Got some Bluejeans cables..............................................

Wayner · « **on:** 4 Oct 2008, 02:59 pm »

I finally decided to try a pair of LC-1's between the Insight EC preamp and Insight 260ex power amp. First, I thought the quality of the cable was first rate. Very good RCA connectors that are to spec. and fit the jacks very nice. The cable itself is interesting, having a 25awg solid center conductor with a foam insulator and 2 copper braided shields. The stated capacitance is 12pf per foot, which is very, very low. Personally, I don't want cables to "sound good", I don't want them to sound at all. If they do anything, they muck up the signal. So I want a cable that does the least amount of damage to the signal as possible. While these cables are a bit spendy, they are not in the price range of many other popular cables.

I am very pleased with the results. I believe these cables (3'-6" long) do the Insight amp and preamp justice and have enjoyed the system very much. LP's sound great with things I look for like natural cymbal crash and decay, vocal purity and of course, a piano will always be a good test to the system. I also always want the soundfield (surround like) that I am so used to with AVA electronics.

Wayner

St_PatGuy · « **Reply #1 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 03:14 pm »

I have some Blue Jeans Cable interconnects and component video cables. Like Wayner said, they are more expensive than other cables out there, but still very reasonable. I attribute the extra cost to build quality--very solid stuff all the way around.

tgp06 · « **Reply #2 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 04:13 pm »

Let's see...adherence to accepted electrical principles, low capacitance, proper shielding, flexible, superior mechanical connection(secure without distorting your equipment's rca jacks), a fraction of esoteric cable pricing(within rat shack price range)...hmmm...how will I ever decide???

oneinthepipe · « **Reply #3 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 04:48 pm »

I have Blue Jeans Cables, too.

Although they cost about twice the price of "premium" mass-market cables, the prices seem extremely reasonable for a built-for-order cable, and they appear to be excellent quality. Ordering, payment, and shipment couldn't be much easier. I ordered a pair last Friday, and they were delivered to the east coast on Wednesday.

Here is another company that I looked up when I found out that they were the warehouse for Town Hall Records, and they appear to manufacture "quality" cables for a reasonable price. They use Canare cable, rather than Belden, and Canare connectors, but their stated capacitance is higher than BJC. I haven't seen their cables, however.

http://store.haveinc.com/p-47494-haveflex-gs-interconnect-rca-rca-6.aspx

For speaker wire, I use monoprice 14/4 terminated with banana plugs in a bi-wire arrangement. http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023902&p_id=4039&seq=1&format=2
I purchased the monoprice wire after reading Frank's comments about expensive speaker wire. I don't have any of those little blocks that elevate the speaker wire above the floor, either.

My AVA gear uses Frank's "secret recipe, state-of-the-art" power cords.

robinje · « **Reply #4 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 04:55 pm »

All of my interconnects are Blue Jeans LC-1. Very nicely made and work reliably...

tgp06 · « **Reply #5 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 05:11 pm »

Those Haveflex cables look pretty good. The better Monoprice ICs are nice, but the gold RCA connectors take some effort to get on and off the first few times-seem OK now. That's what I like about the Canares or Tavarsoes used by BJC(and, it appears, Haveflex).The "leaf spring" arrangement holds tight, won't damage your jacks and don't change if you remove and reinstall them often. I use bananas on my speaker wires, and have not found many that don't work properly, long term. Less hassle than spades or bare wire connections.

rajacat · « **Reply #6 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 05:13 pm »

I use Bluejeans....the LC1 interconnect and I use their digital cable the Belden 1695A which use a Teflon dielectric. I'm happy with both and certainly wouldn't complain about the price.

--Roy

David Ellis · « **Reply #7 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 06:09 pm »

I use some Blue Jeans cables too. I have a very long Blue Jeans component video cable that for the video projector in my basement. The plugs are first-rate and the cable is very durable.

But...

Do you realize that we are discussing cables in Frank's discussion forum? aa . I wonder how long Frank will endure this discussion before the pureblood Dane emerges

.

Dave

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #8 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 07:18 pm »

I needed some extra speaker cable and digital coax so I bought them from BJC's. The coax has excellent build quality and was $14 for 3.5ft.
The speaker wire was 0.89 cents per foot unterminated. for 10gauge wire. The banana plugs were $3.50 each. They took about 7min each to connect to the wire. They have a nifty compression fitting. This saved me about $50 by applying the banana's myself.

avahifi · « **Reply #9 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 07:19 pm »

First of all Dutch, not Dane.

