Blue Jeans Cables?

Fun fact: Analysis Plus is the only cable I've ever thrown in the garbage when they broke (compression terminated, no solder). These days I understand they more then likely would have fixed or replaced them free of charge, but I can't say I've ever had any other brand of cable at any other price point just stop working.

 

I'd venture to guess that the reason why is transparency about materials, sources, construction methods, electronic specs, without obfuscation or omission, which is not the case with a lot of cable manufacturer; also they only make claims related to the known, understood, agreed upon characteristics of cable and use basic, well-understood designs vs. the esoteric claims about which there's never been any kind of consensus among either engineers or audiophiles for some other designs by other manufacturers.

 

Well that's my point, I don't believe anybody has actually claimed that, and if they do they're wrong. If I had to throw out a number, it would be around ~$20. Much less then that and you're likely in race to the bottom territory.

But with that in mind I'd also add that the "well made" caveat doesn't necessarily claim better sound, it's more about durability. If you want a cable to plug in and not touch for the next 20 years, it doesn't really matter.

 

Bravo on deploying two big words that are actually quite apropos.

 

That does not bode well. I’ve only ever had that sort of thing happen with guitar cables, which are plugged and unplugged frequently and moved/dragged around/stepped on/etc.

 

I've been buying Blue Jeans cables since first after they started. Still using the Beldon/Canare RCA cables from my old 5.1 setup all those years ago. Now they feed coax digital around the house. You get great wire, great connectors, good construction at a reasonable but the not the cheapest price. He added Canare 4S11 based speaker cable a few years after I'd strung about 150' of it in my home theater, or I'd have bought it from him....fyi that's same speaker Cable Benchmark sells with their amps. Again, reasonable prices, high quality. I've made my own cables before, I'm picky, meticulous and nerdy about that stuff (I've got 20 WBT Gold plated Angled Connectors for sale at moment)...and I can't make that stuff any better than what I get from them, especially for the cost/convenience.

Why is Blue Jeans the knee in the curve? Because he knows what he's doing.

Couple years ago I tried to talk him into making custom length power cords with grippy plugs cause I think there's a market and I wanted some to replace some cords that kept working their way out of the wall...I hope he changes his mind on that.

 

I think pretty much any cable is capable of delivering appropriate current to the components. Where I see the biggest differences in cabling is in the shielding. As your system gets more resolving and if you introduce large toroidal transformers into the chain you may need to think about upgrading. For lower priced systems cabling probably doesn't make much difference so stay cheap and just make sure it isn't going to fall apart on you. I tend to use Cardas and AQ because I find them both to be very well shielded. I went through about 3 different ICs before I found one that would work quietly between my SUT and phono pre - it was an AQ with active noise dissipation. Among all cables I find that speaker cables make the least amount of difference - in fact I have never been able to hear a difference.

 

I ordered a pair of BJC speaker wire that’s worked out well for my system. One benefit of choosing BJC is that they weld their connectors to the wire, which is a service that not all cable companies provide. They can weld connectors to a 10 or 12 AWG wire.

If you have an amp and speakers that can accept banana plugs, BJC offers locking plugs, which are much more effective at staying connected if you ever move your equipment or have pets walking/jumping/running on your wires at any point.

 

Hey Bob, you can get ICs for even less than 10 bucks, like around 3 bucks if thats all your audio system is worth to you. However, with decent components, there is quite a difference in overall sound to have at least the minimal level of well-made cabling to transfer the signal between your components.
In many peoples experience, Blue Jeans cables are very well constructed in all the basic requirements and sold at a very affordable price. Their ICs have one of the lowest capacitance values in the industry, and that is usually a good thing.
I have A/B'd them with the cheap sh**, and the difference in sound is impressive.
But really, that's just my 2 cents worth.
Good luck with whatever you end up with.
Cheers.

Dave

 

Yeah @dreamingtree1855 go visit and post some pictures!

 

Blue Jean Cables use a lot of Belden and Canare, which are among the biggest and oldest manufacturers of audio cables. They know what they are doing, they sell to professionals many of whom won't fall for the same b.s. many consumer audiophiles swallow, and they tend to all come with actual technical spec sheets so you know what you are actually getting. Essentially, those cables have been involved in plenty of great recordings and if they are good enough to capture/mix the sonic information in often very tough conditions (and long lengths) then they are good enough to transmit the sonic information the short length to your system.

My source equipment for my home theater and my separate 2 channel gear is in a separate room down the hall from my listening room. I bought Belden 10 awg speaker cables from Blue Jeans, to try to ensure no audible signal degradation for the approximately 40 foot speaker cable run. It sounds utterly transparent. I have a pal who often has up to $60,000 of the latest, greatest audiophile cables and I hear just as much detail, nuance, smoothness and sound quality as anything I hear at his place. In fact, I've heard my own speakers that I've sold to him both at my place hooked up to Blue Jeans and hooked up to Crystal Cable, Nordost etc, and there was nothing "revealed" at his place that wasn't there at my place with the Blue Jeans cables.

