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Do RCA's Really Make A Difference?

2K views 37 replies 20 participants last post by  graham 
#1 ·
whenever i buy rca's, i try and buy the best ones i can. crazy shielding and all that stuff. my question is, am i a sucker? do the rca's really matter all that much? besides the obvious physical differences in terms of looks, are there noticeable differences? sound quality or volume wise? the reason i ask is i'm going to be placing an order once i measure up the length i need from my jbl ms8 to my amps today and want to know if i should bite the bullet and spend $30 or $40 or just get some cheapo ebay special rca's since they shouldn't be longer than 3 or 4 feet anyway.
 
#2 ·
I’m so sorry, but I do not buy into 90% of the hype brought to us audiophiles by the commercial sector of our hobby and the home entertainment industry at large. My brother, an audio engineering whiz kid has proven to me what is real and what is not. Let me rehearse with you an example of how he does this.
We gathered up a 5 of our audio buddies. We took my “old” Martin Logan SL-3 (not a bad speaker for accurate noise making) and hooked them up with Monster 1000 speaker cables [ed. Monster Ultra Series THX 1000 Audio Interconnects] (decent cables according to the audio press). We also rigged up 14 gauge, oxygen free Belden stranded copper wire with a simple PVC jacket. Both were 2 meters long. They were connected to an ABX switch box allowing blind fold testing. Volume levels were set at 75 Db at 1000K Hz. A high quality recording of smooth, trio, easy listening jazz was played (Piano, drums, bass). None of us had heard this group or CD before, therefore eliminating biases. The music was played. Of the 5 blind folded, only 2 guessed correctly which was the monster cable. (I was not one of them). This was done 7 times in a row! Keeping us blind folded, my brother switched out the Belden wire (are you ready for this) with simple coat hanger wire! Unknown to me and our 12 audiophile buddies, prior to the ABX blind test, he took apart four coat hangers, reconnected them and twisted them into a pair of speaker cables. Connections were soldered. He stashed them in a closet within the testing room so we were not privy to what he was up to. This made for a pair of 2 meter cables, the exact length of the other wires. The test was conducted. After 5 tests, none could determine which was the Monster 1000 cable or the coat hanger wire. Further, when music was played through the coat hanger wire, we were asked if what we heard sounded good to us. All agreed that what was heard sounded excellent, however, when A-B tests occurred, it was impossible to determine which sounded best the majority of the time and which wire was in use. Needless to say, after the blind folds came off and we saw what my brother did, we learned he was right…most of what manufactures have to say about their products is pure hype. It seems the more they charge, the more hyped it is.




^^Old thread I read some years back

 
#3 ·
Ok way too much reading there.

Cheap vs expensive prob not.

Very small audible difference.
 
#4 ·
Unless you don't use KNU RCA's you're GOLDEN!!!
I have their Kolossus 1/0 (100ft) but when I tested their Krystal RCA cable I was shocked that it did poor, honestly our $2 RCA performed way better, we have tested it (Krystal) just for a reference only!

Now I have the high end Taramp's RCA cables they are silver and you can see the wires through the jacket for me they are great and didn't picked noise as the KNU did,

Good Luck,

I agree don't go to Over-hyped and Over-priced brand but don't go CHEAP at the same time!



Kindest Regards.
 
#5 ·
i've used knu rca's before. total waste. 2 of the 3 gave me trouble. lately i've been using xscorpion qsp rca's and i love them but at $12 a piece it's a little much for such short lengths.

i always read about how much of a difference rca's make, but i've used everything from rockford, stinger, knu, monster and god knows what else and can't say any particular brand has ever made my stereo sound better or worse.
 
#6 ·
In 1998 I had two identical cars {both mine}and one had cheap rcas and was loud. the other, I spent $60 for a 2ch Monster cable RCA and it never got loud [coincidence? I think not]

I personally like shielded RCAs because the thought of them being shielded and blocking radiated noise comforts me.

