Advice for making interconnects

[FSHZ:42]

Looking for some feedback from the DIY'ers on this forum who have built rca type interconnects. I would like to make a pair, but would first like see some of the suggestions/comments on this. Maybe some off the DIY community that have made some rca interconnects could describe what brand of wire and rca connectors, solder, etc, that were used, and also if they made a great detail in sound improvement. Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Emile

[454Casull]

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/

Worth a read

[TerryO]

I've had good luck with diycable products. Kevin has all the different wires, terminals, etc., that you'll probably need for any of the popular designs.

www.diycable.com

Best Regards,
TerryO

[FSHZ:42]

Hi 454 Casull and Terry O, and thanks for that information! I have tried a few different rca interconnects and wanting to know if the really expensive ones like the Crescendo's make a big difference in sound. I know that this has probably been covered before, but what really makes the difference. I was looking at the Furutech interconnect cable on the Sonic Craft web site and they have the FA-13S for $9.29/ft- then there is the FA-220 for $13/ft. The FA-13S appears to be a solid core wire, while the Fa-220 has an 80 wire strand 14AWG. I went to the Furutech website and found that this FA-220 cable is listed under the Car Audio section. Not saying that there is anything wrong with where it is listed, but how would these 2 cables compare to other cables costing hundreds of dollars more? Is the cable listed on www.diycable.com and http://www.bluejeanscable.com/
the same quality and sound? Maybe one of you guys could help me out with this dilemma. Thanks again for your time!

Emile

[TerryO]

Originally posted by FSHZ:42
Hi 454 Casull and Terry O, and thanks for that information! I have tried a few different rca interconnects and wanting to know if the really expensive ones like the Crescendo's make a big difference in sound. I know that this has probably been covered before, but what really makes the difference. I was looking at the Furutech interconnect cable on the Sonic Craft web site and they have the FA-13S for $9.29/ft- then there is the FA-220 for $13/ft. The FA-13S appears to be a solid core wire, while the Fa-220 has an 80 wire strand 14AWG. I went to the Furutech website and found that this FA-220 cable is listed under the Car Audio section. Not saying that there is anything wrong with where it is listed, but how would these 2 cables compare to other cables costing hundreds of dollars more? Is the cable listed on www.diycable.com and http://www.bluejeanscable.com/
the same quality and sound? Maybe one of you guys could help me out with this dilemma. Thanks again for your time!

Emile

Emile,

I don't what your system consists of, but unless you have components capable of extreamly high resolution I really doubt if you'll hear any difference at all. I've listened to a lot of high-end gear and remain convinced that cables (if properly constructed) make very little, if any, sonic difference. I've listened to some of the top systems in the world, as well as a number of ABX trials and don't believe that I can hear a difference.

It may be that my hearing isn't good enough and that's certainly possible, but in all the tests that I've witnessed, my ability statistically is no better or worse than the others that were involved.

My advice is to buy decent cables and no more, as there are usually other areas that will make a "much greater" impact on the sonic quality of your system.

Areas to concentrate on are, in no particlar order:
1. Source
2. Speakers
3. Room Acoustics

The real value in the higher grade of cables that are sold is, IMHO, that with quality termination, a set of custom cables can be plugged and unplugged thousands of times, and won't break, degrade or lose contact when used. I tend to swap gear quite often so the extra cost is worth the peace of mind knowing that I have a reliable set of cables.

Others may disagree and that's fine, but I wouldn't spend a lot of money on ICs when there are so many other things that have a greater influence on the music.

Best Regards,
TerryO

[AndrewT]

I have an hypothesis and no real proof.

The quality of the cable has less effect when both the source and the receiver are properly designed to send and receive signals.

When either or both of these components are badly designed for the send and receive function then one will find that cables start to have an effect.

Further, it is not the cable that sounds different. It is the badly designed interface that sounds/measures different depending on the load that the cable adds.

The solution is to ensure that all your sources have an appropriate cable driving ability for the signal they export and that all your receivers have an appropriate impedance and filtering for the signals they are intended to send on.

When the interfaces are properly implemented then plain pairs of copper wires/cables have no audible influence on the signal quality.

[FSHZ:42]

So in other words these two rca cables would sound the same?
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=240-020
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=186-162

Thanks,
Emile

[Shoog]

So in other words these two rca cables would sound the same? http://www.parts-express.com/pe/sho...tnumber=240-020 http://www.parts-express.com/pe/sho...tnumber=186-162 Thanks, Emile

The point is - if you have a grunty enough driver and a high enough input impedance - then I would say that they will sound almost the same even though one is rubbish.
Very few components will have those requirements so the cheap one will sound worse in most systems.

My formula for decent cheap cables is - I use gold plated RCA plugs (£3.50 a pair) which firmly grip the socket and Shark cable( http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...C=SO&U=strat15 ) which is double screened. About £7.00 a meter pair.

If your hearing big differences then you need a component upgrades rather than waisting money on cables. I used to have a Musical Fidelity X10D which was an impedance matching component. Basically it used a ECC88 to buffer the signal from your component to the amp. It worked wonderfully and improved the overall clarity - how did it achieve this - simply by using the supper high impedance input of a valve to unload the CD players output.

Shoog