Good Quality $30 Interconnects?

soewhatman · « **on:** 30 Jun 2008, 06:48 am »

I'm going to need to purchase a few short interconnects soon, but I can't bring myself to spend a bunch on them. I really tried hard to talk myself into spending some dough on boutique cables, but just can't at this time. Like squeezing blood out of a rock. At this point in my audio journey, a cable is a cable, so long as it is well constructed. That may change in the future, but for the time being I am looking to spend about $30 a piece for 3' interconnects with RCA's on both ends. I'll need to get 6 or 7 pairs to wire everything up. I'm looking for an interconnect that is well built, has quality connectors on the ends, and does what it is supposed to do. Hopefully it will neither add to nor subtract from the signal it is carrying. If it adds or subtracts a tiny bit I probably won't notice anyways.What do you guys recommend for that price? DIY recipes are fine so long as they fit the budget and parameters.

I'm open to suggestions here, and I imagine a few other relative newcomers to audio might find this of interest as well.

Rick.

oracle309 · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 07:06 am »

Go buy some Mogami or canare "quad" microphone cable. Look at Parts Express for 4 of their RCA connectors ($17.50 per set of 4 on sale now), or look up Monster Interlink 201 car audio cables, $15 /metre. I use these as a a utility cable when I'm in a pinch and they sound OK. Not as good as some of my more expensive cables, but hey, at $15 ea, what do you expect.? They are well put together, grip very tightly, and the cable itself is OK too.

JLM · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 09:25 am »

Radio Shack has some well made interconnects around that price.

Blue Jean Cable, Element Cable, and Signal Cable all have a complete selection of cabling that starts near that price. They represent affordable entry level audiophile solutions.

saisunil · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 09:35 am »

Quote from: JLM on 30 Jun 2008, 09:25 am

Blue Jean Cable, Element Cable, and Signal Cable all have a complete selection of cabling that starts near that price. They represent affordable entry level audiophile solutions.

I have several Blue Jean Cable Interconnects.
I think, not only you can't beat them at or near the price point - they are very balanced and musical and do no harm or less harm. Some audiophile cables / ICs add or delete and make special design consideration or are very unstable to try to bring out certain audiophile traits in favor of the others.

Signal Cable has been a Classic cable Design tried and tested for years at extremely affordable price and maintains good resale value.

Cheers

ted_b · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 12:58 pm »

Blue Jeans LC-1's ($32 for 3 ft pairs)

mfsoa · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 01:29 pm »

I much preferred the DIYCable Canare kit to the BJC LC-1, if you can solder.

Wayner · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 01:35 pm »

www.monoprice.com

W

martyo · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 02:27 pm »

I'll second (or third) Blue Jeans, that's what I use.

soewhatman · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 03:02 pm »

Thanks for the suggestions. Has anyone actually tested the monoprice premium cable against other cables? They are super cheap, but I wonder if you get what you pay for with them. I use some monprice cables for video transmission, and they seem to work just fine, but my video setup is more forgiving that what I am setting up for audio.

Rick.

ecramer · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 03:05 pm »

Both the Blue jean cable and the diy cable kit are very are very good. I started out with Blue jean cable's and still have several hanging around the house. I would also like to make the suggestion That you at least consider spending a little more on your ic from source to pre. I am not talking uber buck's but more like something in the "KCI soundbolt" range $100 +- I'm sure there's a bunch of cables in that price range that will get a big smile on your face. but i feel that's a critical area for cables and deserves a little more attention.

ED

ArthurDent · « **Reply #10 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 03:10 pm »

you might check out Stereolink as well. That I see they don't have 3', but their 2m are $34 pr +S&H (up from $25 last fall). Made from Mogami cable with Neutrik (?) RCA ends. They make a solid connection & would allow for future spacing adjustment with the extra 3.5'.

I have both BJC & Stereolink in my system, but haven't had/made time to specific a/b. Those that have heard the system so far think all sounds good. While not a newcomer, neither am I anything near an xpert such as many answering here are. You came to the right place to get solid/honest recommendations. Good hunting, & listening.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 03:40 pm »

Monster Cable. Don't let oft-misplaced audiophool prejudice about their company sway you....they were among the first (along with Audioquest, another good choice) to recognize use of better copper (OFC or better), dialectric material, quaility shielding and later (for Monster Cable) bandwidth balancing so the entire bandwidth of sound arrives at the rca at the same time.

