[navi]

Hey Everyone

There never seems to be much chatter going on in Aussie pie- So i thought i'll start something.......

What is the best budget cable for interconnects you have come across?

-the cable must be purchased unterminated  (that you can buy per metre off the reel).
-you must tell us where you got it from
-What RCAs or XLRs did you put on it.
-it must not be strips of wire that you spend hours braiding or insulating.
-Max. cost per metre: $15 Australian Dollars
-cryo or non cryo'ed versions are fine. If you have heard both: tell us about it.

I would like to do some comparisons with cables that you guys suggest.

Ivan.

[jules]

ok, I'll confess, though I could be ejected from audio world for this ....

CD player to pre-amp ... MIT connect, about 15 years old and I have no idea if it's good or bad

Phono to pre-amp ... not complete, but given the low signal level I might use copper RCAs and something decent although I'll probably have a soldered connection at the turntable end.

pre-amp to amp [when my current project is complete] ... about 4" of shielded cable, possibly microphone stuff from Dick Smith, soldered at the amp end and using dead ordinary RCAs at the pre-amp end.

amp to speakers ... ah yes, auto cable, multi strand but separate signal and return wires on account of the fact that my amp is slightly sensitive to capacitance in speaker cable. It's soldered at the speaker end and I use auto grade copper "eye" connectors, soldered on, with the end of the eye cut out to make a spade.

Cost? Probably less than $20 for the whole lot excepting the MITs

jules

[rabbitz]

Vampire CCC-II from Michael Percy at US$2.60/mono foot. The most neutral cable I've used and it's like having no interconnect. Some are terminated with Vampire 807 which are a class act and others with the Nakamichi non solder which work well.

Percy also has the Mogami 2534 which is different to the one you sell... 2893. Haven't heard it so can't comment.

For the cheap, cheap cable, DSE W2033 OFC works quite well and is surprising and works much better than the Jaycar ProLink stuff.

[navi]

Rabbitz

Must try some of that Vampire wire cable...... the Nakamichi solderless RCAs where really good I just hated using them with fat cables....Impossible to get pass the ground/return screw.

I've tried some of that Mogami 2534- I find it grainy up top compared to the 2893- Do you want try try some of the 2534? I think I only have 60cm left of it- I can sent it to you if you want it.

I will hunt down some DSE cable as jules mentioned it as well.

[JohnR]

I would try some magnet wire from Jaycar.

[1000a]

1-magwire 30ga. for signal
1-22-18ga for return

beats a whole ton of stuff out there and at very very big prices.
only problem is creating a design where the 30 ga wire is protected from snags and such.

google magwire plenty of suppliers, I buy mine at Nebraska surplus
i use GP200 its made by Essex.

[rabbitz]

Rabbitz

Must try some of that Vampire wire cable...... the Nakamichi solderless RCAs where really good I just hated using them with fat cables....Impossible to get pass the ground/return screw.

I've tried some of that Mogami 2534- I find it grainy up top compared to the 2893- Do you want try try some of the 2534? I think I only have 60cm left of it- I can sent it to you if you want it.

I will hunt down some DSE cable as jules mentioned it as well.

I found the Nakamichi was fine on the larger stuff (8mm) as I stopped the outer jacket before the ground screw with the ground wire and screen where applicable running into the hole and the hot wire running around it. The outer jacket had a sleeve installed so it could be locked by the cable entry screw and not pierce the jacket.

I'm quite happy with the 2893 and by all means, send up some 2534 to try. BTW... I received the cotton tubing with my last order.... thanks.

The DSE is an honest no nonsense standard single core with shield which holds up well against QED Qnex2 (which I find over blown). Don't expect the earth, but it's not disappointing IMO. DSE used to sell a great Japanese made 2 core mic cable years ago... the Mogami reminds me of that one.

[saisunil]

One of the sleeper cable - terminated or not is
http://bluejeanscable.com

It does nothing wrong, but it is not exotic either!

Cheers

[mfsoa]

Navi,
For my first foray into DIY cables I bought the Canare L-2T2S kit from DIYCable.

I was mightily impressed. I thought it greatly outperformed my Bluejeans cables and now I'm leaning toward thinking it's better than some TARA RSC Ref Gen II I have (TARA too smooth and lifeless). I liked it so much I bought some bulk (sorry, DIYCable Kevin!) so now I can run down your list of questions:

1) I think I got it from Markertek for a whopping 41 cents per foot. Watch out, that'll be $1.23 for a 3 foot run! I got 100 feet to play with.
2) The first RCAs were the Cardas jobbies that come with the kit. Very high quality feel, don't know the exact P/N. I've since made an RCA to XLR pair using Dayton(?) RCAs and Vampire XLRs. As I don't need this config anymore, I popped another pr of Daytons on to make a 5' pr for pre to amps. I have some copper Eichmann Bullets on the way that I think I'll try making an unsheilded pr from for CD to pre. Sorry not prepared to make comments about the sound of the different RCAs. I've been looking at the Vampire site for more RCAs - they seem to have a wide selection, up to their well-regarded top o' the line that are ~ $90 for two pr.

Look at the DIYCable site for more descriptions of their kit ($35-40 if I recall). Kevin says that it's embarrased soe expensive stuf at shows.

I haven't tried other bulk cable yet but for the price (or maybe for much more than the price) this stuff seems to be a great deal.
-Mike

[navi]

I was mightily impressed. I thought it greatly outperformed my Bluejeans cables and now I'm leaning toward thinking it's better than some TARA RSC Ref Gen II I have (TARA too smooth and lifeless). I liked it so much I bought some bulk (sorry, DIYCable Kevin!) so now I can run down your list of questions:

1) I think I got it from Markertek for a whopping 41 cents per foot. Watch out, that'll be $1.23 for a 3 foot run! I got 100 feet to play with.

Thanks Mfsoa!!
I will get my hands on some of it from my supplier- I've used other canare cables before that i thought were pretty good- But it's their RCAP- Crimp 75ohm connectors that are really really good.

Ivan

[rabbitz]

I'll have to give the Oyaide PA-02 the thumbs up as it just edges out the Vampire CCC-II, especially in the mids. A very open clean sounding cable that doesn't really do anything wrong. Just made some more up today using Vampire 808 RCA's to go between a buffer > pre, pre > power, so it's all Oyaide. The difference is quite noticeable and it will be staying there for sure even though it's a bit more expensive.

If you need to know where to get it from, check out navi's website.

[earplay]

Hello from a fellow AC member in the US.

I'll just poke my nose in for a second. I was looking for a budget wire and decided to try Paul Speltz anti-cables (anticables.com). I believe these fit the criteria in the original post of this thread. What makes them desirable is that they seem to have no sonic signature. None! They are utterly transparent, open and extended.

I took a chance and bought them after reading the testimonials and reviews on the anti-cable web site. I was using Kimber 8tc. Once the anti-cables went in, the Kimbers were out, permanently. With that happy experience, I decided to take a chance on the IC's. That was the end of my Kimber Silver Streaks.

It's worth looking at the anti-cable site just to read the testimonials. These budget cables have replaced Tara, Audience, OCOS- the stuff David Kan from 6moons uses, Cardas, Van den Hul, MIT, Magnan, ZuCable... heck, you can read the testimonials yourselves.

I was so happy with the cables I wanted to write a testimonial, but there was nothing I could add. 

As I said, the site is worth a look and the cables are simply extraordinary.


Good luck and best wishes,
earplay