This is absurd, but unfortunately common. Monoprice: Monoprice offers RCA cables at dirt-cheap prices. There you can order custom cut lengths of pairs of speaker cables, for example, Blue Jean Cable sells pairs of 10 foot "Belden 5000UE 12 AWG Speaker Cable" with banana plugs for $32.25. However you fall on the issue, the Great Cable Debate keeps on rolling. After dealing with lesser made cords for my sub woofer, this one solved all my issues. I think I paid $240 direct from Ortofon. Sort of interesting. Fair enough, I suppose calling it irrelevant just seems a little misleading to me given its importance. I read the comments of others before buying the cable and figured I'd take a chance on something with decent quality after noticing the difference with the cables I already owned. For speaker cables, inductance is the primary concern. But again, not every cable and not in every system. Anyway, while I’m tinkering, exploring and testing, I needed some cables to connect everything I currently had on hand — and didn’t want to break the bank doing so, since, apparently, cables are devilishly temperamental (aka, “sensitive to system synergies”) and I didn’t want to get the “wrong” thing — or worse, the right thing for a system I wouldn’t end up with. So, how do we tell? I use 1 meter Blue Jeans LC-1 interconnects throughout my systems: as a jumper on my NAD integrated amp, as a digital coax cable, as a phono interconnect and as the primary interconnect between my tube pre and power amp. Pity, as I suspect the testing would be relatively trivial to carry out. Anyway, for me, BJC is what I recommend to all my friends and family members as “the minimum”. Why? I’ve heard the difference. Why? After researching cables, the consensus is you can't get better cables for close to the price of these, Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2020. That said, the Kimber interconnects and speaker cables I bought last year are much better than the Blue Jeans I had… much better… so I wonder if BJC is really all that good. Fine. I’m intrigued by Blue Jeans ultrasonically welded connections. What’s going on here? This is a High-Fidelity cable … Bob_in_OKC said: ↑ Depending on the cartridge involved, the RCA cables … I am of neither camp. Do your own testing. I was just listening. Design Papers---Technical Papers : Blog : Policies. This cable was worth the 30 bucks. So, focus instead on the variables that actually vary. They have a Phono cable … The BJC LC-1 contribute a warm, full sound. Switched from Monoprice to these. I bought 2 pairs of speaker cables, center and subwoofer cables. Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2019. Where on earth did you get the notion that resistance is irrelevant? But no cable will fundamentally alter the character of transducer sitting at the end of the chain. A planar is still going to sound like a planar, no matter what cabling you use. But the differences are very real. During that entire time, I have not once wanted for a “better cable” — in fact, I went and bought more of these excellent wires. I have an Ortofon phono cable, which is RCA to RCA, and has a ground wire attached. The setup seemed so easy and I just went to a local store and bought a cheap non double shielded cable to test my new subwoofer. I wasn’t blind folded, I wasn’t doing anything scientific. Posted on March 16, 2010 by Scot Hull in Cables & Power, Publishers Desk // 12 Comments. A shield! BJC is the cheapest thing I’ve found that’s worth using — and it’s very good. Prices start at $469 and climb from there through the various product lines. Make your own decisions — and spend your money accordingly. I think I am in the same camp as you. My bachelor’s is in Mathematics and my Master’s in Computer Science. Science is science. The standard method for psychological testing involves standard scientific procedure, which should include some way of eliminating contaminating effects, such as visual cues, so that the test results are based on what they ought to be — audible cues only. I think it safe to say that we can put that one to rest. It should be a matter of simple empirical testing therefore to determine what differences are on offer, when and why. It's quiet enough to hear a mouse "p" on cotton. I've since (since the purchase of the LC-1's off of Amazon) approached Blue Jeans Cable (via their website) to ask about creating custom cables… Nice and flexible cable that is CM rated (means it's to code for in-wall usage) with a great connector. That said, cables can suck the life right out of your loudspeakers. Not just that one BOOM some subwoofers seem to only be good for. In point of fact, there’s a lot of just the opposite (i.e., marketing), with many forum threads tied up with posters resorting to what amounts to a religious position fairly quickly in the ensuing debate (debacle, more likely). For more information and specs on LC-1, read our "LC-1 Design Notes" article. