CAT-5 interconnects - Anyone done it?
- Thread starter Redboy
- Start date
whyaskit
music.
Well its been a year and I am still using the ICs I made last year. I did make one modfication in that I disconnected one of the ground wires on the end that goes to that amplifier. The thought being that that particular wire will act as a drain, reducing noise. I did not actually hear any difference, so I left it as is.
I have not heard anything better, in my price range. I would like to try some silver wire in the future. I will update if I do so.
I have not heard anything better, in my price range. I would like to try some silver wire in the future. I will update if I do so.
rebos123
YAY Horns!!
I have tried many different cat5 interconnect designs and found almost all of them sounded OK. I also tried twisted magnet wire in plastic tubes, wires in shoelaces, different IBM spec shielded wire, etc...
The best sounding int4erco9nnect to my ears is amde with 3m clear packing tape and "wire wrap" wire. The wire wrap wire is thin, looks like it has silver in it, and is covered in a teflon insulation. Lay one piece of packing tape sticky side up, place the 2 conductors parallel on the outside edges of the tape and cover with another piece of packing tape. Terminate each end with radio shack RCA jacks, solder using silver bearing solder (of course
)
The best sounding int4erco9nnect to my ears is amde with 3m clear packing tape and "wire wrap" wire. The wire wrap wire is thin, looks like it has silver in it, and is covered in a teflon insulation. Lay one piece of packing tape sticky side up, place the 2 conductors parallel on the outside edges of the tape and cover with another piece of packing tape. Terminate each end with radio shack RCA jacks, solder using silver bearing solder (of course
)
Gizmologist
Member
interconnect cables
Obviously the concept of balanced LINE level cabling for interconnecting devices to cancel induced RF noise and hum rejection is widely understood and used. That noise can easily be heard as it is usually 6ohz.
I have read all the claims here about "sizzle" and
"sonic brilliance" etc. as a result of using CAT5 cables, as well as the usual hyperbole about the flash coating on the connectors and BTW, none of the connectors are base metals of gold etc-. They are all electroplated and they connect to copper PCB traces soldered with lead/tin solder just the same as inside that pretty and expensive plated RCA connector.
All the claims have been based on strictly subjective human hearing of various pieces of music. In order for these claims to have any real veracity, calibrated lab grade testing equipment must be used. Otherwise is is just a case of "it sounds good to me".
Proper resistance and capacitance measurements require a calibrated and constant clamp force between the calibrated test leads and test equipment and the cable/device under test. Just holding the probes of a 15.00 RadShack meter against the ends of a connector is not a valid test procedure.
In addition, a calibrated level, automatically swept signal must be passed through the cable under examination and fed into an oscilloscope, audio spectrum analyzer, and DB meter with a calibrated load. If these procedures are not followed then all the claims are just as I said- "it sounds good to me"
This is why folks have gotten browbeaten into such phenomenal silliness as Litz cable.
Stop and think about the GIGO concept. The recording studios use Canare , Mogami or similar star quad mic cable to connect thousand dollar mics to the pre-amps etc.
If O-T-S cable works fine there, what makes anyone think that all this cable hyperbole will improve anything?
It's just the same with speaker cables. The testing labs for 20 years have laughed at Monster cables et al and found that Romex or SO cable works as well or better.
It ain't pretty but are you looking or listening?
Obviously the concept of balanced LINE level cabling for interconnecting devices to cancel induced RF noise and hum rejection is widely understood and used. That noise can easily be heard as it is usually 6ohz.
I have read all the claims here about "sizzle" and
"sonic brilliance" etc. as a result of using CAT5 cables, as well as the usual hyperbole about the flash coating on the connectors and BTW, none of the connectors are base metals of gold etc-. They are all electroplated and they connect to copper PCB traces soldered with lead/tin solder just the same as inside that pretty and expensive plated RCA connector.
All the claims have been based on strictly subjective human hearing of various pieces of music. In order for these claims to have any real veracity, calibrated lab grade testing equipment must be used. Otherwise is is just a case of "it sounds good to me".
Proper resistance and capacitance measurements require a calibrated and constant clamp force between the calibrated test leads and test equipment and the cable/device under test. Just holding the probes of a 15.00 RadShack meter against the ends of a connector is not a valid test procedure.
In addition, a calibrated level, automatically swept signal must be passed through the cable under examination and fed into an oscilloscope, audio spectrum analyzer, and DB meter with a calibrated load. If these procedures are not followed then all the claims are just as I said- "it sounds good to me"
This is why folks have gotten browbeaten into such phenomenal silliness as Litz cable.
Stop and think about the GIGO concept. The recording studios use Canare , Mogami or similar star quad mic cable to connect thousand dollar mics to the pre-amps etc.
If O-T-S cable works fine there, what makes anyone think that all this cable hyperbole will improve anything?
It's just the same with speaker cables. The testing labs for 20 years have laughed at Monster cables et al and found that Romex or SO cable works as well or better.
It ain't pretty but are you looking or listening?
ozmoid
Lunatic Member
Gizmologist
Member
That is truth
What amuses me is the hundreds of articles, and sales hype that we are hit with at every turn. Listening to all the hype about CAT5 etc., I can't help but wonder how these concepts ever got started.
I have done the test listening myself with a client who insisted on LitzLink interconnects at 2,000.00 /6 ft cable. (I kid you not) I took a set or O-T-S RCA cables from RadShack and put them in the system without telling the system owner. I had the test gear set up as well and we put on some old vinyl he had from London Phase Four studios. He sat there listening and walking around the room imagining he was hearing the incredible clarity Litz wire brought to his system.
Imagine his chagrin when i told him what he had heard was from a 6.00 set of cables.
I put in the Litz wire and repeated the tests. Absolutely zero change in the audio spectrum.
If the lab grade equipment shows zero difference between cables, why all the excitement about using CAT-5, and Litz etc.? Aside from a conversation starter that is.
Let us also never forget the other variables; equipment quality, linearity and transparency, room acoustics. humidity and temperature, the variations in your hearing day to day and the accuracy of the recording medium.
What amuses me is the hundreds of articles, and sales hype that we are hit with at every turn. Listening to all the hype about CAT5 etc., I can't help but wonder how these concepts ever got started.
I have done the test listening myself with a client who insisted on LitzLink interconnects at 2,000.00 /6 ft cable. (I kid you not) I took a set or O-T-S RCA cables from RadShack and put them in the system without telling the system owner. I had the test gear set up as well and we put on some old vinyl he had from London Phase Four studios. He sat there listening and walking around the room imagining he was hearing the incredible clarity Litz wire brought to his system.
Imagine his chagrin when i told him what he had heard was from a 6.00 set of cables.
I put in the Litz wire and repeated the tests. Absolutely zero change in the audio spectrum.
If the lab grade equipment shows zero difference between cables, why all the excitement about using CAT-5, and Litz etc.? Aside from a conversation starter that is.
Let us also never forget the other variables; equipment quality, linearity and transparency, room acoustics. humidity and temperature, the variations in your hearing day to day and the accuracy of the recording medium.
marantzfan
...
So, six years later in Arizona some fool decided to join the experiment. 
Any update from any of the previous contributors of this thread, especially you Nate?
Any update from any of the previous contributors of this thread, especially you Nate?