Cables, cables and cables (no snake oil, I promise)

[timechaser]

I used to be of the camp that felt "A shiny purple HDMI cable costing $500 must be better than this dull black one which I can get for $10" (I live in Singapore, pricing reflects local reality).

And then I discovered this forum, and after some experimentation, my thought process was changed. I still get attracted by shiny things, but thankfully I don't succumb to them. I got new speakers recently - Q Acoustics M20 HD to replace my busted Ruark Audio MR1 Mk2 to use with my desktop. I know - overkill - but here we can agree to disagree.

The speakers of course come with interconnecting cables and a power cable. All I had to do was plug in a USB A to B cable (Ugreen) and an RCA to a subwoofer. But then the desire to change hit. And here, I have to thank all of you who made it possible for me to save 100s of dollars. I did change all the cables, but based on simple logic - should be prettier than the current cables and the ends should sit flush with my speakers.

So after sourcing parts, putting things together, and buying two (I still don't know how to solder), I ended up with the cables attached.

The speaker cable is a 13awg Supra Jensen Skytech 2.5 (cheapest I could find looking for 14awg approx - the max the manufacturer recommends), prettified and connected to Nakamichi banana plugs. The USB is Lindy (a bit pricier than my Ugreen or other China makes which I could have got, but I decided to splurge). The RCA is a KabelDirect (1x to 2x RCA - the sub connection demands) and lastly the power cable is a modified C7 cable with a right angle connector (to make it sit flush) with the UK plug tweaked with a 2a fuse instead of the customary 13a. The RCA and USB are plugged into the speakers via right angle connectors (the tragedy of signal degradation - oh my!!!!). The flush bits are important as the placement of the speakers (on stands) is such that if things stick out, I need more space from the walls, and that is not approved!

To my eyes, it looks prettier. To my ears, it sounds brilliant. Can I tell the difference between before and after on the sound? No. Do I care - also No (it sounded brilliant even earlier). Am I happy and satisfied with the prettiness and the finish? Absolutely yes!

So thank you again.

Photos for enjoyment

 

[solderdude]

Ah yes.... buy new cables when:

• they broke
• you need a different length
• you want a different color/looks or 'match' some other cable(s)
• you need different connectors (angled/smaller/tighter ... whatever)
• you need longer speaker cables and/or might need a bit thicker conductors
• when they are microphonic (microphones, IEMs, headphones)

No need to spend a ton of money on those either but if that floats the boat...

 

[wwenze]

Lol, do you surf HWZ because that's the only place people recommend Ruark Audio MR1 Mk2

 

[timechaser]

Looks like I checked 2 of the multiple boxes

I was just happy to be putting these together myself (I know it's not rocket science) and dressing them up. Cost way more than budgeted in terms of time, but gained equal if not more in terms of enjoyment (and seeing a plan come together).

Singapore is unfortunately snake oil heaven. I was reprimanded by one of the shops where I went looking for bare wire for the speakers that my speakers would not work at their optimum and would not sound good at all if I didn't invest in the 98$ cable he was selling me (thicker gauge, not as pretty, terminated by straight banana plugs). And of course I had to have an appropriate "audiophile quality" USB otherwise I would just hear hiss and pop and crackle (the pricing was even more eye-watering).

Color me surprised, because a bit of sweat and effort, plus the material at less than half the price quoted gave me sound which I enjoy. I have no measurements. I don't even think the sound changed between all the changes (even if I felt it go one way or another, it was my imagination playing tricks to make my mind believe what it might have wanted). But, the cables look good!

 

[timechaser]

Lol, do you surf HWZ because that's the only place people recommend Ruark Audio MR1 Mk2

No. I heard the speakers myself and bought them. For my untrained, primitive ears, they sounded pretty good. Mind you this is in a desktop setup, so nothing fancy happening here.

 

[respice finem]

Interesting for me that "Kabeldirekt" expanded so far. I thought they were mainly active in Germany.

 

[timechaser]

I ordered from Amazon US. I think they do sell in the US. Though wile browsing Amazon DE, I did come across Oehlbach.

 

[respice finem]

Oehlbach are rather sturdy, but often "oversized" and always overpriced (IMHO). Same goes for Monster Cable (if they still exist) and such like.
I've been buying MC back "before internet", because the quality of the el-cheapos was catastrophic where I lived (Poland).
I had to push out (from the inside) a RCA center connector that separated from the plug... With MC no such troubles, other than very high "clamp force" of their RCA cables. You could hang the average tuner or tapedeck from them.

 

[timechaser]

Wow. That sounds SOLID! The one brand which I didn't know about and discovered was Lindy. A solid lineup of cables. Well constructed. A modest premium over the standard universe. When I saw Oehlbach - I didnt think snake oil, just thought the were blardy expensive and not really what I was after.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

@timechaser, I can relate. For instance, I know good and well the cheap RCA cables that come in the box with a BluRay player are just fine. In fact, I’ve even dissected some and found the shielding is perfectly adequate. But for peace of mind I just prefer something more robust. Fortunately I can solder so, I made my own with Nuetrik connectors and Canare cable stock. But I have used “upgraded” off-the-shelf stuff that was reasonably priced.

HDMI – again, the scary-cheap stuff scares me just because it’s scary-cheap. Anything above that is fine with me.

Power cables – don’t care at all. What comes in the box is fine, unless I need something shorter, longer, or right-angle.

BTW, check my signature for a DIY guide for soldering cables.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Multicore]

Cables are like plumbing. Very useful. Not quite at the level of awesome usefulness that, like plumbing and sewers, the thought of losing makes me break out in cold sweats, because we could, after all, just go back to making our own music and entertainment. But they're up there.

And some cables are even interesting. Power cables can kill you if not properly made.

And high speed data cables have been gobsmackingly impressive several times through my life. In the late 70s I was quite impressed how careful you needed to be to get a home-made computer's bus working properly at, say, 8 bits and 4 MHz. Soon after I would wonder at the fat yellow coax under the floor panels with markings where its allowed to attach a tap. And then I was slackjawed at 150 Mbps serial over twisted pair and plastic optic fiber connecting switch racks in our lab. A short while later that was up to 2.5 Gbps. At home I was quite impressed with HDMI too. By the time I quit the business we were working on racks with 40 Gbps slot to slot over the backplane. Today I marvel at Apple selling Mac Minis with 120 Gbps over USB-C conenctors. Whut?!

Line line interconnects with RCA or XLR? Speaker cables? Very useful. Wouldn't want to be without them.