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Up from there, the forest gets dark and the shadows grow fangs. I tend to lean heavily toward facts. Hosa CPR-202 Dual TS to Dual RCA. I currently have a full set of BJC cables in my home theater rig and while they’re working fine there, I’ll confess that they’re on the to-be-replaced list if I ever get around to actually doing it. Audioquest RCA Cables Review – Best Quality RCA Cables If you want to go the extra mile when it comes to inter connectors, I would suggest getting AudioQuest. To my surprise the audible difference was night and day to the both of us and you would have to be deaf not to hear it. Or a pair of speaker cables changed. While all quality wire should have low resistance given appropriate thickness, overall resistance seems like it could be impacted quite a bit by the connector used and how that connector is attached to the cable. It is able … Of course this comes along with a higher price but I feel it is justified for this product. This is my first rating for any product ever. That’s the good part. Connectors are a critical part of any cable, because if the coax isn't well-joined to the connectors, or if the connectors don't make firm electrical contact with the jacks, it doesn't much matter how good the coax is. That’s terrible information. In fact, I haven’t heard anything even remotely in their neighborhood that comes close. Ok, lots of OCD behavior ensued — I admit it, I have a problem. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. and is nicer than the 8ft. If space is limited, you may want to try an SVS cable. Empirical Audio: What makes excellent speaker cables? I’ve been using a full Blue Jeans Cable “loom” now for the last seven months. I no longer doubt cables. I noticed some loud humming after connecting my turntable to my receiver. Not really, anyway. Reading this, my first reaction was — OMG! So, I did some reading. Some people seem to also use the Canare 4s11 star quad cable from BJC also, not sure if one is better than the other. Of course this comes along with a higher price but I feel it is justified for this product. Sadly, this rather basic approach has been repeatedly attacked as being inadequate — in many cases because a blind test might not consistently support the conclusion that there actually are differences. Top subscription boxes – right to your door. The connectors on these cables are not of the same quality as you’ll find with Better Cables, Blue Jeans… If the cables make a difference, great. Or even the full loom (signal and power cables) changed. YMMV. Several years later and several thousand dollars worth of “other wire” later, I can confirm that it is still very good. Which brings me to the Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 cable, which has a crazy-low capacitance at 12.2 pF/ft. 1. Good point — no one offers an end-to-end measure, though, do they? It’s softer than what I hear when I swapped in my reference WyWires. The bass is tighter, more refined. LC-1 is built exclusively for Blue Jeans Cable by Belden, the leader in American communications cable, and is rated CM for in-wall installation in residential and commercial environments. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Seems reasonable to me. And by that, I don’t just mean the resistance, inductance and capacitance, but also the quality of the conductor, the quality of the connectors, the quality of the solder or joins, and the presence/absence of a shield. Cheers! I’m currently using their Ten Whites and a full set of their LC-1 interconnects. “Just guessing here, but I’m thinking the physical characteristics of the wire would have some impact,” he said with a smirk. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. I used this cable to replace an 8ft cable I had bought which ended up not being quite long enough for the application I was using it in. ... My aforementioned comments stand about the Blue Jeans Cables in general. Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2020. WyWires Cables Blue Series. Bryston: Getting Wired How the hell should I know? If I end up getting a set with the welded connectors, I’ll measure the resistance with a multimeter and report back. Anybody who tells you that a cable is cable is full of snake oil (lol). Love the locking banana plugs. Yeah. Cables can change the sound of a system. I was, for a long time, in the camp of, “what are the empirical measurements of the cable?” To me, that is all that mattered. Prices start at $200 and climb modestly from there. Thank you! Duh. it was replacing. Empirical Audio: FAQ — Short Versus Long Cables The devil, however, is in the details. Here’s the reality check. Hit the. Don't get me wrong, sometimes a cheap cable is the right choice for some purposes, but this cable doesn't break the bank and is made so much better. Tricked! What sounds good to you is all that matters in the end - and this cable sounds good to me without breaking the bank. RCA Cable---BAV Power and Audio : Design Theory. I’m currently using their Ten Whites and a full set of their LC-1 interconnects. For mechanical stability and electrical performance, there's no better RCA … I’ve been using a full Blue Jeans Cable “loom” now for the last seven months. For $40 for a pair, the Blue Jeans LC-1 cables are hard to beat. At least, not their theoretical contribution. Anyways, we listened to some reference test tracks using his expensive cables then switched to my Diy Cat5 speaker cables and replayed the same tracks. I’m not sure I should bother updating this post, but since so many of you keep hitting it directly, I thought I’d throw another couple of thoughts into the ring, just for fun, including a recent “test” done by Michael Fremer over at AnalogPlanet. In all that reading, I learned more than I had anticipated about inductance, resistance and capacitance — and when each matters, or not. That said, I tend to make a Pascalian Wager and simply say that while I have yet to hear the purported differences, there is no reason to assume that such aren’t possible — but anyone claiming categorically that such differences are in fact present must tell me why, too. Not only that, the boomy, hollow, echo-ey bass that I had with music and movies was cleaned up. For interconnects, capacitance is the primary concern. More expensive than other cables but you get what you pay for. Vilely taken advantage of. A: An RCA cable is an audio and video cable. I have had some trouble in the past with video cables coming loose from RCA video jacks… Certified Category 5e, 6 and 6a Cables AmazonBasics Cord. Well, they’re not the most revealing I have and quite frankly, I’ve heard better. Iconoclast---Belden---Blue Jeans Cable : Contact : Dealers: In addition to being available directly on this site, Iconoclast cable … I may try a pair of Mogami RCA interconnects when I get a new component. $32 per pair) - volume discount start at qty: 2 Blue Jeans … Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2020, Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2013. Empirical Audio: What makes an excellent interconnect? I was wrong. There’s a lot of hysteria about wiring in audiophile land these days — I suspect that “wire effect” will remain the Wild West of audio for some time — simply because there’s very little investment made in actual science. Resistance is irrelevant in either speaker cables or interconnects. Not sure if that holds true for audio cables honestly but that’s certainly the opinion of some. The Blue Jeans cable was the only thing I could find in 10ft. And in many cases, do make a difference. I think the point I was making is this: everyone addresses this variable. Price comparison for 6' cable: Monoprice premium: $3.70 (effectively for two cables, so for comparison, $1.85 person connection) Monolith: $20 (each. Missed a post? This page works best with JavaScript. Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 Subwoofer Cable, 10 foot, Black: In some ways the subwoofer cable has the easiest job of any cable in a home theater system, unburdened by high frequencies or wide bandwidth. Grover Huffman makes a phone-specific RCA to RCA as well. Shipping---International Sales---Taxes---Returns : Dealers : About Us. To my ears, it isn’t necessarily the most neutral cable, however, though the differences with cables are almost always minor (or so it seems to me). All I had to do was sit there and listen and try and figure out if there was a positive change, a negative change, or no change at all. Blue Jeans Cable Ten White Speaker Cable, with Welded Locking Bananas, 15 Foot (Single Cable - for one Speaker); Assembled in The USA 4.7 out of 5 stars 14 $51.75 $ 51 . Tiny wires! The Blue Jeans LC-1 Interconnectsuse 25-gauge copper wire with bare copper double-braid shields and a “foamed” polyethylene dialectric to get as close to “air” as possible. Much faster. I appreciate the quality of construction and materials with this cable. Since rigorously testing the conclusions in any meaningful scientific way seems to be precluded by the beliefs of the zealots that oppose them, it does not seem that this issue will be coming to a conclusion at any point in the near future. This cable was worth the money I spent. I don’t know. I may just