More from Jeff Day Wordpress Blog:
Think about this for a moment: It turns out that back in the day that Belden 8402 was the choice for microphone cables in a fair number of recording studios (and other pro-audio applications), so there’s a reasonable chance that for your beloved recordings, the live music went to the microphone, down the Belden 8402 microphone cable, and onto the master tape. Part of what you and I associate with ‘the master tape sound’ is unsurprisingly the sonic characteristics of Belden 8402 microphone cable.
Leo, Pete, Ron, Stephaen, and I played a bunch of different mono & stereo records and had a blast listening to music. So how did the Belden 8402 microphone cable sound as an RCA interconnect? Fantastic! Even with zero time on them, straight out of the package from Tokyo, they sounded amazingly good. Smooth and natural, very refined, timbrally realistic, beautiful tone color, and terrific musicality. Yazaki-san regards the Belden 8402 microphone cable “as some kind of ultimate” and I wouldn’t disagree.
We did a little A-B listening with my normal reference, the seriously good Sablon Audio Panatela interconnects ($950 USD for a 1-meter pair), which those of you who have been following along, know that I really love.
The Belden 8402 and Sablon Audio Panatela interconnects sound totally different from each other in the way they’re voiced, yet they’re both fantastic sounding interconnects. So which pair of interconnects was the favored pair in our listening sessions? It was actually a split decision. Two listeners preferred the Sablon Audio Panatela interconnects (Leo and Stephaen), two preferred the Belden 8402 (Pete and Ron), and one called it a draw between them (me).
The bottom line is that I think the Panatela and Belden 8402 are the two best interconnects I’ve heard in my hi-fi experience, and as I get more time on the Belden 8402’s I’ll follow up with more detailed impressions and comparisons.
Here’s the tricky part: the Belden 8402 is non-existent in the USA from the normal audio outlets. Sorry about that. You can find it from a few pro-audio providers, but it’s sold from Belden in 500-feet spools as a minimum order, so it’s hard to find shorter lengths.
So you’re probably wondering how much it would cost to build a 1-meter pair of interconnects using Belden 8402. Well, about a $1000 USD.
Kidding! Belden 8402 sells for about $2.75 USD per foot or less, depending where you buy it. So it’ll cost you less than $50 USD to build a 1-meter pair of interconnects. It is an incredible bargain.
I searched high and low for someone who sells it by the foot here in the US, and I found one pro-audio supplier that was willing to sell it by the foot (10-feet minimum order), Best-Tronics Pro Audio in Tinley Park, Illinois. Here’s a link to their Belden 8402 page where you can buy it by the foot.
Think about this for a moment: It turns out that back in the day that Belden 8402 was the choice for microphone cables in a fair number of recording studios (and other pro-audio applications), so there’s a reasonable chance that for your beloved recordings, the live music went to the microphone, down the Belden 8402 microphone cable, and onto the master tape. Part of what you and I associate with ‘the master tape sound’ is unsurprisingly the sonic characteristics of Belden 8402 microphone cable.
Leo, Pete, Ron, Stephaen, and I played a bunch of different mono & stereo records and had a blast listening to music. So how did the Belden 8402 microphone cable sound as an RCA interconnect? Fantastic! Even with zero time on them, straight out of the package from Tokyo, they sounded amazingly good. Smooth and natural, very refined, timbrally realistic, beautiful tone color, and terrific musicality. Yazaki-san regards the Belden 8402 microphone cable “as some kind of ultimate” and I wouldn’t disagree.
We did a little A-B listening with my normal reference, the seriously good Sablon Audio Panatela interconnects ($950 USD for a 1-meter pair), which those of you who have been following along, know that I really love.
The Belden 8402 and Sablon Audio Panatela interconnects sound totally different from each other in the way they’re voiced, yet they’re both fantastic sounding interconnects. So which pair of interconnects was the favored pair in our listening sessions? It was actually a split decision. Two listeners preferred the Sablon Audio Panatela interconnects (Leo and Stephaen), two preferred the Belden 8402 (Pete and Ron), and one called it a draw between them (me).
The bottom line is that I think the Panatela and Belden 8402 are the two best interconnects I’ve heard in my hi-fi experience, and as I get more time on the Belden 8402’s I’ll follow up with more detailed impressions and comparisons.
Here’s the tricky part: the Belden 8402 is non-existent in the USA from the normal audio outlets. Sorry about that. You can find it from a few pro-audio providers, but it’s sold from Belden in 500-feet spools as a minimum order, so it’s hard to find shorter lengths.
So you’re probably wondering how much it would cost to build a 1-meter pair of interconnects using Belden 8402. Well, about a $1000 USD.
Kidding! Belden 8402 sells for about $2.75 USD per foot or less, depending where you buy it. So it’ll cost you less than $50 USD to build a 1-meter pair of interconnects. It is an incredible bargain.
I searched high and low for someone who sells it by the foot here in the US, and I found one pro-audio supplier that was willing to sell it by the foot (10-feet minimum order), Best-Tronics Pro Audio in Tinley Park, Illinois. Here’s a link to their Belden 8402 page where you can buy it by the foot.