Second of course I approve and recommend Blue Jeans cables for those that just have to have something better than the cheap stuff I use. I still have some original cables that came free with 1960s vintage Dynakits in service here.

No problem with the discussion as long as it does not drift off into voodooland.

Hey Mr. Ellis, what are you using for electronics at RMAF? Need a spare DAC, etc. again?

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

David Ellis · « **Reply #10 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 08:02 pm »

Quote

Hey Mr. Ellis, what are you using for electronics at RMAF? Need a spare DAC, etc. again?

No RMAF for me this year. I seem to work 90% of weekends, and any spare moment is focused on getting our current home ready to sell in the spring of 2009. Our home is fairly new, but we have considerable work to accomplish.

I do appreciate the offer to use one of your DAC's though. It's a VERY good unit. I actually thought about your DAC a few minutes ago when my Carrie Underwood music "bit me" in the eardrum slightly. My super mega modified Anthem is quite good, but falls-short when compared to your DAC.

Dave

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #11 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 08:08 pm »

Ok, I would like to bring up the subject of HDMI cables if its not already been previously discussed here. There's a debate going on in the Audio Review forum about the differences if any in cheap vs expensive HDMI's. I personally use BJC's mid priced HDMI for an 8' run. It seems to have good picture quality on my 52' Sony LCD XBR4 TV but I have nothing to compare it to.

So I thought I would bring the discussion here and see what people are using for HDMI. aa

Toka · « **Reply #12 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 08:56 pm »

Quote from: I.Greyhound Fan on 4 Oct 2008, 08:08 pm

Ok, I would like to bring up the subject of HDMI cables if its not already been previously discussed here. There's a debate going on in the Audio Review forum about the differences if any in cheap vs expensive HDMI's. I personally use BJC's mid priced HDMI for an 8' run. It seems to have good picture quality on my 52' Sony LCD XBR4 TV but I have nothing to compare it to.

So I thought I would bring the discussion here and see what people are using for HDMI. aa

Not sure if this is the best forum to discuss it, but with one notable exception (Blue Jeans) every single HDMI cable on the planet comes from one of a few factories in China. Every one (unless something has changed very recently). Company X specifies what they want (including jacket/logo), and Factory Y makes them. They are then sold for whatever Company X thinks they can get for them (factoring advertising costs, dealer markup, etc).

There are some great articles on the Blue Jeans site, as well as a detailed comparison on Audioholics. Short version...up to a certain length, any HDMI cable will do. At longer lengths, you will start to see some perform better than others...of course, cost has nothing to do with it. Contrary to popular belief, its not an "all or nothing" proposition...there is a grey area where "sparklies" or other malfunctions can occur, up until you get absolutely nothing. So, if what you have is working...no need to upgrade.

EDIT: Here are some of the better reads:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/where-does-hdmi-cable-come-from.htm

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/hdmi-cables.htm

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests

martyo · « **Reply #13 on:** 4 Oct 2008, 09:37 pm »

I use them too and have given a few as gifts. I like the cables and the company.

Rocket · « **Reply #14 on:** 5 Oct 2008, 04:17 am »

Hi,

Interesting comments about cables and I really like Frank's philosophy. Its cheaper too.

Whenever I've attended an event where cables are compared and there has been a component change a person immediately pronounces that cable a is better than cable b. This usually occurs within 3 - 4 seconds. When this occurs I actually feel pressured to agree with what other people are saying.

I'm currently using interconnects that don't cost a lot of money and i'm pretty happy with them.

Btw I checked out the Blue Jeans cable website and because I live OS I have to pay in UK pounds and it is about twice the price if I could purchase using US dollars. Just my luck.

Regards

Rod

zybar · « **Reply #15 on:** 5 Oct 2008, 01:26 pm »

Quote from: Rocket on 5 Oct 2008, 04:17 am

Hi,

Interesting comments about cables and I really like Frank's philosophy. Its cheaper too.

Whenever I've attended an event where cables are compared and there has been a component change a person immediately pronounces that cable a is better than cable b. This usually occurs within 3 - 4 seconds. When this occurs I actually feel pressured to agree with what other people are saying.