buy both and see. During that entire time, I have not once wanted for a “better cable” — in fact, I went and bought more of these excellent wires. But I have found quite a few cables, Blue Jeans included, that do not give my loudspeakers all they deserve. Blue Jeans 5T00UP 10AWG Speaker Cable is the real deal. Cables matter. There’s more there, but that’s it in a nutshell. It was SO disheartening to me the day I swapped out coax digital cables and heard a difference… I mean, wtf, this should not be happening. In most cases — in my experience — cables are subtractive. Okay. Sommovigo does spectacular work and the outlay required is reasonable — by audiophile standards. These cables seem like the real deal — and at $32/m for a pair, how can you lose? As to why I’ve “gotten there”, well, it had to do with a series of experiences I had … turns out, I was bamboozled. I will be ordering another double shielded one, but not blue jeans cable. One side of the battlefield is populated by the “There can be no difference!” flag bearers. Anyway, ordered a pair & got them a couple of days ago. Especially for the price, and American made! Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2020. A digital cable is a digital cable. WTF is “foamed polyethylene”? The bass? Of course, the diy cables could be better if i had spent more time and energy ensuring they were as good as they could be, maybe they also needed break in / burn in time also? Turns out, cables matter. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, Worth the money - noticeable difference in sound quality, Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2020. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Things … they change. ... but also were compatible with crimping to the largest Canare RCA … I am really happy with Blue jeans (Beldon) on my main system. Overall detail retrieval is a bit less than I like, too, and again, overall, the sound is a little veiled in comparison to the cables from WyWires. For either, if the cable is short enough (less than 3 feet), lamp wire will do fine. Blue Jeans LC-1's capacitance is about 39 pF/m and it would be more than fine, but it's hard for me to get my hands on a BJ cable, as explained above. The cheap one worked fine. Is that because the WyWires has a capacitance less than half that of the BJC LC-1? The lower the resistance, the higher the conductivity of the cable. Please make sure that you are posting in the form of a question. Anyway, just ordered some more Blue Jeans cables today (still my go-to for quick, well built cables) [Sigh]. ESP: Cables, Interconnects & Other Stuff. I’m currently using a set of their speaker cables bought before that termination was available, so I have their self installed locking banana plugs on each end. 3. All HDMI cables are the same… Then I did my own testing.. and, guess what. Ditto the treble. I generally use mono price "premium" cables, but now there are double premium! I use their Platinum series ($$$) cables in my reference system and I’ve been thrilled with their best-in-class performance. I mean, honestly, the differences in the audible contribution made by cables are not because they’re magical. I do. 2. Blue Jeans is a great company to buy from, Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018, Blue Jeans is a great company to buy from. There are differences (yes, subtle) in cables. It was a common component of TV, home video, and audio for the latter half of the 20th century and was also a popular cable during the early … Do yourself a favor and skip the overpriced Audioquest cables and go with Blue Jeans Cables for whatever it is you may need! I would never pay an exuberant amount of money for cables, but I can tell the difference between the 3 cables I used with my subwoofer. What will cost you $20, $40 or $60 you can get for $3 – $5. McIntosh® to partner with Jeep® Grand Cherokee, Merry Christmas from Part-Time Audiophile, Sonner Audio Names Avantgarde Hong Kong the Exclusive Distributor for China, Hong Kong, Macau, Pacific Audio Fest Registration Now Open | Announcements, has been repeatedly attacked as being inadequate, support the conclusion that there actually, An Alan Maher Designs Power Cord Experiment | Confessions Of A Part-Time Audiophile, Stereolab and The Black Cat | Confessions Of A Part-Time Audiophile, The Great Cable Debate | Confessions of a Part-Time Audiophile. Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 Double-Shielded Low Capacitance Subwoofer Cable,... Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 Double-Shielded Low Capacitance Subwoofer Cable, 10 Foot, White. The cable is affordable, but quite durable and effective for the price. … For more information, see our article: Introducing Iconoclast Cable. I went from a very cheap RCA … Shit cables take a lot away. