Battle of RCA Cables: Mogami, Amazon, Monoprice

[Blumlein 88]

My Amazon Basics cables have a harsh life with tons of connection/disconnections. They have held up completely under that load.

However, my cheaper XLR cables I bought (not Amazon Basics) have all lost their tight connections and are now useless after a few dozen insertions. Will have to do an article/video on them. The only one that has survived that kind of work and then some are the Mogami Golds.

Some fair number of the real cheap xlrs are not made to good tolerances and use cheap latching springs.. They literally can become iffy with only a half dozen insertions. One reason I do bother to get name brand XLR plugs.

 

[Maki]

Yes star Quad cables are a thing and they work.
This can't relay be measured with this test

But are they the best? maybe Star Hex is better

where can I get star hex cables I need this

 

[Lambda]

pentastar wiring

But this wold not be Symmetrical.

where can I get star hex cables I need this

that's the good thing you find cheap 7 Strain cables and can make them yourself

7 Strain wire is common and Cheap. so you it an just "waist" one cable in the middle.

 

[pseudoid]

Thank you for putting many snake-oil salesmen out of business, @amirm!
It would have been much more telling to perform some insertion-loss or a real 'micro-ohm' meter measurements to verify AWG (22#) claims, at least in a comparative manner.
I would have thrown you a bunch of Ferrite Beads to see if they are snake-oil or FM.

- 100% mesh and foil shield can be found on $10 cables,

Is "100% mesh" anything like "braid shield"?
Examining the "foil shield" construction (spiral'd about the conductors) w/edge of the thin aluminum foil barely overlapping: It just behaves as an electrostatic drain wire, with minimal noise protection. Since, such foil-shield has a plastic film (not mylar but a blue-ish insulator, no less) grounding and its function as a conductor become dismal.

There simply is no rules of thumb for when ground loops are created and how to get rid of them.

We used to call it "FM". When someone figured out how to solve the ground-loop mystery, they were allowed to yell out "F'in Magic"!

Do NOT get the Monoprice Onyx cables.

The MonoPrice cables you show do not have L/R markings for the pair and you may regret their "bite" on your equipment. Request a refund!

 

[jools]

Is the console hookup cable suitable for line-level interconnects inside, say, a DIY preamp? If not, do you have any recomendations?

Yes. That's very close to what it's designed for - line-level interconnects inside mixing desks etc. I used it to rewire a friend's expensive Japanese valve preamp (I don't know... he was into that sort of thing and huge horn speakers) and he was very happy.

 

[MalinYamato]

I don't need Furutech NFC Booster cable stands?

View attachment 163653

you need it or the signal won't pass through

 

[Celty]

Check out World's Best Cables on Amazon. They let you choose your construction to a point, and sell various usable lengths for reasonable outlay.

I use several of their cables in my systems due to being exactly the right length. Elsewhere, I use Mediabridge and Amazon Basics cables.

It fact, when I built my house 3 years ago, I used Amazon Basics and Mediabridge cables and speaker wire throughout in all the low voltage applications. No regrets on that decision.

I agree, I have used the World's Best XLR cables in several lengths and been very happy with the quality. Canare Japanese wire, Amphenol or Neutrik XLR connectors - your choice.

https://www.amazon.com/Units-Balanc...0,B00VFGVNDQ,B074XS8B1T&srpt=ELECTRONIC_CABLE

 

[Lambda]

I would have thrown you a bunch of Ferrite Beads to see if they are snake-oil or FM

Well first you would need to engineer a test that's suitable.
You can't solve a problem that's not there.

first it would need a reducible controlled way to introduce a common mode current to the cable.

 

[Bob from Florida]

About 12 years ago I bought 2 500 foot rolls of Musilux microphone cable from Wireworks. Total cost was around $500 with shipping. About 50 cents a foot - 2 conductor plus drain wire - all 22 gauge stranded. The 3 conductors are all encased in a flexible conductive rubber shield - the bare drain wire grounding the conductive rubber. The final sheath is super supple - easily the most flexible cable I have used. Makes Mogami seem stiff by comparison. I have made many XLR and unbalanced cables(drain and RCA shield wire connected together at source end with drain not connected at destination). The real cost is choice of connectors - I have had some friends request RCA's costing $125 a set of 4 - Eichmann Silver Bullet plugs. Cheap Parts Express gold plated copper work just as well. I do like the Eichmann's for oversize jacks. Heat them with a heat gun and they will resize to fit as you plug them in while warm.

