Recoton RCA Cable Review (Ultra Cheap Cable)

[simplywyn]

I closed my eyes and tried to guess when he switched the cables. I guessed wrong every time.

Actually I watched this again and I guess correctly, but I prefered the cheap cable LOL

 

[Cbdb2]

And I would contend they aren't, you just haven't performed the right testing to show it.

For fun I just plugged in one of these freebie cables into my headphone amp, not much difference in apparent quality of what you reviewed (heck, mine has gold plating), and is a class of cable that is part of your generalization.
View attachment 203217
Wow, just wow. 60 Hz hum galore, nearly as loud as the music playing itself, and the cable is nowhere near a power line. I didn't expect it to be this bad (was expecting a quiet background hum), but these were atrocious. Then I plugged in a (inexpensive) shielded cable of the similar type, no more hum. Would you like me to ship this cable to you for more extensive testing? I unfortunately do not have a precision audio analyzer sitting around.

You have a bad cable or a bad connection.

 

[antcollinet]

You have a bad cable or a bad connection.

Or a ground loop. Given that he was experiencing 60Hz hum, that seems pretty likeley. But that post was from nearly a year ago - so water under the bridge.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

One of the very best electronics gurus on U-Toob is basing his audio "interconnect" recommendation on what AFAICT is an invalid test procedure -- he connects only one end of the cable to a very high gain signal tracer and bases his evaluation on how much noise is heard when he puts his hand near the cable. When I refuted his conclusion -- that we should be using coax, F connectors, and F-to-RCA adapters instead of pretty much generic cheapos like this Recoton product -- and included a link to this review, he summarily deleted my comment. That's very disappointing coming from someone who consistently posts excellent, beautifully produced, highly informative stuff.

 

[antcollinet]

One of the very best electronics gurus on U-Toob

Clearly he isn't - why would you assume he is? Because he can talk a pretty talk?

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Clearly he isn't - why would you assume he is? Because he can talk a pretty talk?

Because virtually all his other videos are accurate, informative, and professionally presented -- that's why this one was so disappointing, irrespective of the summary deletion of my comment. As my physician girlfriend put it, "That is the thing about expertise, even knowledgeable people have blind spots."

 

[PDhifi]

I recently watched the video by Mr. Carlson's Lab in which he stated that video cable makes a far better performing interconnect than standard cheap RCA cables here. He mentions 75 Ohm RG6 ( 60% braid and 100% aluminum shield) is less susceptible to noise and is far superior. He terminates it with F connects and then an RCA adapter. What's the opinion about this?

 

[Edgar]

Thanks for posting the video. I just watched part of it and then I came here to post it - but you were first.
I saw many videos from Mr Carlson's Lab and he knows definitely a lot about electronics. But in this case I am confused. Why should we care if an audio cable is able to transfer GHz frequencies? Who cares?
I would love to see @amirm opinion about this.

 

[Sokel]

His point is about shielding and robust ground connection.
Nothing new.

 

[whereisbrian]

I recently watched a video by Mr. Carlson's Lab in which he stated that video cable makes a far better performing interconnect than standard cheap RCA cables here;

. He mentions 75 Ohm RG6 ( 60% braid and 100% aluminum shield) is less susceptible to noise and is far superior. He terminates it with F connects and then an RCA adapter. What's the opinion about this?

The best cable is one that is long enough to connect one device to another.

 

[Redacted]

Complete nonsense & clickbait.
Amazon basics is good enough for audio use.

 

[Thomas_A]

The best ones are those flexible and light enough not to strain connectors and equipment.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

I recently watched the video by Mr. Carlson's Lab in which he stated that video cable makes a far better performing interconnect than standard cheap RCA cables here. He mentions 75 Ohm RG6 ( 60% braid and 100% aluminum shield) is less susceptible to noise and is far superior. He terminates it with F connects and then an RCA adapter. What's the opinion about this?

Because the supposedly "far better performing interconnect" is neither measurably nor audibly "better performing" at actual audio frequencies, my opinion is that he presented a classic "solution in search of a problem" supported by an utterly irrelevant test procedure involving a signal tracer with a fuktonne of gain connected to the cable under test at only one end.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Why should we care if an audio cable is able to transfer GHz frequencies? Who cares?
I would love to see @amirm opinion about this.

Good questions!

 

[Speedskater]

Why should we care if an audio cable is able to transfer GHz frequencies? Who cares?

We should care, but in the negative direction.
A gigahertz signal cable requires very different optimization than an audio frequency cable.
It's hard for a manufacture to make a gigahertz plus cable and it's a very different cable than a low frequency one.

 

[sam_adams]

What you need to know about cables is contained here:

From:

Bill Whitlock - An Overview of Audio System Grounding and Interfacing - Indy-AES-2012 (PDF).

 

[Ricardus]

Why should we care if an audio cable is able to transfer GHz frequencies?

I guess that just means your system isn't "highly resolving" enough. We PROPER audiophiles can hear those frequencies.

 

[amirm]

Very disappointing. I can't believe he used that high gain amp without the RCA cable being terminated with low impedance as it would be in a real stereo. I just post a comment. Let's see if it stays there. If not, i will produce a video.

 

[Mr. Swordfish]

I recently watched the video by Mr. Carlson's Lab in which he stated that video cable makes a far better performing interconnect than standard cheap RCA cables here. He mentions 75 Ohm RG6 ( 60% braid and 100% aluminum shield) is less susceptible to noise and is far superior. He terminates it with F connects and then an RCA adapter. What's the opinion about this?

For most domestic applications involving ~ .3 volt line level signals , shielding isn't necessary. But it's inexpensive and doesn't hurt anything for short cable lengths so just go with what's readily available. Since it's not usually necessary at all, the benefits of better shielding are miniscule. If you live next to a high wattage transmitter, or like to wrap your cables around your wall warts then maybe...

I have a hard time understanding why an F connector with a F to RCA adaptor would be any better than an RCA connector. It will work, but it's just one more thing to possibly fail so why make it more complicated than it is?

I stopped the video as soon as he was testing an unterminated cable. File this one under clickbait pseudoscience junk.

 

[Mr. Swordfish]

Oh, and the 75 ohm characteristic impedance of the coax is irrelevant until the cable is long enough and the frequency is high enough that the wavelength approaches the cable length. For audio frequencies, that's several miles, and if your interconnects are that long you have other issues to deal with.

Whenever someone starts spouting off about characteristic impedance of an audio cable, you can be assured it's pseudoscientific double talk.