"Cheap ass" cables and build quality. Good or Bad.

[mhardy6647]

Are we still discussing cables here?

heh-heh-heh
he said "Easy access from the back side"
heh-heh... heh-heh-heh.

 

[Jim Taylor]

But I think many people here are going overboard in this backlash, and trying to justify the lowest possible price.

Why stress about lowest possible cost?

I believe you may have missed the point. I don't take it that people are trying to justify the lowest possible cost, but instead the lowest possible cost for the performance that is necessary.
Yes, this can become a slippery slope. After all, a buyer needs to know what's inside the cable. Please see this: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/when-12-gauge-wire-is-not-12-gauge.3/ )
Once that is satisfied, I think interested buyers benefit from knowing all the options on the market that have to do with low price. Not only might some buyers want to pound the basement door on price, but availability can differ markedly.

 

[DVDdoug]

I've never seen anything like that! It LOOKS like it was left outdoors for a few years... (I realize that it wasn't.) I've seen some antique brass phone plugs that were "tarnished". I don't think they sell un-plated brass anymore.

I've never bought an expensive cable. Monoprice is my go-to supplier. A few times I've need something in a hurry and I bought something at a retail store and I had to take whatever they had. I've paid more than twice as much as I would have spent online.

But I've never bought ANYTHING from eBay or AliExpress and I try to avoid "unknown" Amazon suppliers. "Amazon Basics" or "Amazon's Choice" (or whatever they call it) is OK with me.

 

[MCH]

Recently i bought these 2 meter 6.35mm TRS to6.35mm TRS Deluxe Cable (literally) from Aliexpress to do measurements of a multichannel project i have going on. I think i paid 8 euros for 4 units. I went super cheap instead of simple cheap for two reasons, the tests will be destructive for the cables (i will cut them in half) and simple cheap is not cheap anymore when you multiply it x4 or x8.

I found the construction.... interesting.... The connectors are potted, i guess to give better stability than the weak housing alone would provide.
The insulation consists of two tubes, not sure if they just added the second one to an existing thinner cable to make it look thicker or if it was done on purpose to give it the desired mechanical properties.
It was nice to see that there is a shield of aluminum foil that covers two isolated conductors and a thicker bare copper ground. All three are stranded and have polymer fibers mixed in as reinforcement. I cannot be sure but i think the isolated wires are 26 AWG, maybe 24 AWG, with 20 strands each. The ground bare conductor is much thicker. Everything is copper, not CCA. I cannot measure the resistance but i might do it in the future.
I am considering them fit for purpose for this project and not worse than what i was expecting for the price. I would go for something different for a main system though.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I try to avoid brand loyalty just because I have a bad attitude. I've had consistently good luck with Monoprice. Their cables range in price from really low to moderate. I've never kept track of when I bought them but I know I have some that have lasted over 10 years with no problems. Often their price with shipping is as low or lower than similar cables on Amazon. I'm not ashamed to have bought a lot of ESL brand name cables too. Maybe I've been lucky but haven't had any problems.

 

[mhardy6647]

I like to make my own.

 

[BeeKay]

We are not renowned for high humidity here in good old NW England.

Be thankful. Without that weather and the bravery of the Scots you guys would probably speak Italian today

 

[egellings]

I buy good ol' RG-58U and decent inexpensive connectors and assemble my own. That way, I can make them no longer than needed to connect equipment that is positioned close together with minimal lengths. This works well for me because there is no tangle of excessively long cables behind the equipment, and, izz cheep!

 

[OldHvyMec]

The only time I've ever seen terminal ends like that was due to exposure. Whatever happened to those cables was added
whether intentional or not. They were exposed to something very corrosive. It could have been a drain cleaner or exposed
to salty coast mist. I've seen that same thing on equipment in the Bay Area closer to the bay and on a LOT of sea-going tugs,
and fishing vessels. That wasn't a manufacturing issue that was an exposure issue.

My reasoning is simple, WHY Both terminal ends, I know they weren't made the same way. They are different terminal ends, likely bought at
different times and manufactured in different ways. It's an exposure issue. Battery terminal cleaner spray will do exactly that, if you wipe it off
it will continue to etch the metal.

There are just a few coatings that will hold up (fairly well). One is industrial chrome and Rhodium is another.

I've opened up at least a dozen vintage Mcintosh valve amps that had barnacles inside behind Florida coastal exposure and humidity/heat at
the same time. It even tastes salty. The Delta is the same way closer to the bay. Coastal fog, Tuly fog, and brackish water. Everything will grow
barnacles.

I currently have an MC240 that came from Florida. I've been spraying the inside with WD40/Rislone/hydraulic-transmission oil-solvent/diesel
fuel for 2-3 years about once a month. I was finally able to wipe the crap off and get the corrosion in check.

The worst is a piece of equipment that goes in the drink closer to the coast or gets caught in a tidal wash from being parked on a beach by some
dumb $hit. VERY expensive repairs to say the least.

Regards

 

[mhardy6647]

I've indulged in some pretty questionable behaviors in my life -- but tasting amplifiers is not on the list!


