This audio cable business is getting out of hand...

[NTomokawa]

Mogami Neglex 2534 Quad cables and Neutrik connectors

That combination is indeed the pinnacle unless one needs serious amounts of shielding.

When I was still building my own cables, all I bought were Mogami Neglex 2534 and Neutrik jacks.

 

[Jimster480]

61 euros is still expensive. There are plenty of good $20-30 cables with the star quad design.

 

[M00ndancer]

After doing a lot of research and consideration, I finally got the upgraded RCA cables to connect my DX3 to my Sony integrated amp. They are made / assembled by Eno Audio here in Germany using Mogami Neglex 2534 Quad cables and Neutrik connectors. I paid EUR 61 to Amazon for the pair of 2 meter cables.

Very interesting to see the difference between the EUR 5 cables that I got for free when I bought the amp and the new cables; totally night and day. I'm very happy with the quality and value. These RCAs are the absolute upper limit of what I consider the best RCA cable available in terms of actual / real quality and price (as opposed to the snake oil brands and thousands of $$$$).

Nice looking cables but I hope you're listening to music instead looking at cables, this is more than enough: The postage cost more...
Fun Generation Cin 2

 

[Julf]

Very interesting to see the difference between the EUR 5 cables that I got for free when I bought the amp and the new cables; totally night and day.

Whenever someone describes a difference as "night and day" I know it was a sighted comparison (unless they talk about the speakers or the room).

 

[trl]

Very interesting to see the difference between the EUR 5 cables that I got for free when I bought the amp and the new cables; totally night and day. I'm very happy with the quality and value.

You could unscrew the RCANeutrik plugs and do some macro pictures with the soldering and the hot & shield wires. Also, if you have no more need for the older & cheap RCA cables, you could probably take of the outer jacket to see the wires inside, especially the shielding.

This way we could easily compare visually the difference between the two cables, although the cable can be seen here as well: http://www.mogamicable.com/category/bulk/microphone/quad/

 

[Head_Unit]

Which raises the question whether directional cables move electrons from right to left, or left to right?

Neither, since according to physics, electrons don't really exist.

Also, since the universe is apparently one giant set of vibrations of strings, with the past and future totally predetermined, why do we need break-in? We should already know what the cables will sound like!

 

[Head_Unit]

speakers need a burn in time. He told me that this is untrue. Only the bass chassis will change a little bit during the first time because some parts get softer due to mechanical work. This lets the resonance frequency drop down a little bit,

Actually from some testing I did (hammering Ford 5x7s at full power for 280 hours or such) the break in appears to go on forever. But the response change, pretty small.

I firmly believe other factors like your mood, your ear/brain getting used to the sound, the weather, blah blah all account for "break-in"/"burn-in" far more than anything physical. Now perhaps we should discuss fatigue of talking about this silly issue: "burn-OUT" My brother can bake you some special brownies that can help with that...

 

[LuckyLuke575]

You could unscrew the RCANeutrik plugs and do some macro pictures with the soldering and the hot & shield wires. Also, if you have no more need for the older & cheap RCA cables, you could probably take of the outer jacket to see the wires inside, especially the shielding.

This way we could easily compare visually the difference between the two cables, although the cable can be seen here as well: http://www.mogamicable.com/category/bulk/microphone/quad/

That's a nice idea. Yeah, I'm familiar with that link too. It was part of my extensive research haha I've got no concerns about the cable being what it should be, as the brand and model are printed on the cable every few feet. My trust in the quality is also high, seeing as it's assembled here in Germany by a reputable company

 

[jhaider]

Can anyone think of a good reason to take shielded star quad wire, and terminate RCA cables with all four conductors on the pin, with only the shield on the shield?

 

[Julf]

Can anyone think of a good reason to take shielded star quad wire, and terminate RCA cables with all four conductors on the pin, with only the shield on the shield?

I can't think of a good reason to use star quad for an unbalanced connection in the first place.

 

[NTomokawa]

I can't think of a good reason to use star quad for an unbalanced connection in the first place.

Sometimes it's all you have on hand. I've done it before.

 

[Julf]

Sometimes it's all you have on hand. I've done it before.

Fair enough. Just no reason to go out of your way to do it.

 

[maxxevv]

Saw this posted on some Facebook group .... its too extreme not to share !

 

[majingotan]

Saw this posted one some Facebook group .... its too extreme not to share !

View attachment 44696

An actual python in the chain

I can see some potential grounding issues around the amp not sharing the common ground as other equipment in the audio chain

 

[Speedskater]

Can anyone think of a good reason to take shielded star quad wire, and terminate RCA cables with all four conductors on the pin, with only the shield on the shield?

It's 10 pounds of wires in a 5 pound connector shell.
But if you must:
connect one wire to the center pin.
connect the other three wires and the shield to the shell at both ends.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Albeit overpriced, Rega Research used to make a very similar cable to that Eno cable above (called the “Couple”) from Klotz microphone cable and Neutrik connectors. No outrageous claims made by Rega. They were quite nice but their new Couple2 utilizes RCA plugs with significantly more “bling.” No thanks.

 

[jhaider]

It's 10 pounds of wires in a 5 pound connector shell.
But if you must:
connect one wire to the center pin.
connect the other three wires and the shield to the shell at both ends.

The reason I asked is because an “audiophile” cable merchant does that, not because I would.

I get having one type of cable that can be terminated for RCA or XLR. But if you’re going to use star quad for RCA at least treat it like parallel twisted pairs, right?

 

[Billy Budapest]

Albeit overpriced, Rega Research used to make a very similar cable to that Eno cable above (called the “Couple”) from Klotz microphone cable and Neutrik connectors. No outrageous claims made by Rega. They were quite nice but their new Couple2 utilizes RCA plugs with significantly more “bling.” No thanks.

And if you want to make the same exact cable as the original Couple, all it’s made from is Klotz GY107 low capacitance cable stock and Neutrik Profi RCA plugs.

 

[VintageFlanker]

This audio cable business is getting out of hand...

Well, lobbies are stronger than I expected:

Florida Audio Expo dropped Audioholics as their sponsor. The reason: their positions against snake oil cables...

 

[Speedskater]

The reason I asked is because an “audiophile” cable merchant does that, not because I would.
I get having one type of cable that can be terminated for RCA or XLR. But if you’re going to use star quad for RCA at least treat it like parallel twisted pairs, right?

No, wire it as in my post # 915.
Star Quad advantage is with balanced systems
* * * * * * * * * * *
Only in hostile interference situations does the advantage of a Star Quad XLR cable come into play (not likely in a home setup).
In RCA to RCA cables, the important thing is a low end-to-end resistance of the shell to shell (3 wires & shield).
In a RCA output to XLR input. Wire the cable as balanced (after the RCA connector).