Unless most of the boutique guys, they sell in such volume that the work can be done in China (and brought in via containers) so that you're not paying for higher labor costs of assembling cables in the US.

Personally, I heard the then top-of-the-line Radio Shack models of a couple years ago and they sounded horrendous. The Monser Cables, dating back to 1987 pair of IC's I have, have never sounded that bad.

I'm not sure what Monster Cable 1m pair now costs >$30 these days...but hunker down to your nearest Best Buy and see for yourself

John

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #12 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 04:14 pm »

While cables make a difference, I prefer not obsess over them and spend my money where it really counts. You can make decent cables that sound good for cheap using magnet wire or CAT 5 / CAT 5E / CAT 6. However with CAT cable, be sure it is CMP (Plenum) and not one of the other variants like CMR or CMG.

For RCA's, anything that fits snug will work fine.

kbuzz3 · « **Reply #13 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 06:00 pm »

the signal cable analog one is ridiciously cheap. And quite "musical" in a non detailed sort of way.....

KT · « **Reply #14 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 07:47 pm »

For dirt cheap, good sounding DIY interconnects, I highly recommend the cables you can make out of Radio Shack magnet wire and RCA's.

An article on building these was originally published in the great but now defunct audio magazine Listener. Here is something along those lines, however:

http://www.soundstage.com/synergize/synergize021998.htm

I have built and used these at various times and they are great, especially considering the price. Like all cables, though, they will be better suited to some systems more than others. To my ear, they are extremely clear, fast, and musical, but do tend toward the thinner, arier, less fleshy side of things. Great performance, but harmonics are not as developed as much as in some other cables. If your system is richer sounding, these will work well in that context.

Alternately, you may want to use the fantastic but dirt cheap Switchcraft RCA jacks with this wire for even better sonics.

I also listened to those old top of the line Radio Shack RCA cables that John mentioned. I thought they sounded good - for a while. They are decent, but they're very dark sounding. While they did the job, I could not ultimately use them in my system long term. They seemed to attenuate the highs and seemed to sound too dark and over-damped. That's in the context of my system.

Best,
KT

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #15 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 07:55 pm »

Quote from: JLM on 30 Jun 2008, 09:25 am

Blue Jean Cable, Element Cable, and Signal Cable all have a complete selection of cabling that starts near that price. They represent affordable entry level audiophile solutions.

A good starting point....and later if you feel you'd like to upgrade to try other brands, then any from this group can be sold on AC or Audiogon as used.

marvda1 · « **Reply #16 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 08:56 pm »

also check out zebra cables and audio art ic-1 copper interconnects, i believe they are on clearance sale.

soewhatman · « **Reply #17 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 09:57 pm »

I did some homework and looked up pricing on most of the cables mentioned. Here's where I'm at:

Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 $31.75 plus shipping
Element Cable Melody $49.00 plus shipping
Signal Analog One $40.00 plus shipping
Diy Audio Canare Kit $48.50 plus shipping
Zebra Cables $56.00 plus shipping, either type
Audio Art from $45.00 plus shipping, clearance price
Moster Cable 4' $29.99 plus tax, from Best Buy

I haven't made up my mind yet, but from a pure budget perspective the only ones in consideration are the Blue Jeans LC-1, or the Monster Audio from Best Buy. The magnet wire DIY cable looks too fiddly for my application, as this will be in my front room with the wiring exposed to view. DIY is fine, but they will need to be sturdy and presentable if I go that route.

Rick.

Wayner · « **Reply #18 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 10:19 pm »

Pardon me, but you let your own paradigm stop you from considering Monoprice's cables. Several members here have bought these cables, including myself, and they are the bargin of the century. You want cheap high quality cables...here they are for $2.37 for a 1 meter pair.

By the way, they ship by USPS and they'll be at your house in a couple of days if you order tonight.

Wayner

soewhatman · « **Reply #19 on:** 30 Jun 2008, 10:42 pm »

I actually have some monoprice video (s-video, hdmi) cables that I think are perfectly serviceable, as I mention above. I do get some digital noise with the HDMI cable I am using, but I'm not sure if that is the cable's fault. I have not tried to diagnose it yet. How is the build quality on those Wayner? Think they will hold up to years of use, and just let the music flow?

They seem too good to be true....that's my only point of hesitation on those.

Rick.