I'm currently using interconnects that don't cost a lot of money and i'm pretty happy with them.

Btw I checked out the Blue Jeans cable website and because I live OS I have to pay in UK pounds and it is about twice the price if I could purchase using US dollars. Just my luck.

Regards

Rod

Rod,

If you are really interested, I would be happy to buy them for you and ship them down.

PM if you want to go that route.

George

gjs_cds · « **Reply #16 on:** 5 Oct 2008, 03:00 pm »

Quote from: Rocket on 5 Oct 2008, 04:17 am

Whenever I've attended an event where cables are compared and there has been a component change a person immediately pronounces that cable a is better than cable b. This usually occurs within 3 - 4 seconds. When this occurs I actually feel pressured to agree with what other people are saying.

Yeah--I know exactly what you mean. And it's pretty frustrating. Over time, I actually grew to disdain all the 'wizards of smart' with 'golden ears'--because, to me, the data just wasn't there.

Then I began reading published accounts of some "cable tests", where it was a blind A-A comparison. (The testers told the subjects that they had changed cables, but they hadn't. In another "experiment", they actually did change cables, but they were the same make/model/brand, but just put in a different color Teflex.) In both cases, the 'wizards of smart with golden ears' wrote pages on the difference nuances between the cable.

After reading these accounts, and as I gained more education relative to the actual physics and (true) science behind cables, components and speaker-building, I became comfortable calling it what it is. There is a shred of validity, but much (if not most) of it is a bunch of insecure people trying to be seen as a 'wizard of smart with a golden ear'.

Life became much more enjoyable when I stopped hanging around those folks--because I began to focus on enjoying the music, rather than trying to pick apart "flaws" or hear things that don't exist.

denjo · « **Reply #17 on:** 5 Oct 2008, 03:43 pm »

Quote from: gjs_cds on 5 Oct 2008, 03:00 pm

Quote from: Rocket on 5 Oct 2008, 04:17 am
Whenever I've attended an event where cables are compared and there has been a component change a person immediately pronounces that cable a is better than cable b. This usually occurs within 3 - 4 seconds. When this occurs I actually feel pressured to agree with what other people are saying.

Yeah--I know exactly what you mean. And it's pretty frustrating. Over time, I actually grew to disdain all the 'wizards of smart' with 'golden ears'--because, to me, the data just wasn't there....................
Life became much more enjoyable when I stopped hanging around those folks--because I began to focus on enjoying the music, rather than trying to pick apart "flaws" or hear things that don't exist.

Well said! Exactly how I feel as well! The focus should be about the enjoyment of music!

rustneversleeps · « **Reply #18 on:** 5 Oct 2008, 11:52 pm »

Quote

There is a shred of validity, but much (if not most) of it is a bunch of insecure people trying to be seen as a 'wizard of smart with a golden ear'.

Life became much more enjoyable when I stopped hanging around those folks--because I began to focus on enjoying the music, rather than trying to pick apart "flaws" or hear things that don't exist.

I think it's a rather general statement saying that people who use fancy cable are mostly insecure.

I don't use fancy cable and I don't feel any more secure or insecure than the others. I think silver wire conducts better than copper wire, does it mean that people who like silver are more insecure?

I can't speak for audio frequency, but in RF, we'd like to run the cable all in the same direction, use the cable by the same manufacturer with the same date code, and let new cable in the new system to burn in for at least a day, and the difference in reading is measureable. I am not talking about output power level, I am talking about phase, phase show up differently in our monitor.

Can human hear the phase differences in audio frequency? I am not sure, some claim that they can.

I think fancy cable manufacturers like to prey on people who are easily fascinated by good looking cable, and are willing to spend the money, and maybe they can hear the difference.

It's a free country.

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #19 on:** 6 Oct 2008, 05:27 am »

I have yet to hear a difference in IC's, speaker cables and worst of all, power cords. I myself use monster m1000i and m950i IC's that I picked up on Ebay for $30pr. And 15' of monster Z4 speaker cables that I also picked up on Ebay for $100. They sound no better or worse than the Audioquest IC's and Bluejeans speaker wire that I also have or the cheap pair of $10 generic IC's that came with my Denon DVDP.