Home Cable Asylum

Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys.

Re: best RCA connector?

Shawn, I would like to add:
Very few companies actually weld the wire to the connector. As far as I know, only Audioquest does it.
Most use silver solder, some (in increasing numbers) use cold weld or cold fusion AKA a very tight crimp. You CAN do this at home with the proper crimp tools OR WBT108 or Xhadow connectors.
MANY $200 ICs use crummy multi-stranded or silver-plated copper wire and $5 chinese WBT clones.

BTW I have been making DIY ICs for 3 years, I find it very easy to better high-end ICs, if one takes care of all the little details and selects good wire and excellent connectors.

If one starts with commercial coax cable (e.g. Belden) and Dayton connectors, do not expect to beat AQ or Cardas.
However, if you start with pure copper or silver wire, teflon tubing, an inventive mind for geometry and excellent connectors, it's pretty easy to beat most famosu ICs, including some very expensive ones.
There are many examples here of people who have had their fellow audiophiles compare their DIY ICs to AQ, Cardas, Nordost, etc. and have sold the commercial cable.

BTW most PRO cables suck. Their design criteria are reliability, low noise and flexibility, not good sound. By PRO I mean studio/PA cables.
If you are looking to increase sibilance in your system, go to ebay and buy a set of Mogami or Zaolla PRO cables. Guaranteed to give your tweeters a good workout. This OK in the studios or PA work, because the enginner equalizes the final sound, but IMO PRO cables are a very bad decision for home oudio.
all the best
Carlos



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