Recoton RCA Cable Review (Ultra Cheap Cable)

[Ricardus]

That's true -- I edited my comment for clarity: McGowan says the Audioquest snake oil is better than his.

But his are PERFECT WAVES. So I mean, that's GOTTA be awesome, right?

 

[Bruce Morgen]

But his are PERFECT WAVES. So I mean, that's GOTTA be awesome, right?

Aha, but there are apparently even higher levels of awesomeness.

 

[solderdude]

That may well be true for things PS Audio sells

Maybe they will even buy the cable Amir tested, add some 0's, put them up for sale and then recommend to use AQ cables instead

 

[antcollinet]

Is there any noise (EMI, hum, etc.) suppression advantage in using RCA cables with two inner conductors that complete the actual circuit and a separate shield that's only connected to the "return" inner conductor (and chassis ground) at one end?

In an RCA both ends cable? No, because the "return" inner connector must still be connected to the earthed side of the RCA at both ends. Ground loop still exists (if ground loop is the problem), and it is still used as the signal return path.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

In an RCA both ends cable? No, because the "return" inner connector must still be connected to the earthed side of the RCA at both ends. Ground loop still exists (if ground loop is the problem), and it is still used as the signal return path.

I wasn't referring to ground loops specifically -- you're clearly correct about that -- but rather to overall susceptibility to noise stemming from outside interference. Thanks for responding.

 

[antcollinet]

I wasn't referring to ground loops specifically -- you're clearly correct about that -- but rather to overall susceptibility to noise stemming from outside interference. Thanks for responding.

Even in this case I don't think you have a benefit. The screen is electrically connected to the return signal and is only connected to one end. So the effectiveness of the screen is reduced, but you've also put any interference picked up by the screen in close proximity to the second conductor.

I don't have a good feel for how this will impact the overall noise immunity - it might even make it worse. In any case, ground loops are a far more common problem than radiated EMI picked up directly on the conductors.

Further, I don't believe screening in RCA Cables where the screen is also a signal conductor has any benefit in any case.

 

[milosz]

The only thing "wrong" with these is the possible corrosion of the tin plating causing problems some time in the future, and the loose fit they likely have.

 

[DSJR]

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.

Seems like it's faulty to me, not sub-standard.. We used to sell many cables looking like this, cheap and with gold plated connectors. Absolutely fine if not posh looking! Ours were from an almost certainly gone distributor called 'Bandridge' in the UK.

Here's the current Bandridge version - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bandridge-3-5mm-Portable-Audio-Cable-Black/dp/B0015YWRN8

About the same price as the Amazon Basics version I bought to connect a Chromecast Audio to the system, which is thin, flexible and 'great sounding.'...

 

[Angsty]

Blue Jeans Cables did an article on hum rejection in unbalanced RCA cables. Seems legit even if a bit less rigorous than some tests. My notion is that shielding designs can matter, but not as much for audio applications.

Hum Rejection in Unbalanced Audio Cables -- Blue Jeans Cable

 

[thegeton]

quantification of human hearing

Perhaps true audiophiles are using other organs to do their critical listening?

 

[sam_adams]

I meant terminated on Amazon.

You takes your chances . . . but, hey, colors.

Given the facts—with this particular test—that it seems that the wire really doesn't matter, all we are left with is the QC of the cable distributor. If you knew beforehand that the cable assemblies that you were purchasing looked like the below; would you buy them?

Poor soldering. Burned connector. Melted insulation.

Poor soldering. Stray wire strand. Jumper from shield to case lug.

Poor soldering, blowout. Stray wire strand.

What a properly soldered connection should look like for comparison.

 

[Katji]

That's why i keep on saying that manufacturing and QA is what matters. And that implies welded or crimped joints done by machine, accurate control.

 

[dasdoing]

lol. this is the masterpiece of your slap_in_your_face reviews series. you can drop the mic now

 

[Angsty]

That's why i keep on saying that manufacturing and QA is what matters. And that implies welded or crimped joints done by machine, accurate control.

That's been one of my primary reasons for sticking with BJC for audio cables. Quality materials, quality workmanship and quality assurance. They may not be as good an option worldwide as they are in the US; I don't know if World's Best Cables has the same level of QA or not.

Now, a BJC interconnect pair will cost 10x more than a Recoton for the same basic function. That's were "value" starts to incorporate more that just baseline "performance". If I were a pro, yanking these plugs out regularly and popping them into other equipment, "performance" would mean more than just LCR and shielding metrics. Schiit Audio seems to agree...

Schiit Mani 2 Review (Phono Stage)

Just a little inside baseball. I hooked up a Mani 2 to our AP we have in Texas. One is A weighted and one without. You can also see how we measured it. Hope that helps as well. Thanks for posting those. Your input level is higher so makes SINAD better (noise becomes lesser portion). I use...

www.audiosciencereview.com

But, for sure, I like the "bling" of a shiny Taversoe or Canare plug, too!

 

[amirm]

As you can imagine, I am extremely tough on my cables with how many times per day they get connected/disconnected. My higher end cables like Mogami Gold have not failed once. No-name cables have had soldering issues, strain relief and aforementioned female XLR cable problems. These do have advantages though to commercial cables at times. I for example have a BNC to 1/4 headphone cable. Such a combo is hard to find. This one has brand name cable (Canare?) that is super soft. But had poor strain relief which caused the wires to disconnect at the 1/4 inch plug. Fixed that and it is now my bread and butter cable for that kind of connection. Much better than what others do which is use a BNC to RCA adapter in order to use an RCA to 1/4 inch which is more common.

 

[egellings]

No point in going to 3 'dismal' places when reporting a dB value.

 

[sq225917]

The reason why the apx loop back test matches a cheap cable is obvious, its wired with cheap cable inside.. super obs.

 

[amirm]

No point in going to 3 'dismal' places when reporting a dB value.

It is silliness in the Audio Precision UI. Sadly it has no option to round those values to something more sensible especially since the last digits jump all over the place. It needs to have an averaging function and resolution setting (it has this in graphing but not the dashboard).

 

[Angsty]

The reason why the apx loop back test matches a cheap cable is obvious, its wired with cheap cable inside.. super obs.

Don’t do that! Someone will believe it!

“It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.” – Mark Twain

 

[sq225917]

Cmon, you know AP cheapened out on the wiring, just admit it, it's obvious...