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RCA Interconnects on a budget.

67.171.104.37
Posted on January 17, 2015 at 09:30:03
i am damo suzuki
Audiophile

Posts: 145
Location: land of waving palms
Joined: November 2, 2004
 Am looking to upgrade my ICs for tube amp to tube pre amp and to out put tube driven cd player.
It's a modest system: vintage conrad johnson MV52 amp; conrad johnson PV5 pre amp; Ah! Njoe tjoeb cd player; Rega 3 turntable.
My ICs are cheap. My speaker wire is the cottage industry of "anti cables" which absolute sound raved about. I honestly don't know what from what: morass of choices for cables and wires -overwhelming - but I can't afford the pricey stuff. Well I could, but I'd rather not. Kids in college, etc. Plus am sensitized to the awareness of the law of diminishing returns, or that there's snake oil out there, or buying something that is out of sync with the sonic ceiling of my modest system.

Here's the thing. I have a gift card on Amazon for about 200 USD. I am trawling for IC(s), would love to keep it under 200 USD, but myriad choices are only giving me a headache. Audioquest? Monster cable? Kimber cable? Shielded? How to know?

I'd welcome your guidance/recommendations.

Thanks!

 

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    ...
Luckily for you..., posted on January 17, 2015 at 11:52:57
John Marks
Manufacturer

Posts: 7797
Location: Peoples' Democratic Republic of R.I.
Joined: April 23, 2000
 Music Direct sells Audioquest via Amazon. So I assume that there is a money-back-guarantee. Read the customer comments on the product page.

If Music Direct sold Cardas interconnects via Amazon I would have recommended that first.

But Audioquest is very good too.

Best of luck. And you can spend the remainder on music.

jm

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 17, 2015 at 14:07:33
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 I like my Anti-Cables interconnects more than their speaker wire. A lot more.


E
T


ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 17, 2015 at 14:20:05
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15518
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Look into Audioquest, Straight Wire and Transparent.

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 17, 2015 at 14:27:36
i am damo suzuki
Audiophile

Posts: 145
Location: land of waving palms
Joined: November 2, 2004
 Re the anti cables recommendation. Very interesting, what is it exactly that you're finding as the difference? What version do you have? They have a discount on level one and two, but the third level at 200 bucks seems to be doing some serious tongue wagging at the levels below. This is the sort of cable waving that confounds and annoys me. How good is good and how better is better, and will I be able to tell the difference on a modest system like my own?

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 17, 2015 at 14:46:05
Chris R
Audiophile

Posts: 302
Joined: December 1, 2001
 canare lv-61 or 77 without hesitation

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 17, 2015 at 15:07:18
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002
 Don't underestimate the ability to appreciate high-performance cables even within a modest system. Three separate audio systems in my collection involving some modest-cost level devices have shown that even modest-cost gear can show audible betterment via high-performance cables. It's not unusual for even high-cost cabling to be very beneficial when used with modest-cost level gear, so there's no real evidence of diminishing returns within reason. If you can clearly determine the subjective value of any sonic benefits involved in a cable upgrade, it may be what you can afford that is the deciding factor. YMMV

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 17, 2015 at 16:34:44
ahendler
Audiophile

Posts: 5151
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Joined: January 24, 2003
 Try the Grover Huffman cables
Alan

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 17, 2015 at 17:57:42
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002



I gather you wish to buy two pairs of interconnect cables for $200. The $100 MSRP price point per 1m pair is a tough one if you seek HQ. That said, the new AudioQuest Red River Interconnect via amazon.com seems interesting. It's said to provide good dynamics and an expansive soundstage, but perhaps may sound too forward depending on system/listener synergy. I reckon it would be generally beneficial, especially improve boogie factor/PRAT of an old-school classic tube audio system like yours.

See link:

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 18, 2015 at 05:39:22
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15518
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Nice pic! Duster.

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 19, 2015 at 10:44:03
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 I started with Pauls very crude first version that actually was three cables; two positives one for left, one for right and just one ground cable which as ground is common is all that is needed.

I then upgraded to what is now the level one. They were and are excellent. I now have all top of the line silver w/silver Eichmann connectors. I can honestly say the upgrade to top line did help but you'd need very high resolving gear to hear any much less a bigger difference.


My rec is get the $100 ones w/Neutrik RCA's. Get a pair for CDP to pre, a pair for pre to power amp and then replace the shitty cables on the Rega too. This will be kind of a pain and not easy to do. Paul should sell you a pair w/RCA's on one end only for that for a little less. Especially if you order all thee at once. Email him and see. I used that version on my Rabco SL8E tonearm to phono pre and from phono pre to linestage and had no noise.

To me their unshielded design makes them sound much more open and the HF is more real sounding. They image better than any cable I've tried too. They smoked cables costing a lot more that I tried. I was a Kimber dealer amongst others and tried $1K silver cables too.


E
T

ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 19, 2015 at 18:05:46
i am damo suzuki
Audiophile

Posts: 145
Location: land of waving palms
Joined: November 2, 2004
 Thanks all! This is a very supportive place and your input is much appreciated.

 

Blue Jeans & Venhaus silver, posted on January 21, 2015 at 10:18:11
Bill Way
Audiophile

Posts: 1884
Location: Toms River NJ
Joined: May 28, 2012
Contributor
  Since: December 14, 2012
 I tried Blue Jeans ICs for the TV sound in the bedroom, and now use them in my main system if they're the ones closest at hand. There are differences between these and Cardas Quadlink, which is what most of my others are, but those differences aren't all one-sided. At $35 for a 3-foot pair, they are essentially free.

The DIY Venhaus silver IC are between my preamp and power amps, and they're staying. Kinda fun to put together, though you have to come up with a way to protect the fragile 22 AWG silver connection to the RCA plugs - just a little wiggling and they'll need re-soldering. (Several layers of heat-shrink tubing covering the plug and first two inches of IC seems to do it.) I also shielded them with stainless steel braided tubing, connected only at the preamp end.

WW
"Put on your high heeled sneakers. Baby, we''re goin'' out tonight.

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 22, 2015 at 23:14:01
stehno
Manufacturer

Posts: 739
Location: Oregon
Joined: November 8, 2001
 If you're looking for single-ended (RCA) interconnects at a 1 meter length, I have a pair of like new cryo-treated Allure Audio ic's ($800 retail) I'll exchange for your $200 Amazon card.

Actually I have 3 like new single-ended pair. But since going from single-ended to balanced and from 3 components to 2 a few years ago, I no longer have need for these.

The Allures are quite musical and should easily meet or exceed the performance of most anything you might purchase new in the $200 range. I'll even ship them to you first so you can audition them for 3 or 4 weeks. Then you either return the ic's or ship me the $200 gift card.

Assuming of course your gift card is transferable.

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 30, 2015 at 14:09:11
thebordas
 Get some NOS MIT AVT 1 interconnects...you will wet yourself;(). About $100 or less!

 

RE: RCA Interconnects on a budget., posted on January 31, 2015 at 05:17:26
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15518
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Excellent suggestions- guys.

 

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