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Death Grip Audio Cables

monsters

I just spent the morning trying to figure out why my Marantz stack was dropping a channel all of a sudden.

I "scored" a pile of Monster cables at a yard sale, brand new. Heavy solid ends. Looks really great, good stuff that Monster cable. So frickin tight I couldn't seat them all the way. I "thought" I had enough contact. Pulled them out and put on some cheap thin cables and the problem is gone.

Don't even get me started on the speaker cable ends.

Yeah, Monster, right. All talk and marketing. SO disappointing.
 
When you encounter these DGAC cables make sure they are not the kind that can be unscrewed. I have a set that fit loosely, you spin the connector barrel on the cable around and you have an instant DGAC connection. When you need to release the cable, you spin the RCA barrel around the other way and the cable can be easily removed. I put a little label on the back of my equipment explaining how these work so there won't be any confusion in the future.
 
DualRef said:
When you encounter these DGAC cables make sure they are not the kind that can be unscrewed. I have a set that fit loosely, you spin the connector barrel on the cable around and you have an instant DGAC connection. When you need to release the cable, you spin the RCA barrel around the other way and the cable can be easily removed. I put a little label on the back of my equipment explaining how these work so there won't be any confusion in the future.
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Good point! I actually had a bunch of those (I forget the brand...maybe the fancy Radio Shack cables I got eons ago when they were having a close-out fire sale) and those are great.

The only things I have against them is exactly what you mentioned for one, and labeling them is a great idea because I myself have often forgotten to loosen them AND that they are a real bear to unscrew unless you have great access to the rear of the rack.

Which takes me back to my original solution... RCA to BNC adapters.. bingo bango no more issues. I will acknowledge that it's not everyone's cup of tea because most consumer equipment has RCA and less is more yada yada.
 
BNC - Why didn't I think of that in 40 years of hating RCAs?

Love the BNC idea - BNCs have it all, easy, positive, locking, and when have you seen a crappy BNC? Never, they have to handle RF without leaking, so the manufacturers can't cut too many corners. A wee bit more expensive, but no more than locking RCAs. (which I personally can't remember to unlock because they didn't exist for the 1st 35 years I used RCAs) BNCs it is!

But what a PITA to re-rig all the gear. I'm currently building some equipment (pair SET monoblocks & Matching Pre-amp, Low pass active Xover), and all new builds will have BOTH BNC and RCA, side by side. No harm there. BNCs will cover normal connections, and the RCAs will be there for when I'm fooling with it, on the road, or just in a pinch. Fringe benefit of a readily available test point/"Y" connector built in.

Next time I have to reach behind a stack of gear with 20 pairs of cables to reach through, and hook/unhook one I'll actually ENJOY it!

Another plus is that the hot conductor is recessed, so if you forget and leave the gain up while moving cables around, you won't buzz the room.

Ordering parts tomorrow - THANKS!

Scott
 
Ha! Don't feel bad... I worked as a video editor at a TV station and it took me YEARS to realize that I should switch to BNC. Even while I would quickly assemble and break down rigs that had umpteen BNC connectors.

Best part of working at a TV station is that there's always one engineer willing to break out the iron and retrofit hard BNCs to your equipment! :banana: completely eliminating the need for adapters (which I never really thought made a difference in the sound anyway...but I guess mentally it feels better not to have more "stuff" in the signal path)

My Panasonic PJ has all BNC adapters on the RCAs and I really don't think anything has degraded.
 
nathanso said:
I bought cables from KnuKonceptz.com and what a mistake that was! The outer connections on the male RCA connectors have no flex whatsoever. On some RCA jacks the shields make zero contact! On others the won't go on no matter what. I've taken to crushing and uncrushing (with a C-clip pliers) the ends to size them when I have to relocate them. Getting them off is sometimes a scary proposition as they often get stuck, though I've yet to explode a jack. I'm utterly disgusted my their poor design.

I'll be making my own cables next, using *properly engineered* Switchcraft 3502 RCA plugs and milspec RG316 silver coax.
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Those are very good and affordable. They are the RCA's Shindo uses on his IC's. No kidding. :thmbsp:
 
The right way to grip

DualRef said:
I have a set that fit loosely, you spin the connector barrel on the cable around and you have an instant DGAC connection.
Click to expand...

I like this kind a lot - all of my Kimber interconnects have these. Let's face it, the RCA is a terrible connector design.

On vintage equipment, the jacks are often too close for today's cables. The cheapest right-angle RCA connectors from Radio Shack will solve this problem; just don't tell your audiophile friends.

The only modern high-end cable skinny enough to fit my tube gear is the Audience. It seems to be as good as any other.

I suspect very strongly that a lot of the perceived performance difference between cables comes down to clean and solid connections.
 
Super866 said:
I've found that treating the cables and plugs on the componet with progold seems to lube it up a bit. Caig also makes a product called caiglube for this purpose i believe.
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I've used Deoxit from Caig on the component jacks and my tight RCA's slide on and off much easier. Other than that I just gently pull/twist and haven't had any accidents over the years.
 
In my book the WBT's collet/screw types are the worst. I recently had to re-solder all the rca jacks on my Tandberg cassette deck. A few years back, I also had to replace loose jacks on an Arcam integrated. No matter how carefully you fit or undo them, these things place strain on rca jacks. Evil, I tell ya!

tripod
 
MannyE said:
Talk about reviving a zombie thread. Holy cow.

I still think the BNC is best connector ever.
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I agree, Manny. they`re a superior coaxial connector low loss usable to 12 Gig or higher, but the original 3 piece type (non modern HQ compression type) can be a PITA to properly strip prepare the coax to the required center insulation and outer jacket lengths for soldering the center pin and then physical assembly.

Simple Locking push in and twist design and good water resistance, due to the sealing rubber O-Ring, and available in true 50 or 75 ohm impedance (important for RF frequencies, especially as one starts using them at VHF low band on up, for low SWR reflectivity due to mismatched connector and coax internal center to shield spacing differences between to 2 impedances).

Not a concern for use as audio cable connectors, as either 50 or 75 ohm connectors will function perfectly in that low frequency undemanding application.
 
My silly brother once bought some huge silver interconnects that were tight and unyielding. The jacks on his McIntosh amp broke right off!
(McIntosh didn't use jacks with nuts to secure them, but rather used the old style bradded on the chassis type.)
 
The Monster cables which were common at Best Buys around 20 years ago were the worst and strongest deathgrip RCAs I ever experienced. You couldn't rotate them on the jack without the connector itself breaking or the panel jack breaking off.

I've been using a Yamaha A-S2100 integrated amp the past few years and I don't think any deathgrip RCA could bust these jacks. They're SOLID.
 
zenith2134 said:
The Monster cables which were common at Best Buys around 20 years ago were the worst and strongest deathgrip RCAs I ever experienced. You couldn't rotate them on the jack without the connector itself breaking or the panel jack breaking off.
Click to expand...
Been using and have tons (7 different rooms A/V systems, both receivers & separates) of both their upper mid line grade audio and composite video cables, and guess what, no equipment RCA jack failures, and no inadvertently/accidental disconnecting cables when moving/changing equipment since my first purchase and use of a pair in from Crutchfield in 1986.

Sorry to read on A/K about others and your bad experiences with MC brand RCA cable connectors.
Very lucky, I`m guessing that I`ve been.
 
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