Battle of RCA Cables: Mogami, Amazon, Monoprice

[RichB]

Now, that’s a rat’s nest of cabling.

I periodically try to organize my cabling but, with a credenza you can only go so far.
I long ago moved to XLR and that, with balanced components, have eliminated all buzz and hum.

All interconnects my are BlueJeans Canare L-4E6S Star Quad Balanced Audio Cable star quad with Neutrik XLRs.

- Rich

 

[Speedskater]

Star-quad is awful for rca, makes no sense at all.

True, StarQuad is for balanced interconnects used in harsh interference locations.

It picks up more noise (more wires "working" as antennas) without the balanced topology to nullify this noise.

Maybe, while there are some different ways to wire a RCA interconnect using StarQuad, some may have more Common Impedance Coupling noise.
* * * * * *
Yep, Coax is the way to go!
* * * * * * * *
also it's hard to attach 5 conductors in a small RCA connector.

 

[Holmz]

Star-quad is awful for rca, makes no sense at all. It picks up more noise (more wires "working" as antennas) without the balanced topology to nullify this noise. Coaxial is the way to go.

Do we wrap em in foil? Like a tin foil hat?

 

[sam_adams]

Star-quad is awful for rca, makes no sense at all. It picks up more noise (more wires "working" as antennas) without the balanced topology to nullify this noise. Coaxial is the way to go.

The tests below were done to see what the noise rejection of these interconnect cables was to a magnetic field and to compare relative differences between cables and not absolute performance.

All interconnects are unbalanced RCA-to-RCA. The interconnects used were a pair of legendary Belkin Synapse cables. A pair of RG58A/U interconnects were made from West Penn 812 cable. A pair of interconnects were made from Mogami W2534 star-quad cable.

The Synapse and RG58 are coaxial cables with stranded center conductor and braided shield. The West Penn 812 RG58 has an additional Al-polyester-Al foil shield. The Mogami W2534 is of star-quad construction with a single served shield.

Except for the Synapse cable, I made these cables myself. The shield and one pair of the quad conductor W2534 are connected to the signal ground at both ends. The RCA connectors for the RG58 and W2534 were all harvested from old Radio Shack Gold series audio cables. I have reused these connectors several times over for many years. The RCA connectors for the Synapse cable are the original connectors that the cable came with.

The cables are in pairs—meaning there is a left and right channel cable—and both are connected for the test. All the cables are twisted together with the opposite channel cable. The Belkin Synapse cable was a molded parallel cable that I split apart before twisting together again.

Out to in on an old Macbook Pro that has headphone out and line in analog ports. 96 KHz sample rate 24 bit. -0.5 dB output level. 0 dB input level.

Cables were placed parallel to the top, and in direct contact with, a 12 Volt, 1 amp rated AC transformer with a 560 Ω, 10 watt resistive load. The transformer is located at the 1 M mark on the interconnect, half way. The contact area was about two inches long and .75 inches wide. The magnetic field strength generated by the transformer was not measured and is unknown.

West Penn 812 RG58A/U, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

Legendary Belkin Synapse cables, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

Mogami W2534, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

What is seen here is to be expected for electro-magnetic interference caused by the AC mains. The 60 Hz fundamental and odd-order harmonics up the spectrum. The even-order harmonics are buried in the noise floor. REW does not number the harmonics properly because the third harmonic is higher than the 60 Hz fundamental.

Here's the same cables without the transformer:

West Penn 812 RG58A/U, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

Legendary Belkin Synapse cables, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

Mogami W2534, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

What we are seeing in the last three graphs is the system noise. It's pushed down some by the FFT gain to see if there is anything down there. The DAC noise shaping can be seen above 30 KHz. There are some spurious tones that also appear in that region. It's all pretty much the same for all three cables as this is a fairly EMI quiet environment when and where the cables were tested.

 

[Human Bass]

The tests below were done to see what the noise rejection of these interconnect cables was to a magnetic field and to compare relative differences between cables and not absolute performance.

All interconnects are unbalanced RCA-to-RCA. The interconnects used were a pair of legendary Belkin Synapse cables. A pair of RG58A/U interconnects were made from West Penn 812 cable. A pair of interconnects were made from Mogami W2534 star-quad cable.

The Synapse and RG58 are coaxial cables with stranded center conductor and braided shield. The West Penn 812 RG58 has an additional Al-polyester-Al foil shield. The Mogami W2534 is of star-quad construction with a single served shield.

Except for the Synapse cable, I made these cables myself. The shield and one pair of the quad conductor W2534 are connected to the signal ground at both ends. The RCA connectors for the RG58 and W2534 were all harvested from old Radio Shack Gold series audio cables. I have reused these connectors several times over for many years. The RCA connectors for the Synapse cable are the original connectors that the cable came with.

The cables are in pairs—meaning there is a left and right channel cable—and both are connected for the test. All the cables are twisted together with the opposite channel cable. The Belkin Synapse cable was a molded parallel cable that I split apart before twisting together again.

