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Recoton RCA Cable Review (Ultra Cheap Cable)

Rate this cable

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 12 4.6%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 13 5.0%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 77 29.5%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 159 60.9%

  • Total voters
    261

simplywyn

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I want to know what's wrong with that review:

Does he is dishonest or incompetent to do a proper test or the cable he used had a problem?

Do you think some cables can degraded sound in this way?
I closed my eyes and tried to guess when he switched the cables. I guessed wrong every time.
 

Angsty

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I found this hilarious instruction in the manual of a $6000+ VPI Prime Signature turntable:

"If you notice hum in the system, remove the turntable to phono section interconnects and replace them with very cheap, standard VCR interconnects. These are well shielded and should eliminate the hum. If the hum goes away, get quality, well shielded interconnects."

Notice that the very cheap, well-shielded interconnects are good enough to fix the problem, but have to be replaced immediately by "quality" interconnects!
 

AudioSceptic

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I found this hilarious instruction in the manual of a $6000+ VPI Prime Signature turntable:

"If you notice hum in the system, remove the turntable to phono section interconnects and replace them with very cheap, standard VCR interconnects. These are well shielded and should eliminate the hum. If the hum goes away, get quality, well shielded interconnects."

Notice that the very cheap, well-shielded interconnects are good enough to fix the problem, but have to be replaced immediately by "quality" interconnects!
Well, yes, the cheap cables will take away the hum, but they won't sound good because they are too cheap. Only expensive cables can sound good, even if they are so badly designed that they allow hum into the system.
/sarc
Odd that they say *very* cheap, though: why not just "ordinary". Are they saying that the cheaper the cable, the better the screening?
 

Robin L

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I found this hilarious instruction in the manual of a $6000+ VPI Prime Signature turntable:

"If you notice hum in the system, remove the turntable to phono section interconnects and replace them with very cheap, standard VCR interconnects. These are well shielded and should eliminate the hum. If the hum goes away, get quality, well shielded interconnects."

Notice that the very cheap, well-shielded interconnects are good enough to fix the problem, but have to be replaced immediately by "quality" interconnects!
Right---if it works, it works.

Before I moved to Washington state, I'd go to the local AMVETS in Fresno once or twice a week. It was located close to a couple of campuses---Fresno State and Fresno City College---so a lot of audio castoffs from that general direction as teachers retired and downsized and the students scattered. to the four directions. For a while, lots of Monster Cable, a lot of it the cheaper stuff. I guess home theater instillations were the source---sometimes there would be 3 meter or longer Monster Cable, the kind with a third run for the video. As it was selling for $3 a pop, I got a lot more than I needed. Only kept a few, gave the bulk to my stepson, who DJs and uses a lot of interconnects.

The only things that are really better about Monster Cable is the connectors are first rate, if sometimes a little too stiff, and the strain relief is great. At $3 a pop, clearly worth it.
 

Angsty

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Odd that they say *very* cheap, though: why not just "ordinary". Are they saying that the cheaper the cable, the better the screening?
I don't think the phrase "very cheap" is mean to be significant other than to distinguish them from much higher priced cables. In this review, Amir describes the Recoton as "ultra cheap" at $4. In that context, a >10x more expensive Blue Jeans cable is no longer "very" or "ultra" cheap.
 

EarlessOldMan

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I found this hilarious instruction in the manual of a $6000+ VPI Prime Signature turntable:

"If you notice hum in the system, remove the turntable to phono section interconnects and replace them with very cheap, standard VCR interconnects. These are well shielded and should eliminate the hum. If the hum goes away, get quality, well shielded interconnects."

Notice that the very cheap, well-shielded interconnects are good enough to fix the problem, but have to be replaced immediately by "quality" interconnects!
This is hilarious.

I recently purchased an old Garrard AT-60 turntable. It didn't have cables, so I used . . . an old VCR cable. It works fine. The turntable is pretty much dead quiet.

Sounds great, too. And it looks very cool. I love old Garrards.
 

Glint

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I make my own cables because I like to colour and length match things for tidyness. Also because making cables falls well inside my very limited DIY abilities :3
 

AudioSceptic

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This is hilarious.

I recently purchased an old Garrard AT-60 turntable. It didn't have cables, so I used . . . an old VCR cable. It works fine. The turntable is pretty much dead quiet.

Sounds great, too. And it looks very cool. I love old Garrards.
An autochanger can never be cool.
 

EarlessOldMan

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Funky definitely describes all the Garrards that I have seen at the local thrift stores.
When I was a kid, we had a console stereo with an AT-60 in it. To me, the AT-60 just looks right!

But I also like the Type As a bunch.

Last weekend, I picked up a Model 210 that's very funky. And it sounds surprisingly good--far better treble response than I expected.
 

Kuronuma

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Nice! I saw this under the “audio electronics” review index and thought “what?? Those aren’t electronics.”
Anyhow, one thing I do care about when buying cables is gold plated connectors, so I don’t think I’d buy something like this if I saw it.
I don’t know what material is on these connectors, but all our AV stuff at home that isn’t gold coloured is all corroded (nothing survives in Singapore humidity, not even my laptop USB, HDMI etc. ports!). So I tend to stick with gold plated stuff.

But then again gold is so soft, eventually it’ll get abraded off. How’s nickel? Is this (the rca cable reviewed) nickel? Are the usual non-gold things nickel?
 

Kuronuma

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Btw, I love this site! I’m a physics student, yet I realise now that I’ve been tricked by so many products I’ve read about over the years. We look for good citations in research papers, but I used to just take any review or subjective impression wholesale!

Luckily my budget didn’t allow me to buy most of them. There’s a silver lining to having less money If I had the money of a working adult I’d just have wasted even more of it…
 

DonH56

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Nice! I saw this under the “audio electronics” review index and thought “what?? Those aren’t electronics.”
Anyhow, one thing I do care about when buying cables is gold plated connectors, so I don’t think I’d buy something like this if I saw it.
I don’t know what material is on these connectors, but all our AV stuff at home that isn’t gold coloured is all corroded (nothing survives in Singapore humidity, not even my laptop USB, HDMI etc. ports!). So I tend to stick with gold plated stuff.

But then again gold is so soft, eventually it’ll get abraded off. How’s nickel? Is this (the rca cable reviewed) nickel? Are the usual non-gold things nickel?

Oxides are generally insulators, sulfides are generally at least somewhat conductive. I am not a materials guy so am not sure but think nickel, like silver, tends to form a black sulfide that is reasonably conductive (though not as much as the base metal). Copper tends to oxidize, forming a green sheen that is essentially an insulator. You can plate gold onto copper, but most applications plate with silver or nickel to provide a hard under layer, then a thin layer of gold goes on top of that. Not sure about audio cables/connectors -- the ones I have do have a Ni layer, I think; pretty sure the marketing would say if it were silver. So, copper wires, then plated connectors. For cheaper connectors chrome is popular IIRC.

Again, not my field, not my day job, long time since inorganic chemistry classes or even physics classes...
 
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