Along the same lines, I just acquired some Joseph Audio speakers which have incredible resolution. I demoed them many times at the audio store in various set ups, always with top-of-the-line cabling (e.g. Nordost etc), and they sound every bit as transparent and gorgeous in my set up with the Blue Jeans cables (in fact I think better, but then I've been able to optimize them at home).

I'm very glad I put my money in to my speakers/room where it matters most, vs following many audiophiles who think you have to apportion some truly significant amount for cables on the idea you won't hear what your system can do without them. That is not my experience at all.

 

Several years ago I had my house rewired, and part of that project included buying a bunch of Belden 1694a RG6 cable. I ran two runs of cable to each room that might possibly need video, all cables originating in a wiring closet. That left me with a whole bunch of leftover Belden cable. I bought some Canare RCAP-C53 RCA crimp plugs ($4.38 apiece from Markertek). (You can buy 1694a in bulk, or it's about $.90 a foot retail.) So I was able to make some really good RCA interconnects very cheaply (about $9 for the plugs, plus the length of cable) and I'm very happy with the results. What's the catch? To best attach the plugs to the cables, you need the appropriate cable stripper and crimper tools, and they ain't cheap--but if you can borrow those tools from someone, you can whip out several excellent cables (at whatever length you need) quite easily and cheaply.

 

I’m not American, and pay a hefty exchange when it comes to buying BJC product. When I upgraded my amp & speakers a year and a half ago, the hi-fi shop let me take home some Audioquest speaker cables (sorry, don’t remember what model.) Did they sound amazing? Oh yes. Did my custom-made BJC cables also sound amazing? Yes, again. Did I properly A/B them with a switcher box? No. But I wasn’t bummed out when I returned them (AusioQuest cables), and I love love, love how my stereo sounds. If I had an extra $2k to add to my stereo upgrade of last year and bought the AudioQuests, I’m sure I’d be just as happy as I am now

 

I don’t think I have any interconnects from them, but I’ve had a set of speaker cables from them and I’m a fan. BTW, great build quality in my experience.

 

A good starting point for a solidly constructed basic cable and even better a local purchase.

As someone mentioned the cable will project out of the back of your equipment further than many other cables and they are stiff so the bend will also takes up space. I use them in my Home Theater set up since it's a lot of cabling to purchase and not my main 2-channel music system. I only began to buy exotic with cables once my systems sound and dollar range really took off. If you buy into some aspect of cables improvement, be it sound or you want a substantial and we'll built cable to match the quality of your other equipment then Blue Jean is a good starting point for a decent entry level system. Be weary of the cost differential between the cables and associated equipment, in my opinion it needs to make sense. If your system's cost is a few thousand dollars then expensive cables don't make sense. The topic of cables can be murky waters and best to wade into slowly. Unfortunately you never know if a specific cable will be the one until you try it, everyone has an opinion, including this post

 

I’m pretty sure you’ve misunderstood my question. You can tell me if not. I’m not shopping for cables. I own a pair of Blue Jeans LC-1. I also own a pair of Amazon Basics cable (retail $10), a pair of Rega Couple (retail ~$195), a pair of Audio Art (retail ~$330+), and two pairs of Straight Wire Rhapsody S (retail ~$170). I have plenty of first hand material with which to judge.

 

Nah, he just wants you to back up your BS with more than your BS. I know that’s difficult.

 

I don't have B.S.....and I aint got anything for closed minded cats...but I do know this..and no B.S....your Azz can't hear sheit using BJ on Harbeths....lol! And that's on the real!

 

Timely thread.

They just built me custom cables. How cool is that!

Not to mention I’m not sure many can to that.

The cable is to extend a turntable with built in RCA’s and without having to use barrel connectors. So male rca with female at the other end. 3ft.

About the male connector depth to the back of the unit. 3 1/2 inches including the 90 degree turn.

First contact email to product at my door. 3 days.

Customer for life.

 

I use a pair on my TT. Frankly, I do not hear huge differences in phono cables like others. Some state a night & day difference. But the Blue Jeans did produce an edge in performance over generic $10 cables.

 

Worst interconnects I’ve ever used were Blue Jeans. Well made and spec competent but sounded like ass vs any other cable I tried.

 

Fantastic cables. Priced fairly. No snake oil ass like many other brands.

 

The original Rega Couple RCA cables were very well made and sturdy, rebranded Klotz cables. The Rega Couple 2 are inferior in terms of construction. I have a pair of Couple 2's I need to sell, but will keep the original Couple cables for life.

For cheap cables, I like SewellDirdect's Silverback line, but mostly I just use BJC. Best combo of price, construction, customization, and ease of ordering.

 

Thank you Art! Lots of cats at Hoffman know BJC are horrible but don't want to get into the cables wars...and I don't blame them.

 

My goodness.

Consider again that many of the recordings that you likely swoon over for sound quality were created using the Belden/Canare cables (or other similar pro grade cables) which Blue Jeans happens to sell. In other words, every single bit of detail or whatever you think you are enjoying, those cables were entirely capable of transmitting...and in tougher environments than your home.

Then again, in the "if I think I hear a difference it's true because my ears don't lie" paradigm, logic like this doesn't really count.