Hi All,
This thread is to see if there is any interest in a bulk purchase for RCA jacks. This would be for the female, panel mounted RCA type socket.
The choices of make and design is open for debate, but there are a few circumstances that weigh if favor one direction or another.
One is that Cardas has offered to put us in contact with a dealer and provide special pricing. That pricing hasn’t been determined yet, but it would be better then you could get otherwise.
Two is that Cardas does not have a design with a copper base. This is a debatable feature. Personally, I would like to go for the best sounding connector, but that includes the integrity of the connection.
Three, WBT, Vampire, and Kimber, and possibly CMC all offer copper base metal designs, but at a price and I haven’t made any deals with these guys. There are others as well.
Anyone interested?
Rodd Yamashita
This thread is to see if there is any interest in a bulk purchase for RCA jacks. This would be for the female, panel mounted RCA type socket.
The choices of make and design is open for debate, but there are a few circumstances that weigh if favor one direction or another.
One is that Cardas has offered to put us in contact with a dealer and provide special pricing. That pricing hasn’t been determined yet, but it would be better then you could get otherwise.
Two is that Cardas does not have a design with a copper base. This is a debatable feature. Personally, I would like to go for the best sounding connector, but that includes the integrity of the connection.
Three, WBT, Vampire, and Kimber, and possibly CMC all offer copper base metal designs, but at a price and I haven’t made any deals with these guys. There are others as well.
Anyone interested?
Rodd Yamashita
audiophile-schmaudiophile....
i have had pretty good results with good old switchcraft rca jacks!
it's hard to find them retail anymore, but steve at apex jr. has em for $12.50 for a set of 10.
i apologise - i really don't mean to thread-jack, but a poor diy'er needs to consider whether he/she can really afford a gazillion bucks on connectors!
cheers -
pradeep
(ps: also , to make it fully clear, i have no affililation with apex jr etc, just a happy customer)
i have had pretty good results with good old switchcraft rca jacks!
it's hard to find them retail anymore, but steve at apex jr. has em for $12.50 for a set of 10.
i apologise - i really don't mean to thread-jack, but a poor diy'er needs to consider whether he/she can really afford a gazillion bucks on connectors!
cheers -
pradeep
(ps: also , to make it fully clear, i have no affililation with apex jr etc, just a happy customer)
RCA.
Hi Rodd,
Just received another flyer from Partsconnexion the other day.
They carry quite a range of audiophile RCA connectors and have been offering discounts for quite some time now.
If you're interested,here's a link:
PARTSCONNEXION
My partsbox if still filled with that kind of stuff so I'll have to pass for now.
If you get a good price on the Cardas I would recommend them over the WBT.
Cheers,
Hi Rodd,
Just received another flyer from Partsconnexion the other day.
They carry quite a range of audiophile RCA connectors and have been offering discounts for quite some time now.
If you're interested,here's a link:
PARTSCONNEXION
My partsbox if still filled with that kind of stuff so I'll have to pass for now.
If you get a good price on the Cardas I would recommend them over the WBT.
Cheers,
Hi Frank,
I'm looking for deep discounts. As an example (I don't know if you followed the thread) in the "Cardas Binding Post" purchase, we saved, on the average, nearly 30% under the best price available from any of the dealers.
Why would you recommend them over WBT? And would you still do so if price were not an issue? Any experience with Vampire?
Thanks,
Rodd Yamashita
I'm looking for deep discounts. As an example (I don't know if you followed the thread) in the "Cardas Binding Post" purchase, we saved, on the average, nearly 30% under the best price available from any of the dealers.
Why would you recommend them over WBT? And would you still do so if price were not an issue? Any experience with Vampire?
Thanks,
Rodd Yamashita
RCA.
Hi,
That would be quantity dependent, I presume?
My experience with the WBT connectors isn't a positive one in that the more you use them throughout the entire audiosystem the more I notice a midrange metallic glare.
Could it be some are slightly magnetic?
Granted they make for a good connection ( as far as that is possible with RCAs) but still.
Sure,after all the WBTs ain't exactly cheap either.
No experience with the Vampire stuff.
I don't know of any European dealer that carries them.
I think I read some of the bindig post thread but I will check up straight away.
Cheers,
Hi,
That would be quantity dependent, I presume?
My experience with the WBT connectors isn't a positive one in that the more you use them throughout the entire audiosystem the more I notice a midrange metallic glare.
