[Russell Dawkins]

jon_010101
I would be interested in hearing the results of any comparisons you do with the lab stuff, even compromised by the use of BNC-RCA adapters.
I think well designed RCAs are fine for audio frequencies like, for example, the Canares that Blue Jeans uses and sells. For digital, BNC seems to have the edge and was (is?) the standard in Europe.

It would be useful if you could source the stuff your lab uses so experimenters could buy it in bulk and try their own. If minimum quantities are too large, maybe you could buy a reel and sell shorter lengths to AC members for something less than $2000 a meter.

This is presuming it comes out well in your comparisons.

Is this lab stuff flexible?

[jon_010101]

It would be useful if you could source the stuff your lab uses so experimenters could buy it in bulk and try their own. If minimum quantities are too large, maybe you could buy a reel and sell shorter lengths to AC members for something less than $2000 a meter.

This is presuming it comes out well in your comparisons.

Is this lab stuff flexible?

Russell, I work in a computational lab, but many of the guys in my building do microwave/antennas/measurement stuff.  There is a very broad range of cable to pick from.  Anywhere from flexible to inflexible, thick to thin, all shapes sizes and colors (and, of course, electrical properties).  I think my best bet is to go through some catalogs and make some calls about a small order.  I have a few specific types in mind, so after I get unbusy with work (two big conferences coming up!) I will see what I can do.  If I can buy a small amount at a time, I can just terminate it myself, rather than using a BNC adapter with borrowed cable.  Plus then I'd have the advantage of keeping it.  Pretty excited to see how it turns out!

If it works well I'll be happy to share the secrets.

[Eric]

If I spent 3750 on an interconnect my wife would use it to hang me with

[Wayne1]

You might want to take a look at Belden 1675A

It is a cable designed for microwave transmission. It will pass signals up to 18 Ghz, has a capacitance of under 100 pF for a meter length and is made from silver plated copper wire with Teflon insulation.

There are other microwave transmission cables made by Belden that will pass higher frequencies, but they are made with silver plated, copper covered steel.

I believe you might be able to get some for under $3750.00 for a meter pair

[jon_010101]

You might want to take a look at Belden 1675A

That is similar to what I had in mind.  There are some Semflex cables too which seem appropriate, but would be too expensive to buy a spool of (so I'd be at the mercy of suppliers).  I am not entirely convinced that any will sound better than a good audio cable, however.  The capacitance is actually higher in many cases.

[ctviggen]

There's nothing in the massive list of sources/wire/amps/etc. that indicates anything in the way of room treatments.  I'll bet that someone could put $3750 into room treatments and use Radio Shack ICs and the difference would be stunning compared to using these ICs.  My VMPS dealer brought some acoustic treatments (8th Nerve) over; I listened to a song, we put up the room treatments, and we replayed the song. I could tell an immediate improvement, particulaly in the bass.  It convinced me to put money into acoustics, and I've done so (7 realtraps, 2 realtrap corners soffit traps, and two bass traps sitting under my subs).  I've replaced ICs and have barely heard a difference, but I've never not heard a difference with acoustic treatments.

[nathanm]

Oh boy, another one of those crazy room treatment quacks!  You people crack me up.  Yeah, like a bunch of panels can do anything to the sound!    Next thing you'll be telling stories about "echoes" and "reflections" and other phantasms.  Hey, I like fairy tales as much as the next guy but when people actually start believing that sound is affected by anything other than interconnect cables I have to laugh.  Folks, when will you realize that there's nothing about sound playback that a healthy marketing budget and judicious asking price can't fix?

[jon_010101]

I just remembered that the Dartzeel amp uses BNC connectors.  Not that I could afford one.  Here is a pic of one fellow's uber-stereo on Audiogon that shows a bi-amp configuration with the second channel driven from a "T" connector off the first.  Very cool... verrry cool.

[Russell Dawkins]

Look a lot cooler with a Sonicrock on top of it.