Battle of RCA Cables: Mogami, Amazon, Monoprice

[pablolie]

As I've mentioned before, back around 1990 Kimber PBJ cables were all the rage as "the budget priced" great sounding cable. I bought into the clammer and bought a few sets at around $70 the pair. Well they absolutely DID sound different, the unshielded twisted pair design picked up such a hum field from my VTL tube monoblocks you could've seriously heard it "from the kitchen". They didn't last a day or two in my rig before I threw them in a drawer. The only good news of it all was I was able to sell them about 25 years later for 3x what I paid.
View attachment 507507

:-D I also have Kimber in that box... :-D

 

[Labjr]

For mechanical integrity I always prefer crimped connections.

I wouldn't trust my crimping. I have crimped and soldered but mostly just solder.

 

[Roland68]

I wouldn't trust my crimping. I have crimped and soldered but mostly just solder.

With a decent crimping tool (available for €15-30), you can always rely on crimping results because they don't depend on you. Provided the material is in good condition.

Properly executed crimp connections are superior to any soldered connection, even one with hard solder and 55% silver content, both electrically and mechanically.

 

[pablolie]

With a decent crimping tool (available for €15-30), you can always rely on crimping results because they don't depend on you. Provided the material is in good condition.

Properly executed crimp connections are superior to any soldered connection, even one with hard solder and 55% silver content, both electrically and mechanically.

Kinda interesting we went from cables to connectors. They should be quality, too - and then they don't matter either. The best connector is also just a matter of application if competently made. If you have to reconnect things every other day, it probably calls for a different connector that if you connect once and leave things alone for several years.

 

[amirm]

If person believes that Cable A sounds better than Cable B does, then to him, and to him alone, A will sound better than B, so long as he knows which cable is in play during the listening session.

Since the effect is not real, it gradually goes away even with that knowledge. Hence the reason these people keep changing their system, applying tweak after tweak, to get that audio placebo high again.

 

[egellings]

Since the effect is not real, it gradually goes away even with that knowledge. Hence the reason these people keep changing their system, applying tweak after tweak, to get that audio placebo high again.

True.

 

[Sal1950]

Properly executed crimp connections are superior to any soldered connection, even one with hard solder and 55% silver content, both electrically and mechanically.

A properly soldered connection is air tight and free of corrosion over time.
Not so with crimps.

 

[Ropeburn]

Oh yeah, it's absolutely crucial you make the best possible connection and crimp your line cables transmitting homoeopathic doses of power, so you get the absolute best transmission to the 3 million solder joints inside devices.

 

[Get a hearing test]

etc

All of this is telling you to stop putting any faith in your sighted cable comparisons

Really. The most likely answer is you aren't hearing a real difference.

Must be a botched cable. No other explanation.

 

[Franco]