Out to in on an old Macbook Pro that has headphone out and line in analog ports. 96 KHz sample rate 24 bit. -0.5 dB output level. 0 dB input level.

Cables were placed parallel to the top, and in direct contact with, a 12 Volt, 1 amp rated AC transformer with a 560 Ω, 10 watt resistive load. The transformer is located at the 1 M mark on the interconnect, half way. The contact area was about two inches long and .75 inches wide. The magnetic field strength generated by the transformer was not measured and is unknown.

West Penn 812 RG58A/U, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

View attachment 227070

Legendary Belkin Synapse cables, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

View attachment 227071

Mogami W2534, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

View attachment 227072

What is seen here is to be expected for electro-magnetic interference caused by the AC mains. The 60 Hz fundamental and odd-order harmonics up the spectrum. The even-order harmonics are buried in the noise floor. REW does not number the harmonics properly because the third harmonic is higher than the 60 Hz fundamental.

Here's the same cables without the transformer:

West Penn 812 RG58A/U, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

View attachment 227093

Legendary Belkin Synapse cables, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

View attachment 227094

Mogami W2534, 2M long, one twist every three inches:

View attachment 227095

What we are seeing in the last three graphs is the system noise. It's pushed down some by the FFT gain to see if there is anything down there. The DAC noise shaping can be seen above 30 KHz. There are some spurious tones that also appear in that region. It's all pretty much the same for all three cables as this is a fairly EMI quiet environment when and where the cables were tested.

My experience with EMI was with a Topping A50S picking up a local radio station thru the rca cables. I tested Canare star quad with the floating ground that supposedly creates a Faraday cage to block any interference and it simply fail to avoid the radio station signal. I tried many other cables that also failed to fix this issue in different levels. Maybe it was where I lived that the radio signal was too strong.

Now when I want a good rca, I opt for heavily shielded coaxial.

 

[Shazb0t]

Star-quad is awful for rca, makes no sense at all. It picks up more noise (more wires "working" as antennas) without the balanced topology to nullify this noise. Coaxial is the way to go.

Hey, better late than never! Back in April I did some additonal research and also came to the conclusion that coaxial cable is the best choice for single ended RCA interconnects. I ended up buying some of these in various lengths for my system:

https://www.amazon.com/1-5-Foot-High-Definition-Interconnect-Connectors/dp/B07LF6B3Y4?ref_=ast_sto_dp

They are pliable with solid Amphenol connectors which are short enough to not pose any issues.

 

[Human Bass]

Hey, better late than never! Back in April I did some additonal research and also came to the conclusion that coaxial cable is the best choice for single ended RCA interconnects. I ended up buying some of these in various lengths for my system:

https://www.amazon.com/1-5-Foot-High-Definition-Interconnect-Connectors/dp/B07LF6B3Y4?ref_=ast_sto_dp

They are pliable with solid Amphenol connectors which are short enough to not pose any issues.

I personally like their cables using the gotham ultra pro gac-1. Overkill 4 layers of shielding

1.5 Foot RCA Cable Pair - Gotham GAC-1 Ultra Pro - Low-Cap (21pF/ft) Audio Interconnect Cable with Amphenol ACPR Die-Cast, Gold Plated RCA Connectors https://a.co/d/8Pda8Jn

 

[Deleted member 50971]

I personally like their cables using the gotham ultra pro gac-1. Overkill 4 layers of shielding

1.5 Foot RCA Cable Pair - Gotham GAC-1 Ultra Pro - Low-Cap (21pF/ft) Audio Interconnect Cable with Amphenol ACPR Die-Cast, Gold Plated RCA Connectors https://a.co/d/8Pda8Jn

I haven’t seen those before, thanks for posting the link. I do use WBC Gotham XLR cables which are definitely a great cable.

 

[Scrufboy]

Hey, better late than never! Back in April I did some additonal research and also came to the conclusion that coaxial cable is the best choice for single ended RCA interconnects. I ended up buying some of these in various lengths for my system:

https://www.amazon.com/1-5-Foot-High-Definition-Interconnect-Connectors/dp/B07LF6B3Y4?ref_=ast_sto_dp

They are pliable with solid Amphenol connectors which are short enough to not pose any issues.

See... I had been reading and reading and saw that many agree on coax being best for short single ended ic's. I had Ghent make me some true 75Ohm Canare coax to run between my speaker amplifier and my subwoofer amplifier. But in a conversation with someone in the other camp, he advised against it because the return signal is the shield. I was sure that this didn't matter with small runs. But nonetheless, I have bought some custom Mogami RCA cables now and I swear the sub is less dynamic and punchy. I have other coax too, some silver plated. Nonetheless, I am awaiting a custom 7 inch Mogami 3.5mm male to male to run from my DAC to he Amp. Comparing Mogami and Canare, coax vs RCA Star Quad... Without even knowing how they're being wired... I swear sometimes I hate his hobby/passion.

