC 75 Ohm. Just try it, you will like the result.
BTW I still use NOS Monacor RCA female connectors for L+ R analog as these are real good quality, have a tight fit, the inner ring is teflon, they are heavy gold plated, onder the plating they are made from brass etc. They were also not expensive. The point is that I can not find them anymore at distributors
BTW I still use NOS Monacor RCA female connectors for L+ R analog as these are real good quality, have a tight fit, the inner ring is teflon, they are heavy gold plated, onder the plating they are made from brass etc. They were also not expensive. The point is that I can not find them anymore at distributors
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Hi and i am sure you are right ... but you know ... these RCAs are more common than bread ... they use them everywhere
For instance my dac has an digital out with RCA ... so i have to live with that
But i believe in locking RCAs like the one depicted here below. I refer to the concept not to the brand ...
BTW I still use NOS Monacor RCA female connectors for L+ R analog as these are real good quality, have a tight fit, the inner ring is teflon, they are heavy gold plated, onder the plating they are made from brass etc. They were also not expensive.
The point is that I can not find them anymore at distributors
I agree completely especially on the teflon insulation ... i have already melted down RCA with other plastic insulations ... i am heavy handed with the welder
And also i agree on gold plating
Anyway the choice on line is very wide. But the features that you mention are almost a must for me
And these panel RCAs offer also a better support for RCAs plugs
With good panel rcas maybe also cheap cables can work at their best
Thanks a lot and kind regards, gino
All equipment I own have BNC for digital out and/or in while they had RCA originally. One does not have to live with that. A chain is as weak as its weakest link. Replacing RCA for BNC is a fun job to do and it is rewarding. There are even insulated panel mount 75 Ohm BNC connectors out there that fit in the existing hole perfectly. It is strange to take care for details regarding better quality RCA and capacitors for instance and at the same time take technical not optimal matters for granted just because they are what they are
It is DIY audio isn't it ?Poor HiFi is common as bread too but that does not imply I have to listen to it
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All equipment I own have BNC for digital out and/or in while they had RCA originally. One does not have to live with that. A chain is as weak as its weakest link. Replacing RCA for BNC is a fun job to do and it is rewarding. There are even insulated panel mount 75 Ohm BNC connectors out there that fit in the existing hole perfectly. It is strange to take care for details regarding better quality RCA and capacitors for instance and at the same time take technical not optimal matters for granted just because they are what they are
Poor HiFi is common as bread too but that does not imply I have to listen to it
Hi and i understand. But honestly now that i have learnt of this Lemo connectors ... if i wanted something spectacular i would use those ... they are unbelievable especially the ones with a teflon collar
They exude quality from every angle ... wonderful.
At least for the most critical connections i would use those ones.
The center pint of BNC is like a needle .. to little surface ... someone has pointed out this i think rightly.
Lemo are better ... and also much better looking.
They seem more jewels than pieces of audio
Thanks and regards, gino
It is not about looks, it is about electrical performance. Granted the Lemo are made for military and medical use and thus they are very rigid (and good looking as a bonus). I also like them a lot for the quality they seem to be but looks are not the parameter that defines signal integrity. There are less expensive industrial connectors that are used in the professional field that have great electrical properties. The locking system on Lemo connectors is shockingly good, they can never get loose when not touched. A tad like BNC but different. A strange feature in this time of disappearing retention mechanisms (HDMI, Displayport etc. all lack retention mechanisms as opposed to for instance the older DVI and VGA connectors). Off topic,: it seems the industry likes to produce stuff that breaks down easily so the device needs to be repaired/replaced. Micro USB is a nice standard on phones but I resoldered/replaced quite a few of them on cell phone mainboards. It is not a sturdy connector. Same counts for the Apple connector on Ipods. Any Iphone/Ipod owner I know changes cable every few months.
The pin of a BNC is 1.3 mm thick and they are several mm long, that should be enough contact surface for signal transfer. It would be surprising if the pin on a Lemo is way thicker. Both are not power connectors.
The pin of a BNC is 1.3 mm thick and they are several mm long, that should be enough contact surface for signal transfer. It would be surprising if the pin on a Lemo is way thicker. Both are not power connectors.