I currently use Stinger Hyper RCAs
and I have been very happy with them.


but I also had an earthquake 4ch give me alternator whine using the stinger hyper rcas.

the whine left when I replaced the 4ch with two 2ch earthquakes
 
#7 ·
Hmm..I too have knu RCA's and haven't had a problem with them. I'm currently using their midline.
 
#13 ·
This

I had knu Krystal cables and they were fine for pre-made, no real selection on size, kind of cables. Now I make my own so they are exactly what I need, no extra length needing to be curled up and tucked away. Plus if you're bridging and amp it's easier without needing another connection. I use Canare Starquad cable. Connect both blues and both whites at one end and then at the other use one white and one blue per rca. If not bridging I'd use rg6 coax. There's a star shield kind that's great for any noise rejection.
 
#12 ·
For anything under 100ish feet there shouldn't be an audible difference. Once you get into the lengths required for things like concerts and festivals you start to have to worry about capacitive losses which could alter the frequency response. DCR will go up with longer lengths, but impedance isn't an issue with signal cables because even if a cable reads >5ohms DCR (I have yet to find one higher than that) it's feeding into an input impedance of several thousand ohms.

For car use, the main things to look for are good connectors, flexibility, and that kind of stuff. For an unbalanced signla (99% of car audio installs), sonic is right - shielded coaxial is better than twisted pair for noise rejection. That's not to say if you have twisted pair cables and you don't notice any noise you'll see an improvment by switching.

The last thing I'll say is this: when people spend a chunk of money on cables and expect to hear a difference, there's a good chance they will, whether there's an objective difference or not.
 
#16 ·
Sorry I forgot to mention that my tests were done with Pioneer H/U, all of you know that the Pioneer H/U's have poor RCA outputs so you may hear no difference going from decent RCA to KNU with any H/U other than Pioneer, you don't need grounded RCA's as much as with Pioneer H/U,

Kindest Regards.
 
#27 ·
nah, rcas can and have been the weak link in many of my systems

I have old rcas which have the ends cut off to keep me from accidentally using them again
 
#29 ·
nah.. they just stopped conveying signal {shit connection finally failed}

(never had that happen with a stinger or streetwires or monster cable)
 
#33 ·
I'm going to say no, there isn't.

I ran some cheap dynex RCA's and they were fine, other than the loose connection (due to the thin pieces of metal).

I only upgraded to some xscorpion quad shielded RCA'c because I like the look and they have solid 2 piece connectors that look possible to repair. They are "quad shielded" but I don't think that really does anything in most situations. It certainly didn't eliminate my alt whine alone.

So I would say the only thing you really want to pay attention to are:

1. How tight they are on the amp (too tight is bad unless the amp has tiffany style rca's or at least a screw to hold the RCA's in the amp secure)

2. How they look.

3. How thick they are, in case you are going to run them under something with pressure, or next to something fairly sharp or thin piece of metal)

4. How secure the center pin is. I had a really cheap blue pair from an amp kit break off inside an amp...not too hard to get out, but PITA.
 
#34 ·
The biggest majority of people won't hear the difference in a $10 set and a $100 set. Especially in this group. Where this is largely a group dedicated to exceeding 150db of bass. And running mostly PA speakers to keep up with an enormous amount of subs. Flex, rattling panels, distortion from running right at clipping are all things that guarantee you will never hear the difference. Not to mention damage to your ears you've already done. High end rca's are not meant for average systems. Average systems can't make the most of a great cable. but do you think Scott B of HAT used walmart cables in his infinity? Does Alan Dante or Craig Butler use cheap Radio Shack rca's? I really doubt it. of course there's subtle differences in cables. but your average groundpounder won't hear it.
 
#36 ·
yall do know that there are differant types of rca's and each one affects the signal in differant ways,hint never buy cheap rca's you might not know the differance or tell by listening but your electronics will.
 
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