Could it be some are slightly magnetic?
Granted they make for a good connection ( as far as that is possible with RCAs) but still.
Sure,after all the WBTs ain't exactly cheap either.
No experience with the Vampire stuff.
I don't know of any European dealer that carries them.
I think I read some of the bindig post thread but I will check up straight away.
Cheers,
Reading through Michel Percy catalog, I see that all of the jacks have brass body, be it Cardas, Kimber or WBT. I have been using both Cardas and Kimber and the build quality is comparable (with Cardas actually looking better). Yet the price of Kimber jacks is twice the Cardas price.
With a kind of discounts we obtained for the posts, one could imagine that the cost per pair of Cardas jacks might come to $10 a pair, which is still reasonable.
With a kind of discounts we obtained for the posts, one could imagine that the cost per pair of Cardas jacks might come to $10 a pair, which is still reasonable.
I seem to be building phono preamps and line stages these days, so I'm definitely in need of more RCA jacks. So count me in.
For my recent projects, I've used Vampire Wire jacks and been reasonably happy with them. I got my last batch at one of the Stereophile Shows in NYC and they were offering "show discounts" that were on the order of 25% off. They told me that I could get that price by calling them up and asking for the show discount. That worked right after the show but the amount they're willing to deal seems to decrease the longer the time from the event. I suspect they would be willing to deal with us directly and for a group buy they would do better. Contact information can be found at their website:
http://www.vampirewire.com/
---Gary
For my recent projects, I've used Vampire Wire jacks and been reasonably happy with them. I got my last batch at one of the Stereophile Shows in NYC and they were offering "show discounts" that were on the order of 25% off. They told me that I could get that price by calling them up and asking for the show discount. That worked right after the show but the amount they're willing to deal seems to decrease the longer the time from the event. I suspect they would be willing to deal with us directly and for a group buy they would do better. Contact information can be found at their website:
http://www.vampirewire.com/
---Gary
I've only used the less expensive connectors in the Vampire line. The ones I have tried are the CM1F and the CMHEX. I like the CMHEX better because it has a hex shape on the outside so you can grab it and tighten it well.
Vampire's online catalog shows these at a price of $12.50 a pair, but I think Michael Percy sells them at $10.50 a pair. I got a price similar to Percys when I called them up and bought direct.
Looking through the other options, they have some jacks with outside nuts, which is quite handy for taking things apart without disassembly. These are the model CM2F and the CM2F/CB. The CB version is OFC copper body. The prices of these on the Vampire site are $15.50 and $30 a pair respectively, but Percy sells them for $12.50 and $24 a pair.
So my preference would be the CM2F jack, but I'd be interested to hear people's experience with the copper body jacks. Is there a sonic difference that justifies the extra cost?
---Gary
p.s. I have used the Cardas Rhodium jacks and though they were impressive to look at, I found them to be so massive that they were difficult to solder. The center connector was no problem, but my Weller WTCPS iron had trouble getting the ground connection hot enough to melt solder. Definitely more trouble than they were worth.
Vampire's online catalog shows these at a price of $12.50 a pair, but I think Michael Percy sells them at $10.50 a pair. I got a price similar to Percys when I called them up and bought direct.
Looking through the other options, they have some jacks with outside nuts, which is quite handy for taking things apart without disassembly. These are the model CM2F and the CM2F/CB. The CB version is OFC copper body. The prices of these on the Vampire site are $15.50 and $30 a pair respectively, but Percy sells them for $12.50 and $24 a pair.
So my preference would be the CM2F jack, but I'd be interested to hear people's experience with the copper body jacks. Is there a sonic difference that justifies the extra cost?
---Gary
p.s. I have used the Cardas Rhodium jacks and though they were impressive to look at, I found them to be so massive that they were difficult to solder. The center connector was no problem, but my Weller WTCPS iron had trouble getting the ground connection hot enough to melt solder. Definitely more trouble than they were worth.
Two comments:
1) Recently raised the option on another thread for using RCAs with outside nut on my application, which involves trying to upgrade the existing nickel plated pcb connectors on a Pioneer receiver. Assembling the connectors on a pcb eliminates several wire connections, particularly a delicate thing on low level signals.
2) Read some comments that all RCA connectors, including WBT and Cardas, had a nickel plate base over the brass. Is there any way to find out about that?
