Best bang-for-the-buck interconnects?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Strat-Mangler, Jan 16, 2017.

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  1. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    More like this?

    www.ebay.com/itm/272464990402
     
  2. 33na3rd

    33na3rd Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW Washington, USA
    The KAB/Cardas interconnects look interesting, and fit the OP's price goal.

    KAB Electro Acoustics http://www.kabusa.com » You have to click on KAB Cables, the link to the cable page would not copy for me, sorry.

    I have no experience with these cables, but am curious about them.
     
  3. triple

    triple Senior Member

    Location:
    Zagreb, Croatia
  4. russk

    russk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse NY
  5. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    Thanks for bringing this to my attention. My Dynavector P75 preamp has inputs quite close so I suspect getting the bigger connector-soldered version would make it impossible for me to plug them in, making them rather useless.
     
  6. triple

    triple Senior Member

    Location:
    Zagreb, Croatia
    I used to run Cardas GR IC's, very thick cables with unnecessary large and heavy connectors which excerted strain on female rca connectors on the amp side. To make things worse, these are not mounted on the metal side, but are pcb mounted. I had to replace all rca's, but that was the end of the road for the Cardas interconnect. I have been using Belden ever since and haven't looked back.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  7. mesaboogie

    mesaboogie Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Having had the luxury of trying a lot of cables, Audio Art is amazing for the money, even when you factor in how marked up ALL cables are.
    The Audience Ohno mentioned is also very good, but I don't recall that being a sub $100 cable...


    I have two pairs of Audio Art IC-3SE in my system personally, but the IC-3 sounded great and is under 1/3rd the price.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2017
    ribonucleic likes this.
  8. MaxxMaxx4

    MaxxMaxx4 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Winnipeg Canada
    " Best bang for the buck " well the more cost effective ones seem to make only a small improvement,so i won't call any of them a bargain.Purchase the best ones you can afford.
     
    Tim 2 likes this.
  9. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    These guys appear to be a whole lot cheaper.

    Best-Tronics Pro Audio Cables »

    Wonder if these would be a far better bang-for-the-buck option for me.
     
  10. MaxxMaxx4

    MaxxMaxx4 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Winnipeg Canada
    I don't remember that model,are they older ones?
    I've been using Cardas for years and never looked back.
     
    Tim 2 likes this.
  11. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    Fisual. Fantastic for the money
     
  12. triple

    triple Senior Member

    Location:
    Zagreb, Croatia
    GR = Golden Reference
     
    MaxxMaxx4 likes this.
  13. smctigue

    smctigue Forum Resident

  14. smctigue

    smctigue Forum Resident

    I built mine using the Switchcraft 3502A.
     
  15. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    What's the difference or advantage of one versus another?
     
  16. Thouston

    Thouston Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mattoon, IL
    Yes..Mine have the cryogenically treated Switchcraft RCA connectors.
     
    russk likes this.
  17. russk

    russk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse NY
    With Best Tronics you have to double the price of the order because they're selling them individually not by the pair. That and I don't know if they are soldering up the shield on both ends.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  18. PhilBiker

    PhilBiker sh.tv member number 666

    Location:
    Northern VA, USA
    Best bang for the buck is the pack-ins. They're pretty adequate for most users.

    However, if for aesthetic or other reasons you want something more stout, these days you can get some pretty great bargains on NOS component video cables like these:

    ETHEREAL EXS-CV Silver Plated 4x Shielded Component Video Cable 3.2ft »

    If I'm going to have exposed cables and I want them to look nice in a system I look for NOS component video cables and use two of them for L/R stereo.
     
  19. russk

    russk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse NY
    Switchcraft, other than using gold plating vs nickle and what the lug looks like seem to be the same to me. I know some people like the 3502 better because supposedly it's a touch thinner. I have one of both and can't hear the difference.
     
    Rolltide, Strat-Mangler and Thouston like this.
  20. smctigue

    smctigue Forum Resident

    It's been so long since I built mine but for some reason I decided to float the shield on the destination end, probably based on a testimonial or two. I know Jeff soldered his on both ends.
     
  21. Rolltide

    Rolltide Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallejo, CA
    Those are the very same switchcraft connectors from the original recipe, FWIW. Exactly what I use.
     
  22. beavis

    beavis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sayre, Pa. USA
    Check out Ghentaudio.com and get the AO9 ICs for $20 shipped....nice!
     
  23. triple

    triple Senior Member

    Location:
    Zagreb, Croatia
    You are probably right. I chose the ones with black handle and have since forgotten what these looked like so I didn't recognize them.
     
  24. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    Look out TNT Audio on internet
    DIY section. These cables are top
    Notch
    They can be a little inflexible
    If that's a problem then DNM interconnects are about the best at their
    Price.
    I buy the cable and put my own plugs!
    But can be obtained ready built
     
    Mintsauce likes this.
  25. TheVU

    TheVU Forum Resident

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