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Can I use RG-6/u 18awg 75ohm with solid copper center to build RCA interconnects?

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So I am guessing that is a yes? On another forum here is the response:

It depends on the capacitance of the wire.An RG-6/u with a capacitance of 50pf, when used as an RCA cable for a 10K line input would have a rolloff begining at 300hz. It would be ideal for a subwoofer RCA cable.

I need a yes or no if the cable I show is an option. If not I am looking at the canare wire

Thanks
 
Are you sure it's really solid copper core? Much (dare I say most??) RG-6 intended for CATV use is copper plated steel core.

As far as the calculation and response of rolloff, there is not enough or the correct information to say, but I doubt it's an issue at any audio frequency, considering RG-6 coaxial cable often has bandwidth ratings to 1GHz or more.

The rolloff is based on total capacitance and the source/output impedance, not the input impedance, afaik.

If I calculate based on 1,000 ohms source output impedance (fairly high for a source, so it's conservative in the rolloff calculation), 17pf/m capacitance, and 10m cable length, I get rolloff of -3dB at ~936kHz. This is well above the audio frequency so even if you "back track" the -3dB, I think it's not hard to envision little if any effect at audio frequencies.

If you want solid core, Belden 1694A, or want smaller diameter and flexible, Belden 1505F, and the Gepco stuff mentioned looks good too.

I used RG-6 with RCA adapters for a sub cable for a while and it seemed to work fine. However, I "stole" that for a long coaxial digital interconnect and simply made a new sub cable from some shielded twisted pair wire I had around. That seems to work fine too.

Regardless of the cheapest raw cable you buy and any half-way decent ends, I think you'd be hard pressed to even make one for less than what you can buy preassembled from Monoprice.
 
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whoaru99 said:
Are you sure it's really solid copper core? Much (dare I say most??) RG-6 intended for CATV use is copper plated steel core.

If you want solid core, Belden 1694A, or want smaller diameter and flexible, Belden 1505F, and the Gepco stuff mentioned looks good too.
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The point about RG6 used for RF purposed is right on-- most of that stuff is aluminum outer braid with a copper plated steel core.

I've used Belden 1505 for years and years and have always been pleased with it. This RG-59 size cable is dual shielded, with a very dense braid shield and foil second shield, and is all copper. It easily fits a lot of RCA plugs if you want to solder, or you can get crimp-on connectors although then you'll need the tool for them. I've done runs of well over 100 feet on occasion in custom install work with negligible losses for line level audio signals.

One note-- the stuff I use has always had an "A" suffix, i.e. "1505A". Not sure about the "F" suffix, perhaps whoaru99 can provide info.
 
Sure you could.

Just make sure it's going to be flexible enough for your application. Most RG6 is a pain in the butt to work with.

I'd use a decent shielded Microphone or other audio cable if I was rolling my own
 
I am going to scrap the idea then and just go with some canare cable. Even when listening I would be wondering if I was maybe... missing something and it would drive me crazy.
 
Why not just get some component video cables. They will work good and not cost all that much. I used soem cheap component video cables to connect my turntable to the phono preamp and they work great.
 
I just got some regular coax cables with RCA connectors on them from Monoprice, PID #2864 and 2869, 6 foot and 3 foot cables respectfully. Sound really good and are not bright.

Strange thing though, they sounded really weird until they had about 6 hours of play time on them. Could it be the dreaded "Break in" ? Oh God, I actually said it. Must hang my head in shame............
 
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Roll your own out of Canare Star Quad 4E6S...its 51 cents per foot at Markertek. Not as cheap as Monoprice, but the cable is much more flexible. I use the Switchcraft long body nickel plugs. They have a very nice grip and cost a little over $1 each.
 
BadassBob said:
Roll your own out of Canare Star Quad 4E6S...its 51 cents per foot at Markertek. Not as cheap as Monoprice, but the cable is much more flexible. I use the Switchcraft long body nickel plugs. They have a very nice grip and cost a little over $1 each.
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Which switchcraft audio plug do you get exactly there are a bunch there? Does the wire tuck in nicely without shrink tube? I would like to use canare with tech flex over it. Where are you buying them for a little over a $1?

Thanks for the help
 
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Dylanl said:
Which switchcraft audio plug do you get exactly there are a bunch there? Does the wire tuck in nicely without shrink tube? I would like to use canare with tech flex over it. Where are you buying them for a little over a $1?

Thanks for the help
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Try over here at Markertek. The Canare Starquad is good cable, very flexible.
 
Classic_CJ said:
One note-- the stuff I use has always had an "A" suffix, i.e. "1505A". Not sure about the "F" suffix, perhaps whoaru99 can provide info.
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"F" has stranded core and two layers of braid shield, "A" has solid core and braid over foil shield.

I've always heard the "F" stands for flexible version. If one really gets froggy there is 1694F as well, but I've never used or seen any.
 
If you want some really flexible stuff in a non-coaxial cable, try the Mogami 2549 or Belden 1800F. Neither are quad cables but quad gains you nothing, IMO, in an unbalanced cable except larger diameter and harder to work with.

The Mogami and Belden are probably a few cents per foot more expensive though.
 
I use mainly rg62u, it is a 93 ohm cable that was used for arcnet networking. Considerably less capacitance per foot than the red canare coax. It is a lot lower cap than rg58 or rg59 too.
 
Belden 1694a is not the most flexible but has 18 ga copper center conductor and 95% shielding without being quad-shielded, and using F-Conn compression RCA fittings, takes about 3-4 minutes to strip and install RCA connectors -- easier than star quad since there is no soldering. It also works great for subwoofer cable, component cables and of course, TV cable with F-compression fittings.

MikeSp
 
Anyone tell me the thickness of the canare star quad Outside Diameter? If I am reading right it shows .044? That is kinda thick for a Interconnect right? The reason I ask is that I want to make sure the wire can fit into the rca's I already purchased.

Thank
 
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