hakaplan
Needs professional help
Budget Phono RCA Cables Interconnects Comparison
My original intent was to test 15 cables for phono use, but since new ones are cropping up all the time, I'll just keep adding them as I test them.
I rated them overall from 1 to 10 based on overall sound quality, including soundstage, realistic quality, fullness, clarity, and bass/treble reproduction and balance. These were all six feet cables except for ehoove's DIY (do-it-yourself) cables, which were three feet. They have connectors at both ends for plugging into the jacks on my modded PL-630.
The difference between the best and worst was noticeable, but the worst cables were not horrible by any means. It's just that if you have the option of using something better that's just as cheap, why not? The differences between the best cables was small. These were very difficult to discern and required repeatedly going back and forth between cables over the same passages. Overall I would say that if you use a cable with a score of 6 or over you will be very happy, but the Mogami Neglex and the Petras impart more of a wow factor.
The Mogami Neglex 2534 I tested was DIY from six feet of bulk cable--quad (4 wires), twisted pairs microphone cable, stranded spiral copper shield (wired 1 twisted pair together as signal, 1 twisted pair together as ground + shield connected to ground at source end, generic gold-plated connectors). Thick, but flexible. That came in first for everything except the bass was noticeably weaker than in the Petra Video Cables--exactly the opposite of what I would have expected from the higher capacitance. Here is the link to the bulk cable and to the pre-made cables, sold individually:
http://www.markertek.com/Cables-Con...Audio-Cable/Mogami-Wire-Cable-Corp/2534.xhtml
http://www.markertek.com/Cables-Con...ables/TecNec-Cables-Connectors/MSC1-5RR.xhtml
The Petras are thick and stiffer, the sheath is plastic, moulded together, the connectors have a soft grip, the caps are removable outward so that you can swap the colors around. You can also leave them off--the connectors are moulded into the cable and without the caps they are nice and slender--perfect for those old jacks that are too close together--Dual users know what I mean. Petras come in 6', 12', 25' and 50'. Empirical data suggest that they lose some magic with different connectors, so the 6' for whole cables and 12' for cutting in half for soldering make the most sense.
http://www.amazon.com/Petra-10-5010...OIBA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1249176092&sr=8-6
http://www.amazon.com/Petra-2007-C2...E6/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1249176129&sr=8-22
The Mogami Patch cables (#2964) didn't fare as well this time as when I previously tested them agains the Petra Video cables, but still sounded very good. They are thin and flexible with a firm grip. These come in larger lengths for cutting to solder in.
http://vintageking.com/Mogami-Pure-Patch-RCA-to-RCA?sc=13&category=869
The four Belden cables were DIY with generic gold-plated connectors (except the 1505F with Neutrik connectors), all coaxial with varying amounts of shielding and sheathing. You can look these up on Belden's website for the complete details on how they are constructed. They all sounded the same.
The Belkin Yellow and Red are flexible with a firm grip. Ordered from PartsExpress--the links are below.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=189-236
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/sho...186&FTR=189-186&CFID=9028725&CFTOKEN=83994300
The MCM High Resolution Audio Cable were part of a pass-around test from the Cable forum for line level use (and I'm overdue getting them to the next person in line), but I thought I'd try them for phono. Very flexible with nice medium grip connectors. These have the shield only connected at the source end, so they are directional.
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/50-2160
Monoprice PREMIUM 2 RCA Plug/2 RCA Plug M/M 22AWG Cable - 6ft: Thick and stiff, a little more flexible than the Petras, moulded together, but able to be separated. Connectors moulded into cable, have reasonably firm grip. These cables are not what I'd use to solder in, but fine for a cheap, decent, removable interconnect.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10218&cs_id=1021803&p_id=2864&seq=1&format=2
Monster-THX i100-Certified Stereo Cables: Thick, but more flexible than the Petras, cables moulded together, but able to be separated, nice connectors, but very firm grip--too tight for my liking. Tested 4' length and 8' length. The doubled length had a negligible effect on the performance. NOTE: In a subsequent post, a member posted a photo of the construction of these wires. It is two insulated wires with an uninsulated ground, but no obvious shield. Therefore, even though it did not hum with my system, I cannot recommend this cable.
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-THXI100-4NF-Certified-Stereo-Cables/dp/B0006HQ7CW/ref=pd_sim_e_4
The Pythons were flexible with a firm grip. I ordered these on ebay. The seller's ID was razern and the title was "6 ft Python stereo 2-RCA male to male gold audio cable."
The Belkin Pure A/V were ordered at PartsExpress but are no longer available.
GEAR: Pioneer PL-630, AT440MLa, Yamaha C-4 Preamp, Sennheiser HD-595 headphones.
MUSIC: Carpenters (S/T) LP; Dvorak: New World Symphony, Walter/Columbia Sym.