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Its not largely about the original signal strength but about keeping other interfering signals out of the center conductor and away from interfering with your audio signal.
There may be some benefits to preserving the original audio signal by going with BNC alone but I cannot determine that and I doubt most people can too.
I can see it doing good with Digital SPDIF but that opinion of mine comes largely from my own lack of understanding surrounding the SPDIF digital audio standard.
I chose BNC with good quality RG6 quad shield because my analog cables are hanging from a 42 unit rackmount cabinet that is full of computers, live usb cables, usb devices, ethernet cables, 240v mains cables, VGA/HDMI/DVI, SPDIF cables and RF live equipment like transmitters, Shortwave/VHF/UHF Receivers.
I don't have much room so it all needs to go in the same rack cabinet.
So if I go to all of the effort of grounding my circuits, using super expensive capacitors, transformers that are shielded and floating earth or oriented the proper way and if I skimped on the one thing left, the cable, I would have kicked myself laughing when I either keyed up or turned on a computer.
I've heard Plasma TV's produce enough RF to interfere with radio a few blocks away, inverter aircons which interfere with HAM operators, mobiles, microwave ovens, fluro lights.
Yes the fear is overblown. So don't panic! most RCA cables DO have sufficient insulation to prevent the introduction of RF into your audio equipment in most environments. But considering that all of my equipment is rackmounted. alongside, even a few mere inches away from nasty digital noise.
But I'm poor, the coax was nearby and already bought, all I needed to do was buy some decent quality BNC connectors off ebay to solve all of my problems in one go.
Apartment dwellers with tenants next door who leave their mobile phones right up against the same wall that you inhabit. That is someone who would benefit from using coax. Not someone who wants to use BNC/Thick Coax because it sounds better.
But I now see that other people are saying that 75 ohm BNC is great for Digital SPDIF, go figure.
I'm far and beyond finished with RCA and its thin random-quality coax its laughable.
I would have gone with high quality RCA connectors and cables if it wasn't for the fact that I had the coax laying around doing nothing AND like to live-connect my equipment too (which BNC does gracefully) AND I need the additional shielding AND that there is a considerable deal of variation in the quality of RCA connectors (where you can easily get ripped off by something that looks good quality but isn't.)
So there was the possibility that I was about to be ripped off by buying RCA cables online and will have to buy again, and again, and again, and waste money and be basically STOLEN from.
Going with BNC/RG6 Quad solved that, completely.
But you americans need to be careful of the RG6 Quad quality, get the proper stuff by model number. not just anything that comes from a hardware store.
By all means go ahead and spend money on RCA connectors, I wouldn't mainly because of the live-connect issue where the center conductor connects first before the shield does and because they are easily damaged/bent when trampled on.
In regards to the statement:
Sounds like wishy washy hocus pocus to me but I don't have a $60,000 sound system.
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Thanks a lot indeed for the very valuable advice.
Now that you talk about plasma TV i have one right close to the stereosystem
But i understand that taking care of shielding will avoid any issue.
And the replacement of some connectors can be done quite easily i think
Of course a decent quality original one would make the all issue less urgent
Kindest regards, gino
Is the male pin designed to be loose?
To allow auto align with the female receptacle in the socket.
XLR use loose pins for this reason.
Thanks a lot indeed for the very valuable advice.
Now that you talk about plasma TV i have one right close to the stereosystem
But i understand that taking care of shielding will avoid any issue.
And the replacement of some connectors can be done quite easily i think
Of course a decent quality original one would make the all issue less urgent
Kindest regards, gino
Eliminating interference in stereo or audio equipment | ACMA
In regards to Mooly's post, I wonder just how old the BNC connectors were, did they date from the 70s when there was two different center terminal dimensions? If so then we've moved on from that now.
I would be more concerned about the size of the center copper conductor, if it doesn't mate properly with the pin of the BNC connector you could have some issues.
A good solution to this is buying BNC connectors with seperate center pins that you can compress or solder over the center core of the coax.
There are Compression fittings on ebay for cheap that are seperable like this.
http://www.amphenolconnex.com/media/downloads/5648/bnc.pdf
Also available in Gold finish!
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