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. For cables, I think there are other parameters to consider that measuring instruments currently can't detect (not for power cables, which I consider irrelevant). I have the utmost respect for audiosciencereview.com since I purchased the AHB2 Benchmark based on their tests. But NOT SO FOR CABLES (signal and speaker). The differences are truly AUDIBLE. I previously used generic signal cables. I conducted my test with a switching center (ABC) COMPARISON IN REAL TIME, NOT FROM MEMORY (unplugging and reconnecting the various cables) because short-term memory fades after 30 seconds. I considered the following parameters: width – height – depth – high frequencies – low frequencies – presence – voice – vividness – speed – center stage intelligibility – 3D holographic effect.
Rating x/10
For interconnect cables, I tried:
ACOUSTIC REVIVE rating 10/10 (even DIY ones with separate wire sold in rolls – great value) - Silent Wire NF-Referenz rating 10/10 (overpriced) - Mexcel 7N-DA6100 rating 10/10 (overpriced) - Mexcel 7N-DA6000 rating 9.9/10 - Mexcel 7N-DA2100 RCA rating 9.8/10 - Acrolink 7N-D5000 rating 9.8/10 - Silent Wire NF-32 rating 9.3/10 - Silent Wire NF-16 (still to be tested) - Van den Hul The Waterfall rating 7.0/10 - generic cables from £50 per metre or slightly more, rating 5.0-6.0/10
For speaker cables:
TOWNSHEND ISOLDA DCT rating 9.0/10 - Acoustic Revive SPC-PA TripleC rating 9.0/10 - SILENT Wire LS38 rating 9.0/10 - SILENT Wire LS16 rating 8.4/10 - SILENT Wire LS12 rating 8.0/10 (best value) - Van Den Hul Teatrack Hybrid rating 6.9/10 - TARA Labs RSC Prime rating 6.4/10 - Monster Cable '80s rating 5.5/10 – generic hardware store cable rating 4.8/10
Hope this helps. I look forward to your opinions and reviews.
---
Test equipment, both mine and that of other friends: Cocktail Audio X45Pro - Esoteric K1 Grandioso CD Player + Esoteric G1 Grandioso word clock - EMT-938 turntables with EMT XSD 15 SFL - Micro Seiki DDX 1500 (four tonearms: Jelco TK-950L, Saec WE-308L, Audiocraft Silver AC-3000 and AC-4000 and various cartridges, Benz Micro LPS, Audio Technica AT-ART9, Sumiko Celebration Pearwood, Decca London Jubilee, Shure V15-V, ORTOFON MC-7500) - Thorens 160S with Grace 747 tonearm + Grace SF-90 tonearm, Shure V15-III - Audia Flight FL Phono and Gold Note PH10-PSU10 preamp - McIntosh C1100 - D1100 – MC2301 -VTL S200- Angstrom pre Reference One B + Angstrom Stella final - Benchmark AHB2 amp - Cayin/Spark A-88T - AMC Pre CVT1030a + Amp CVT2100a – speakers: MBL 101C - MBL 121 - Piega C2-LTD + 2 subs - M&K S-2 Satellite + 2 subs

 

[egellings]

What about all the wiring in the speaker cabinets and amplifiers?

 

[Labjr]

Do you think the $26,000 word clock makes the CD player sound better than my $50 dongle DAC/HP Amp? Have you tried Synergistic Research fuses?

 

[Cuniberti]

Real friends would have helped you conduct a blind test rather than supporting your bias-confirmation experiment.

 

[Ropeburn]

What about all the wiring in the speaker cabinets and amplifiers?

Reminds me of this nonsense about crimped signal cables being oh so superior to soldered ones, which is of the devil. Nevermind the signal going through over 9000 tiny solder joints in the devices

 

[milosz]

If anyone thinks that cables exhibit sonic properties that cannot be measured by instruments, all they need to do to prove their point is to submit properly-done double blind listening studies that show that ANY listeners can hear an improvement at a greater degree than pure chance.

Please post links to such studies here. Without such proof, it's merely an opinion and when it comes to science just doesn't count.

 

[Ropeburn]

If anyone thinks that cables exhibit sonic properties that cannot be measured by instruments, all they need to do to prove their point is to submit properly-done double blind listening studies that show that ANY listeners can hear an improvement at a greater degree than pure chance.

Please post links to such studies here. Without such proof, it's merely an opinion and when it comes to science just doesn't count.

Wasn't there even a guy who offered (or still does) a million dollars to anyone who could distinguish cables in a proper blind test? Not a single audiophile even showed up. Lol

 

[milosz]

Wasn't there even a guy who offered (or still does) a million dollars to anyone who could distinguish cables in a proper blind test? Not a single audiophile even showed up. Lol

Skeptic Randi offered this and Michael Fremer showed up with "speaker cables" that included filter circuits. Since these were actually tone controls and not cables, he was disqualified although he didn't understand why.

 

[Sal1950]

Since these were actually tone controls and not cables, he was disqualified although he didn't understand why.

ROTFLMAO, how totally typical of Fremer. He cares nothing about real Hi-Fi but is simply looking for ways to increase the net income from "High End" audio.
Worthless products selling for $5, 6, or 7 digits, 85% of which is profit. This allows them to pay huge advertising bills and in the end line his pockets.
Don't be a sucker my friends.

 

[Labjr]

Reminds me of this nonsense about crimped signal cables being oh so superior to soldered ones, which is of the devil. Nevermind the signal going through over 9000 tiny solder joints in the devices

I build my own cables with Mogami bulk cable. I always solder because I think it provides better electrical and mechanical integrity.

 

[Ropeburn]

I build my own cables with Mogami bulk cable. I always solder because I think it provides better electrical and mechanical integrity.

Well crimping can be very good, but it's easy to botch it so it becomes unreliable. Much easier to do a good job that lasts forever with soldering.