Not even a McIntosh.
... although, admittedly, there is a C-28 and an MC-2100 down in the basement, were the urge ever to strike.

 

[OldHvyMec]

C-28 and an MC-2100

Wow those are some old SS, but they had all kinds of power and VERY very built. I had a buddy that used them to drive Infinity QL2s. He was using a C20 for the
Preamp though. One of the better setups in the early 70s by far. I remember the guy had a JBL sub. Very rare in those days.

He played a LOT of the old Mexican ranch music, you know with tubas and the deep bass guitar. My heavens it could shake the windows. Carlos, James Brown
and Tower of Power were popular too. Santana and Tower of Power were locals. So was Sly and the Family Stones.

 

[antcollinet]

Whatever happened to those cables was added
whether intentional or not. They were exposed to something very corrosive

I can assure you they weren't. December 2022 I rearranged my study into a media/cinema room, and they were disconnected. Since then, they have been in a box on a shelf in that room - along with some other electrical stuff and old camera lenses. None of which have suffered any ill effects.

My reasoning is simple, WHY Both terminal ends, I know they weren't made the same way. They are different terminal ends,

But look at the alloy body shells - identical material with identical anodising on them, and the plastic strain relief to the wire is identical. They are even exactly the same diameter. Pretty clear to me they were made in the same factory - using the same materials on the contacts. Probably also assembled into a cable there.

I'm assuming it is some form of galvanic corrosion, as a result of incompatible plating/substrate materials, possibly initiated while they were in use. But I don't really know. I just took them out of the box and there it was.

 

[Multicore]

Good and Bad examples welcome. Anyone trying to divert the discussion even tangentially towards sound quality...

A faulty connection does affect SQ. I've had a number of audio cables go bad and it really affected SQ. A common failure mode is intermittently getting only half as much sound. The stereo effect was pretty bad. Put a better cable in and it sounds much better.

 

[Astoneroad]

I'm assuming it is some form of galvanic corrosion, possibly initiated while they were in use. But I don't really know. I just took them out of the box and there it was.

Perhaps it was the properties of the box. Have you tested the possibility that time moves faster within the box? Can Amir's AP test for compliance within Relativity? Perhaps it has potential in the marketplace to ripen tomatoes and avocados to perfection in no time. I'm just trying to turn lemons into lemonade here... while not breaking the laws of physics... ?

 

[Mart68]

I've had 'cheap ass' interconnect cables fall apart in my hands more than once. That means going upstairs, rooting about for another set (there's plenty)...it's just aggravation I don't need.

I went a bit over the top (WBT plugs) but it's done and I never have to do it again.

 

[antcollinet]

Have you tested the possibility that time moves faster within the box?

Well the glass in the camera lenses has flowed into a pool in the bottom of the box. But I thought that was the iconograph imps getting angry that I hadn't used the lenses for so long.

 

[Salt]

I couldn't find a better thread - so this one is specifically for discussion of build/manufacturing quality of cables at the "sensible" end of the price spectrum.

Good and Bad examples welcome. Anyone trying to divert the discussion even tangentially towards sound quality will be black holed into the time vortex. Similarly "snake oil" cable discussion should be taken to the already appropriate threads. The aim is to guide people towards cables which are good - and those that should be avoided.

For my immediate example. Here is me trying to cheap out by buying one of those "brands" on amazon, that you've never heard of, and often can't even pronounce. What can go wrong with a cable? I thought. Well clearly the manufacturer had no idea what materials to use, despite the claim "gold coated for corrosion resistance", or something like that. These have been used for about 18months, and have then sat on a shelf in my (dry, heated) media room for about 2 years. Imagine this going on inside your expensive audio gear. Amazon review has been left.

View attachment 431187

Looks like having had too much load of 'Blue'tooth or 'Blue'ray ... what did the manual say about that... ?

 

[mhardy6647]

Perhaps it was the properties of the box. Have you tested the possibility that time moves faster within the box? Can Amir's AP test for compliance within Relativity? Perhaps it has potential in the marketplace to ripen tomatoes and avocados to perfection in no time. I'm just trying to turn lemons into lemonade here... while not breaking the laws of physics... ?

Do you think... perhaps... there was a cat in the box? And, just possibly, a radioactive source capable of random but (EDIT: ultimately, via an intermediate poison) lethal decay?

PS Isn't it funny (from the perspective of symmetry) that one so rarely hears about any expensive-ass products?

 

[egellings]

Do you think... perhaps... there was a cat in the box? And, just possibly, a radioactive source capable of random but lethal decay?

PS Isn't it funny (from the perspective of symmetry) that one so rarely hears about any expensive-ass products?

Nobody want to pay much for something like that; that's why. If it's that lousy, then it had better be cheap.

 

[Astoneroad]

Do you think... perhaps... there was a cat in the box? And, just possibly, a radioactive source capable of random but lethal decay?

... perhaps... or perhaps it's just a Schrödinger's Cable... famous for it's simultaneous live and dead sound... until the box is opened.