 

[Holmz]

See... I had been reading and reading and saw that many agree on coax being best for short single ended ic's…
…

People agree that the earth is flat, and Allah, Zeus, or Odin is running it.
But…

How would we know whether any of the cabals are better than the others, whether they are RCAs, Coax or whatever??

 

[Scrufboy]

People agree that the earth is flat, and Allah, Zeus, or Odin is running it.
But…

How would we know whether any of the cabals are better than the others, whether they are RCAs, Coax or whatever??

Jeez... Where do you dipshits come from? What's your goal here? Cabal? Do you mean the contrived schemes of a group of persons secretly united in a plot? That's what a cabal is...

Better how? Better made? Better looking? Better at? How would we know? Seriously? Are you here unwittingly waiving the flag for blissful ignorance? Seriously, what is your goal with your reply? Just to blather about? Troll?

Come on... Convince me that you have a valid goal here.

 

[djtetei]

Cordial cables all over.
Good build, never had a failure or sound issues.

 

[Holmz]

Jeez... Where do you dipshits come from? What's your goal here? Cabal? Do you mean the contrived schemes of a group of persons secretly united in a plot? That's what a cabal is...

Better how? Better made? Better looking? Better at? How would we know? Seriously? Are you here unwittingly waiving the flag for blissful ignorance? Seriously, what is your goal with your reply? Just to blather about? Troll?

Come on... Convince me that you have a valid goal here.

Sorry, the ipad misspelled cable as cabal.

But really, how would we know that the cables make a difference?
I hear people say things like:
“The blackness was deeper”
“A vail was lifted”
“There were layer of depth”

I can either assume that it is like the emperor’s new clothes, or my hearing has always been substandard, or something else.
How could we know that these cables are better, worse or the same?

Jeez... Where do you dipshits come from?

I am originally from North America… but most of the dipshits in Australia are from N.Z. or FNQ.
Any Ab-original ones are thought to have came via Indonesia and PNG in canoes… but I do not know aboriginal dipshits, nor if the dipshits amongst them constitute a large group by percentage.


Basically @sam_adams post says, do not run cables on a transformer… and his graphs make total sense.

 

[Speedskater]

See... I had been reading and reading and saw that many agree on coax being best for short single ended ic's. I had Ghent make me some true 75Ohm Canare coax to run between my speaker amplifier and my subwoofer amplifier.

The 75 Ohm figure is the Radio Frequency Characteristic Impedance. It only matter in the near Megahertz range.
At audio frequencys the end-to-end impedances are well under one Ohm. That Canare coax could be a good choice.

 

[Human Bass]

Yeah, the whole 75Ohm impedance thing is pretty much meaningless when talking about audio.

I've tested dozens of rca cables, both as analog interconnects and coaxial digital and all of them works flawlessly, even the most generic ones, be it 75Ohm or not.

 

[Speedskater]

Almost all well manufactured 'coax' cables have a "Radio Frequency Characteristic Impedance".
And most likely it's in the 32 to 93 Ohm range.
Only poorly made cables that have inconsistent construction from end-to-end won't.

 

[fpitas]

Since we're on about RCA cables....

View attachment 200714 View attachment 200715

That is a $10.00 6 foot RCA cable passing 200khz in an input to output Null test .... What more do you need?

Sure; but you don't show how much the PRaT skews. I'm sure your wife can hear it from the kitchen.

 

[Holmz]

Sure; but you don't show how much the PRaT skews. I'm sure your wife can hear it from the kitchen.

They almost always hear the music change, but rarely so they hear the request to bring another beer.

 

[sam_adams]

but rarely so they hear the request to bring another beer.

The Sammich Principle is a close corollary.

 

[RayD8r]

I've been using RCA cables for audio since the mid 80s. I've used dollar store cables and I've used cables that cost in the hundreds. I have not had any problems with any of them that were in good condition. I did not hear any difference in sound quality or have any noise issues with any of them. I've had my own and set up many many systems in that time and have never had any loss, latency, or noise issues. Needless to say that I will never spend a lot on RCA cables. I am happy with the Amazon basics cables for most things I have a 50' subwoofer cable going to my rear sub so that I could run it around the baseboard and up and over a door frame. It crosses paths with power cords and speaker wires no noise or hum. Sadly I could not find that they make 100' 2 channel cables so I got some from Cables Direct, just standard duty male to male. I have them running from my living room AVR to a stereo receiver in my bedroom. I have them running along side other RCA cables, network cables, coax cable, speaker wires, and power cords at various locations along the run and I don't hear any noise. So all the hoopla about RCA cables is BS to me. What matters to me is the sound of the music and I have never had any issue with even $1 cables or even better yet the ones that come "free" with audio equipment. That's been my experience take it however you like but I personally have no need for expensive cables whatsoever.