RESULTS:
.............TOTAL
SCORE....CAP.(pF)....CABLE (all 6 feet unless specified)
9.0.........366...........DIY Mogami Neglex 2534
8.5.........107...........Petra Digital Video Component Cables (set of 3)
8.0.........120...........Belkin Composite Video (yellow) (P47328) (single cable)
8.0.........158...........DIY cables by member ehoove
7.5.........130...........Mogami Pure Patch (single cable)
6.0.........127...........MCM High Resolution Audio Cable (pair)
6.0.........122...........Monoprice PREMIUM 2 RCA Plug/2 RCA Plug M/M 22AWG Cable
6.0.........137...........Monster-THX i100-Certified Stereo Cables - 4 feet
6.0.........261...........Monster-THX i100-Certified Stereo Cables - 8 feet
6.0.........112...........Belden 1505A
6.0.........124...........Belden 1505F
6.0.........114...........Belden 1694A
6.0.........121...........Belden 9259.
5.0.........110...........Belkin Digital Coaxial (red) (P47529) (single cable)
4.0.........555...........Petra Audio Cables (pair)
3.0.........267...........Cheap, thin, grey patch cable - 3 feet
3.0.........550...........Python Audio Cables (pair)
3.0.........505...........Belkin Pure A/V RCA Audio (P45643) (pair)
CLOSING THOUGHTS: Although extreme low capacitance isn't an absolute necessity, it's clear that with capacitance above a certain level the sound does suffer. This is with MM cartridges. MC cartridges are far less susceptible to capacitance and in fact, may have resulted in different test results.
Shielding, however, is a necessity for phono cables, and foil alone is seldom sufficient. It should have some kind of copper wire shielding.
Really fancy, expensive connectors might make a difference, but I used generics on the Mogami quad and it still came out ahead. I used Neutriks on the Belden 1505F and it made no difference.
LINE LEVEL USE
This was not as thorough and I did not test all the cables, but the Mogami Neglex came out first again, this time with better bass. Ehoove's cables were up there too. Then the Petras, the Mogami Patch and the Yellow Belkins as expected, but the differences were minute.
ADDITIONAL THREADS:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=82043
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=223904
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=158411
OTHER CABLES NOT TESTED:
As inexpensive as these are, they add up after a while and I can't afford to keep buying new ones. If anyone wants to send me any, I'll be happy to test them and then I'll pay to send them back. PM me.
My original intent was to test 15 cables for phono use, but since new ones are cropping up all the time, I'll just keep adding them as I test them.
I rated them overall from 1 to 10 based on overall sound quality, including soundstage, realistic quality, fullness, clarity, and bass/treble reproduction and balance. These were all six feet cables except for ehoove's DIY (do-it-yourself) cables, which were three feet. They have connectors at both ends for plugging into the jacks on my modded PL-630.
The difference between the best and worst was noticeable, but the worst cables were not horrible by any means. It's just that if you have the option of using something better that's just as cheap, why not? The differences between the best cables was small. These were very difficult to discern and required repeatedly going back and forth between cables over the same passages. Overall I would say that if you use a cable with a score of 6 or over you will be very happy, but the Mogami Neglex and the Petras impart more of a wow factor.
The Mogami Neglex 2534 I tested was DIY from six feet of bulk cable--quad (4 wires), twisted pairs microphone cable, stranded spiral copper shield (wired 1 twisted pair together as signal, 1 twisted pair together as ground + shield connected to ground at source end, generic gold-plated connectors). Thick, but flexible. That came in first for everything except the bass was noticeably weaker than in the Petra Video Cables--exactly the opposite of what I would have expected from the higher capacitance. Here is the link to the bulk cable and to the pre-made cables, sold individually:
http://www.markertek.com/Cables-Con...Audio-Cable/Mogami-Wire-Cable-Corp/2534.xhtml
http://www.markertek.com/Cables-Con...ables/TecNec-Cables-Connectors/MSC1-5RR.xhtml
The Petras are thick and stiffer, the sheath is plastic, moulded together, the connectors have a soft grip, the caps are removable outward so that you can swap the colors around. You can also leave them off--the connectors are moulded into the cable and without the caps they are nice and slender--perfect for those old jacks that are too close together--Dual users know what I mean. Petras come in 6', 12', 25' and 50'. Empirical data suggest that they lose some magic with different connectors, so the 6' for whole cables and 12' for cutting in half for soldering make the most sense.
http://www.amazon.com/Petra-10-5010...OIBA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1249176092&sr=8-6
http://www.amazon.com/Petra-2007-C2...E6/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1249176129&sr=8-22
The Mogami Patch cables (#2964) didn't fare as well this time as when I previously tested them agains the Petra Video cables, but still sounded very good. They are thin and flexible with a firm grip. These come in larger lengths for cutting to solder in.
http://vintageking.com/Mogami-Pure-Patch-RCA-to-RCA?sc=13&category=869
The four Belden cables were DIY with generic gold-plated connectors (except the 1505F with Neutrik connectors), all coaxial with varying amounts of shielding and sheathing. You can look these up on Belden's website for the complete details on how they are constructed. They all sounded the same.