In any case I was recommended keeping the original RCAs, as the upgrade shouldn't be that great. That got me thinking on instead using XLRs for the "important" connections (phono, CD/DVD). Perhaps using 4 pin types. Nowadays XLRs are easy to find, cheap and well built.
Carlos
1) Recently raised the option on another thread for using RCAs with outside nut on my application, which involves trying to upgrade the existing nickel plated pcb connectors on a Pioneer receiver. Assembling the connectors on a pcb eliminates several wire connections, particularly a delicate thing on low level signals.
2) Read some comments that all RCA connectors, including WBT and Cardas, had a nickel plate base over the brass. Is there any way to find out about that?
In any case I was recommended keeping the original RCAs, as the upgrade shouldn't be that great. That got me thinking on instead using XLRs for the "important" connections (phono, CD/DVD). Perhaps using 4 pin types. Nowadays XLRs are easy to find, cheap and well built.
Carlos
Vampire connectors are Ni free
If you check out the Vampire website or Michael Percy's catalog you will see that the Vampire jacks that I was suggesting are free from nickel.
The cheaper ones are Cu/Ag/Au (copper/silver/gold), while the more expensive ones are OFC Cu / Au. I'm not sure how they get away with gold directly on copper, but thats what they claim. As I've said, I've been quite happy with the sound and quality of the Cu/Ag/Au ones. They look nice, are easy to work with, and the price is in the right ballpark.
I don't know nearly as much about the Cardas jacks. Can someone tell me about your experiences with these? As I said in an earlier note, I found them overbuilt which made them less convenient to use.
By the way, reading through Michael Percy's catalog (available here: http://www.percyaudio.com/Catalog.pdf ) I see the following quote:
"Cardas and Vampire male and female RCA jacks - deduct 10% for 6+ pairs per model, 20% for 12+ pairs, 25% for 25+ pairs"
Seems like a pretty good starting point for discussions with others.
---Gary
If you check out the Vampire website or Michael Percy's catalog you will see that the Vampire jacks that I was suggesting are free from nickel.
The cheaper ones are Cu/Ag/Au (copper/silver/gold), while the more expensive ones are OFC Cu / Au. I'm not sure how they get away with gold directly on copper, but thats what they claim. As I've said, I've been quite happy with the sound and quality of the Cu/Ag/Au ones. They look nice, are easy to work with, and the price is in the right ballpark.
I don't know nearly as much about the Cardas jacks. Can someone tell me about your experiences with these? As I said in an earlier note, I found them overbuilt which made them less convenient to use.
By the way, reading through Michael Percy's catalog (available here: http://www.percyaudio.com/Catalog.pdf ) I see the following quote:
"Cardas and Vampire male and female RCA jacks - deduct 10% for 6+ pairs per model, 20% for 12+ pairs, 25% for 25+ pairs"
Seems like a pretty good starting point for discussions with others.
---Gary
Cardas uses a rhodium over silver plate on bronze. The gold plated Cardas is the least expensive version they offer, as far as I know. Both Cardas and WBT make the claim that the connectors are non-magnetic. Here are links to Cardas and WBT
http://www.cardas.com/oem/index.html
http://www.wbtusa.com/WBT-0201.pdf
Rodd Yamashita
http://www.cardas.com/oem/index.html
http://www.wbtusa.com/WBT-0201.pdf
Rodd Yamashita
I have Kimber Ultra plates, Cardas, Vampire OFC copper, and WBT female jacks that I have used in my system to compare.
In theory the Vampire OfC's should rule, but they have a definte sound compared to the ones made with some brass content. They are very smooth with the least grain, however they are also much mellower than the others. Bass is a little less impactful also.
I only have one pair in use in the system since anymore mellows it out too much. I actually think the Cardas has the best sound for me. More dynamic but still not edgy or bright. This suprised me as I figured that the Vampire OFC's would rule. Its amazing how much difference there was, and don't even get me started on solder brands!
In theory the Vampire OfC's should rule, but they have a definte sound compared to the ones made with some brass content. They are very smooth with the least grain, however they are also much mellower than the others. Bass is a little less impactful also.
I only have one pair in use in the system since anymore mellows it out too much. I actually think the Cardas has the best sound for me. More dynamic but still not edgy or bright. This suprised me as I figured that the Vampire OFC's would rule. Its amazing how much difference there was, and don't even get me started on solder brands!
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