• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Short RCA Interconnects

restorer-john

Grand Contributor
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Messages
12,586
Likes
38,284
Location
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Not a fan of any of the modern flippity floppity connectors starting with the ole RJ11 phone jack thru RJ45 Ethernet and HDMI.

Totally agree- they are terrible connectors. But my personal least liked were the 'Din' speaker plugs, round Dins (up to 8 pins) and the crappiest one of all- the SCART plug. That thing was hideous.
 

trl

Major Contributor
King of Mods
Joined
Feb 28, 2018
Messages
1,967
Likes
2,523
Location
Iasi, RO
I'm using Amphenol RCA plugs myself since few years, never had an issue, strongly recommended.
 

Wombat

Master Contributor
Joined
Nov 5, 2017
Messages
6,722
Likes
6,459
Location
Australia
I'm using Amphenol RCA plugs myself since few years, never had an issue, strongly recommended.

Pro is the go. :)
 

Dismayed

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Messages
387
Likes
404
Location
Boston, MA
You really are not a fan of Schiit...

Maybe I'll just buy some connectors and cable to make my own. It looks like the cost is about $15 to make 4 x 6" cables and connectors.

Fandom has nothing to do with it. Some opinions are based on actual experiences.
 

Rollingsound514

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 16, 2018
Messages
132
Likes
70
Location
Montreal, Canada
Holy thread revival, but if one was inclined to buy and not build their own cable... where does one go? the Monoprice ones I got have these massive connectors that don't fit well side by side, it's a weird design flaw. I have a pair of the Schiit cables but don't want to give them more money...
 

Blumlein 88

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 23, 2016
Messages
20,524
Likes
37,057
Holy thread revival, but if one was inclined to buy and not build their own cable... where does one go? the Monoprice ones I got have these massive connectors that don't fit well side by side, it's a weird design flaw. I have a pair of the Schiit cables but don't want to give them more money...
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=653

You could get the really cheap monoprice RCA cables above.

https://www.proaudiola.com/product-p/1-m2549-rca-rca-1.htm

These have nice Amphenol ends on Mogami cable. Not the thinnest, but look to be a bit thinner than the monoprice cables. You can look at the picture close ups and see what you think.
 
Joined
Sep 23, 2017
Messages
10
Likes
16
Location
Cape Town, South Africa
Some might argue that these are all one needs:

53461.jpg


I've used these previously in various applications and have had no issues whatsoever for my two and a half bucks.

That said, I currently use custom made interconnects with Sommer Stage 2 AWG24 and the identical Amphenol plugs pictured in the above posts.
I cannot speak for anyone else, but these seem to do the job for me at very reasonable cost.

And no, even with my highly resolving headfi rigs I can hear no discernible difference between the two types of cable.
 

Sal1950

Grand Contributor
The Chicago Crusher
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
14,073
Likes
16,609
Location
Central Fl
Some might argue that these are all one needs:

View attachment 19237

I've used these previously in various applications and have had no issues whatsoever for my two and a half bucks.

That said, I currently use custom made interconnects with Sommer Stage 2 AWG24 and the identical Amphenol plugs pictured in the above posts.
I cannot speak for anyone else, but these seem to do the job for me at very reasonable cost.

And no, even with my highly resolving headfi rigs I can hear no discernible difference between the two types of cable.
I've used those Monoprice premiums throughout my 5.2.4 channel rig and have had no issues with them. For the money the plugs seem to be of very high quality with just the right balance of thickness and tension of the ground circuit leafs to give good long term connection without being too tight going on/off that scares you that something internal might be damaged.
 

Krusty09

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
Messages
257
Likes
165
neutrik rca make nice connectors and a fair amount of bare cable to make your own. Good stuff and pretty cheap too.
 

esm

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Apr 9, 2018
Messages
182
Likes
327
Location
Berkeley, CA USA
Some might argue that these are all one needs
I'm firmly in the "cables are cables, get the cheapest you can live with the aesthetics of" camp, so this is a weird post for me to make:

I have a bunch of these specific cables (because they were $2-3, who's going to say no to that?) in a variety of lengths, and I've had nothing but trouble with them. With most of my equipment, the sleeve isn't tight enough, leaving a very loose connection. That's not the end of the world, because looking at the image you can see that the sleeve actually appears to be a series of six separated sections (like many RCA connectors), so one's first inclination might be to just squeeze a couple of opposing sections tighter to increase clamping force.

That would be a mistake, as you'll quickly find that they'll snap right off, revealing that the pretty plating is hiding a highly porous metal underneath, presumably cast. Congratulations, you've discovered at least one source of the low price.

tl;dr: the cables are fine, the connectors are terrible. I became a bit more discerning about my RCA cables after dealing with these.
 