The Belkin Yellow and Red are flexible with a firm grip. Ordered from PartsExpress--the links are below.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=189-236
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/sho...186&FTR=189-186&CFID=9028725&CFTOKEN=83994300
The MCM High Resolution Audio Cable were part of a pass-around test from the Cable forum for line level use (and I'm overdue getting them to the next person in line), but I thought I'd try them for phono. Very flexible with nice medium grip connectors. These have the shield only connected at the source end, so they are directional.
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/50-2160
Monoprice PREMIUM 2 RCA Plug/2 RCA Plug M/M 22AWG Cable - 6ft: Thick and stiff, a little more flexible than the Petras, moulded together, but able to be separated. Connectors moulded into cable, have reasonably firm grip. These cables are not what I'd use to solder in, but fine for a cheap, decent, removable interconnect.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10218&cs_id=1021803&p_id=2864&seq=1&format=2
Monster-THX i100-Certified Stereo Cables: Thick, but more flexible than the Petras, cables moulded together, but able to be separated, nice connectors, but very firm grip--too tight for my liking. Tested 4' length and 8' length. The doubled length had a negligible effect on the performance. NOTE: In a subsequent post, a member posted a photo of the construction of these wires. It is two insulated wires with an uninsulated ground, but no obvious shield. Therefore, even though it did not hum with my system, I cannot recommend this cable.
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-THXI100-4NF-Certified-Stereo-Cables/dp/B0006HQ7CW/ref=pd_sim_e_4
The Pythons were flexible with a firm grip. I ordered these on ebay. The seller's ID was razern and the title was "6 ft Python stereo 2-RCA male to male gold audio cable."
The Belkin Pure A/V were ordered at PartsExpress but are no longer available.
GEAR: Pioneer PL-630, AT440MLa, Yamaha C-4 Preamp, Sennheiser HD-595 headphones.
MUSIC: Carpenters (S/T) LP; Dvorak: New World Symphony, Walter/Columbia Sym.
RESULTS:
.............TOTAL
SCORE....CAP.(pF)....CABLE (all 6 feet unless specified)
9.0.........366...........DIY Mogami Neglex 2534
8.5.........107...........Petra Digital Video Component Cables (set of 3)
8.0.........120...........Belkin Composite Video (yellow) (P47328) (single cable)
8.0.........158...........DIY cables by member ehoove
7.5.........130...........Mogami Pure Patch (single cable)
6.0.........127...........MCM High Resolution Audio Cable (pair)
6.0.........122...........Monoprice PREMIUM 2 RCA Plug/2 RCA Plug M/M 22AWG Cable
6.0.........137...........Monster-THX i100-Certified Stereo Cables - 4 feet
6.0.........261...........Monster-THX i100-Certified Stereo Cables - 8 feet
6.0.........112...........Belden 1505A
6.0.........124...........Belden 1505F
6.0.........114...........Belden 1694A
6.0.........121...........Belden 9259.
5.0.........110...........Belkin Digital Coaxial (red) (P47529) (single cable)
4.0.........555...........Petra Audio Cables (pair)
3.0.........267...........Cheap, thin, grey patch cable - 3 feet
3.0.........550...........Python Audio Cables (pair)
3.0.........505...........Belkin Pure A/V RCA Audio (P45643) (pair)
CLOSING THOUGHTS: Although extreme low capacitance isn't an absolute necessity, it's clear that with capacitance above a certain level the sound does suffer. This is with MM cartridges. MC cartridges are far less susceptible to capacitance and in fact, may have resulted in different test results.
Shielding, however, is a necessity for phono cables, and foil alone is seldom sufficient. It should have some kind of copper wire shielding.
Really fancy, expensive connectors might make a difference, but I used generics on the Mogami quad and it still came out ahead. I used Neutriks on the Belden 1505F and it made no difference.
LINE LEVEL USE
This was not as thorough and I did not test all the cables, but the Mogami Neglex came out first again, this time with better bass. Ehoove's cables were up there too. Then the Petras, the Mogami Patch and the Yellow Belkins as expected, but the differences were minute.
ADDITIONAL THREADS:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=82043
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=223904
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=158411
OTHER CABLES NOT TESTED:
As inexpensive as these are, they add up after a while and I can't afford to keep buying new ones. If anyone wants to send me any, I'll be happy to test them and then I'll pay to send them back. PM me.
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