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Reading this, my first reaction was — OMG! Had some lower quality cables previously, there was a significant increase in quality when using these instead. A … I'd be curious to see if anyone can hear a difference. That is, I’ve listened to systems with everything the same, except a power cord changed. So…are you saying you no longer like Blue Jeans? Guys, i recently built some speaker cables out of Cat5 cabling using the method i found from Audioholics DIY Speaker Cable Shootout 3 because they used scientific methods to show measurements of all the different methods and materials one can use to make speaker cables. In other words, none of these values is important unless the cable gets to a “certain length”, which seems to be some point over 6′. But to be fair, I have yet to hear a true difference between one cable’s contribution an the next. The problem, I suspect, is that there are a great many manufacturers who would suddenly find their business in jeopardy if it can be shown that their $6500/m speaker cables were on an acoustic par with lamp wire. For context, I am using a VPI Classic 3 (with Koetsu Black or AT ART9 carts), so running RCA’s on both ends. I’ve been curious about BJC speakers cables for some time now and will probably try them out. 75 Disabling it will result in some disabled or missing features. My only complaint is with the rca connector type - you need a couple of inches of clearance from each connection end. I love the inexpensive price, the smooth jacket, the well construction, the tight connections and the rigidness of the cable. This is different, notice, from asking what differences are on offer. Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. It's nice, but not cheap. Do some testing. To wit: how can we tell, reliably, what differences are on offer? Moving up from there, I’d look very strongly at Black Cat. With the flexibility of customizing cable lengths and termination types, CL3 approval, and more, you can't go wrong with Blue Jeans Cable. I changed no settings on the receiver or the sub, simply swapped the cable and the difference was very noticeable. Their products get high marks from professional reviewers and audio engineers. But do they matter a lot? The Cable: Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 Analog Audio Cable. Very well constructed cable for a reasonable price. Plus, I am running Canare Star Quad as speaker cables. Great cables take nothing away. Other cables I’d check out, if I were looking for “not quite entry level cables”: Black Cat Cables Neo-Morpheus and LectraLine. Good god, it’s even right there in the second link you post as a reference – “What makes excellent speaker cables?”, The first thing that article says is “Minimize Resistance”. This is yet another affordable and decent quality RCA wire from … In this video I strike at the heart of the audiophile's soul, I talk about cables and their voodoo! Opposing them bitterly are the “You’re Utterly Deaf” crowd who claim to not only be able to hear the differences, but hold that anyone “with a system that is resolving enough” will be able to hear those differences as well (clever insult, there). A lot of the cheaper made cables will have poor fitting connectors that are a pain to use or the jackets are made of poor materials that will crack easily or are tough to bend. You can still see all customer reviews for the product. The cables are top notch. No idea WTF is on this site? I plugged this into my system and got no sound whatsoever. So, I needed some temporary cables until I made some decisions about a new cable loom to better fit my rig and in the middle of all that, I decided I needed to rethink my whole rig. The Connectors: Taversoe Crimp RCA … The price leader is probably Blue Jeans Cable. I re-ran the Audyssey mic cablibrations and the difference is still there. Culprit was a Belkin subwoofer cable. Chris Sommovigo has been working in the ultra high-end for 30 years and more, and has recently started investing in a direct-to-consumer line of products that leverage that deep understanding. Well, i brought them to a friend house that has what one would call a “reference” system, it is truly dialed in and sounds fantastic, it’s one of those ‘end of the upgrade road’ systems. I tested the Blue Jeans cables with a Denon DVD-5900 player, Kaleidescape Media Server, and Sony 10-HT digital projector. First, the Canare plugs are very nice, as they hold the connection tightly. After installing the Blue Jeans cable there is no noise. Over the last year or so, I’ve “heard” a lot of cables. 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