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Entry Level Interconnect Reccomendations

Hello all,

I wanted to come here to ask you guys’ advice on some interconnects. This is my system:

Spica TC50 speakers
2x M&K VX-7 II subwoofers
Emotiva XDA-2 digital preamp
Adcom GFA-545 amplifier
Harrison Labs PFMod crossover (soon to be replaced by MiniDSP)

I connect my Emotiva to my crossover via RCA male>male adapter, for the best quality. This means I have only 1 interconnect in my entire system (crossover to the amplifier). I have been using these basic Acoustic Research RCA cables. A friend lent me his Aural Thrills and Tara Labs interconnects and I heard a pretty significant difference when replacing my AR cables with them.

So I now plan to buy my own interconnects, and I wanted to come here for your suggestions. Here are some options I’ve come up with, but feel free to add more:

Cardas Crosslink
Audioquest Diamondback
Audioquest King Cobra (same price as Diamondback right now)
Audioquest Colorado (under $175 right now)
Nordost White Lighting (slightly out of budget, but I can pull it off)
DIY DH Labs Pro Studio
DIY VH Audio Silver Interconnects
Edit: Wireworld Equinox 7


I’d like to keep it under $150USD for 1.0M pair.

Again, if there are any other suitable options, feel free to add them. The above list is just some un-educated guesses I threw out there.

Thanks so much!

128x128ocinn
erik_squires
16,046 posts
 
@dgarretson

Thanks for the vote of confidence!! But I must admit I splurge on silver connectors from cardas... real bastards to solder... but beautiful.

For XLR I go with the silver plated Neutrik's. Pretty much the top of the line in the pro world and still reasonably priced. The silver to silver contact minimizes issues going from one metal to another.
ocinn's avatar
ocinn OP
17 posts
 
@erik_squires 

Yes, the SRCA seems great, but $46 for a set of four at the soniccraft price. That's about as much as it costs for the bulk cable. Is it worth it?
pbnaudio's avatar
pbnaudio
1,613 posts
 
https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm

My go-to for entry level cables, BJC is an excellent company too.


Good Listening


Peter
erik_squires
16,046 posts
 
Welll, they are incredibly well made and I like having jewels hidden where I can't see them. :)  However I cannot tell you if they sound better or worse than other options.  I read a long time ago that mixing metals had possibly deliterious effects, so if I use silver cables I try to keep silver to silver contact from end to end.
mb1audio
151 posts
 
" For XLR I go with the silver plated Neutrik's. Pretty much the top of the line in the pro world and still reasonably priced. The silver to silver contact minimizes issues going from one metal to another. "

" I read a long time ago that mixing metals had possibly deliterious effects, so if I use silver cables I try to keep silver to silver contact from end to end. "

If you want silver to silver contact, you need to use solid silver. Plating isn't good enough. It can be complicated, and here are different ways to do it. For example, if you wanted to plate silver over copper directly, you can only put an extremely thin plate on before the process stops working. Once the exposed copper is covered by silver, the process stops working electricity. The ultra thin coat of silver will not stop the signal from interacting with the underlying metal. From that point on, if you want a thicker plate of silver, you'll need to plate another metal over the copper, like nickel of rhodium first, and then plate the silver. But even then, there will be some interaction, but now with 3 metals, not 2. 

You have to also consider the costs of plating. Its probably cheaper to just buy solid silver than plate it over another metal. To do a good job, just having the list of materials on you may be enough to have you detained, or possibly arrested. 90%+ of this type of plating is sent to places like China.

There's plenty of audiophile connectors in the market that use solid silver. Furutech, WBT....
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