Timbo2

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Messages
497
Likes
396
Location
USA
I have no problem making my own, but couldn’t by the components for UD$9.00.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/291536688674

I’ve been using them for about a month with no issues. Measured them with a multimeter, miminmal impedance and the plugs grip firmly. Thumbs up!
 

Sal1950

Grand Contributor
The Chicago Crusher
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
14,073
Likes
16,609
Location
Central Fl
I have a bunch of these specific cables (because they were $2-3, who's going to say no to that?) in a variety of lengths, and I've had nothing but trouble with them. With most of my equipment, the sleeve isn't tight enough, leaving a very loose connection.
That's curious? I've owned many, many cables over the last 50 some years, including some quite expensive Kimbers, AQ's, and others with the Mono's giving me one of the best OTB fitments I've experienced. Maybe the gear you've attempted to use them with were made to slightly undersized dimensions, or mine are oversized? In any case good cables can be obtained without spending a large amount of money, folks may just need to find those that are best sized to their gear.
 

GGroch

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Apr 7, 2018
Messages
1,059
Likes
2,049
Location
Denver, Colorado

I have bought about a dozen short (7 inch and 1 Foot) cables from Ghent and they have been cheap (Less than $15) and good quality. They have a lot of choices including some that are thin and flexible so as not to move push around lightweight components. This is where I go for short pre-made cables now.

Here are some of their offerings.

The downside is typical slow economy shipping from China. They have arrived quicker than promised, but not quick.
 

rcstevensonaz

Active Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2020
Messages
183
Likes
147
Reviving an old thread... but, some follow up questions that fall within the original topic:

Q1) Is there a recommendation on type of cable that works best for short distance RCA interconnect — e.g., when an E30 DAC is sitting right on top of an L30 headphone amp? I assume capacitance is not really a factor at this short of distance. But, cable flexibility can be a big problem since the U-bend is tight and the units are relatively lightweight.

Q2) Does the answer for type of cable change if the DAC / Headphone are in an electronically noisy area? E.g., on a desktop with laptops, monitors, external docking stations, and other electronics sitting right next to it?

For example, I find my short LC-1 Blue Jeans Cables to be very stiff and wanting a larger bend radius; though I can use a velcro tie-wrap to tension the two sides of U-bend well enough.

But, I was looking at options from Worlds Best Cables (WBC) and wondering if a star-quad Canare L-4E6S or one of the Mogami cables would be better suited for a short interconnect between the stacked devices. And especially since they use the long Amphenol RCA connectors.
 

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 9, 2019
Messages
20,753
Likes
20,777
Location
Canada
I find my short LC-1 Blue Jeans Cables to be very stiff and wanting a larger bend radius; though I can use a velcro tie-wrap to tension the two sides of U-bend well enough.
Have you tried applying some heat to the cable to make it malleable and then when it cools it will set in that shape? A hair blow dryer, stovetop heat etc etc.
 

617

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Messages
2,404
Likes
5,296
Location
Somerville, MA
Reviving an old thread... but, some follow up questions that fall within the original topic:

Q1) Is there a recommendation on type of cable that works best for short distance RCA interconnect — e.g., when an E30 DAC is sitting right on top of an L30 headphone amp? I assume capacitance is not really a factor at this short of distance. But, cable flexibility can be a big problem since the U-bend is tight and the units are relatively lightweight.

Q2) Does the answer for type of cable change if the DAC / Headphone are in an electronically noisy area? E.g., on a desktop with laptops, monitors, external docking stations, and other electronics sitting right next to it?

For example, I find my short LC-1 Blue Jeans Cables to be very stiff and wanting a larger bend radius; though I can use a velcro tie-wrap to tension the two sides of U-bend well enough.

But, I was looking at options from Worlds Best Cables (WBC) and wondering if a star-quad Canare L-4E6S or one of the Mogami cables would be better suited for a short interconnect between the stacked devices. And especially since they use the long Amphenol RCA connectors.

Ironically I find cheaper RCA cables are more flexible. Here's what I would do - get a single 6' RCA cable which is not super stiff. The ones with the braided insulation would be a good bet, they tend to be very flexible. Get four Neutrik/REAN connectors (see picture, parts express sells them). Cut up the cable and make your own connectors. Amphenol is another good brand but I prefer the look of the Neutriks.

Regarding your questions:
1. Thin RCA cable is fine and the thick cables just have more insulation. I hate thick RCA cables, I really do.
2. Not really, all of these cables are shielded and I don't think you'll see any differences in performance. If you have problems you'll want to do a balanced set up, provided your equipment is balanced. I get residual noise from my graphics card but it isn't picked up by my cables I don't think.
 

Attachments

  • 1613008091650.png
    1613008091650.png
    687.1 KB · Views: 98
Top Bottom