 

[Sharpi31]

I’m not sure about global availability, but in the UK Van Damme cables are a great alternative to Mogami. No nonsense high quality cables (inc. star quad options) used by the majority of pro-audio install companies. You can often find partly used reels on eBay for very little money (leftovers from commercial installs). There are also a few companies selling ready made interconnects using Van Damme cable.

 

[Labjr]

Bill Whitlock of Jensen Transformers claimed copper braid shielded cable has less noise than a cable with a drain wire.

 

[amarsicola]

I had a positive experience with Cablocustom.com, they provide custom cables that you can configure with mogami, canare etc. and all sorts of connectors from neutrik, amphenol etc. Based in Europe

 

[Killingbeans]

This USB cable sells for SEK 21 000 = USD 2390 in Sweden

The thing that makes me roll my eyes the most about these stupid expensive cables, is that many (most?) of them have the connectors housed in pieces of cheap ugly heat shrink tubing. If you make a cable that cost the same as a used car, at least have the decency to invest in some injection overmolding. Audio jewelry that looks like fast and dirty DIY is completely pointless. If you shit on the aesthetics, it's just nothing but snake-oil.

 

[phoenixsong]

The thing that makes me roll my eyes the most about these stupid expensive cables, is that many (most?) of them have the connectors housed in pieces of cheap ugly heat shrink tubing. If you make a cable that cost the same as a used car, at least have the decency to invest in some injection overmolding. Audio jewelry that looks like fast and dirty DIY is completely pointless. If you shit on the aesthetics, it's just nothing but snake-oil.

Dunno man, snake oil is snake oil regardless of what bottle it is displayed in

 

[Killingbeans]

I know. But if I was forced to buy a $2390 USB cable, I expect it to have at least a couple of hundred dollars worth of bling

 

[Rip City Dave]

I can't believe First Run Copper was left out of this comparison. Inconceivable!

 

[DrIacozKnows]

you need it or the signal won't pass through

 

[Ralferator]

Absolutely - Mogami are a great company. I have gone through literally kilometres of their console hookup cable (2944 I think) which is amazing quality. One time it was only supposed to be voltage sense to a 2kW amplifier but due to a fault it ended up taking the current. It did catch fire but it was still working when we pulled the plug because of the smoke. Plus it's tiny, flexible and comes in loads of colours - I think it's the same as the cores in their pro snakes.

Then again - the Amazon's will be just as good for an interconnect and there's no soldering to do.

So what exactly makes Mogami a great company if they sell cables that sound the same as others that cost 10 times less?

 

[Holmz]

So what exactly makes Mogami a great company if they sell cables that sound the same as others that cost 10 times less?

They sell cables that have measured capacitance and impedance specs and would be in the same class as Canare, and others. And one can buy buy the stuff in bulk rolls.

I do not believe that one can buy monoprice bulk cable with known specs and make their own custom length cables. But they all do sound the same unless the capacitance is really high.

BlueJeans is probably easier and they do all the work for you. I would have no issue with them or other similar custom cables.

It is just easier for me to hack off a length of Mogami and grab some Profi ends when I need an RCA interconnect, and not wait for Amazon to deliver. But I also needed to put in a large order for XLRs and more cable as the AVP does XLRs and I need 3 more channels , plus LFEs, to wire up…

So maybe they’re great because they do not sell cryo treated wire that need to be cooked (burned in)?

 

[mhardy6647]

So maybe they’re great because they do not sell cryo treated wire that need to be cooked (burned in)?

So, that reminds me of what, in bioenergetics, is called a futile cycle.
Freeze the cable really cold, then cook it.
Seems like skipping both steps would have the same net result, you know?