Why you should not use cheap audio cables.

[YarisSedan]

So the place that installed my amp used what appears to be a cheap generic blue audio cable. When i went to unplug them the metal portion of the cable was left inside the amp and the wire just came in in my hand. I was like wtf and took the piece out. It just seperated. Now it makes me wonder the issue with my speakers could have been the faulty wire in the first place.

So before i put in my new amp i gota get new cables. What brand do you guys recommend. I dont wana wait to order online so pretty much whatever i can buy at best buy. I usually see monster cables.

Another thing i noticed that the installer tapped into a black wire in the harness for the deck and ran a wire and wrapped it around one of the rear channel rca cables plugged into the head unit. THis makes me think if its the same one that is plugged into the amplifier that broke when i unplugged it. Maybe it had a faulty ground cause it was seperated and thats what he did to band aid fix it. Cause there was this horrible engine whine. And he was too lazy to rerun new wires. What he told me was the sound was because of a problem with my deck and it was bad. And he helped fix it and save me money.

I guess ill find out once i get new wires and disconect that seperate ground wire and see if there is still noise.

One last thing what do you guys recommend for length of cable. 3 feet is slightly short and a little stretched i have to run it right next to the power and ground wire and i heard that can cause interference. Or 6 feet and ill have tons of slack ill have to bunch it up and have to tuck it up somewhere.

My amp is installed under my seat so its very close to the deck.

[sleey0]

Just look for high quality cables. Not sure what you are looking for exactly (speaker, rca, etc) but monoprice has some of the best wires and cables for cheap. Very good stuff.

I would say stay FAR FAR away from anything monster cable.

With cabling, it is easy to tell the quality just by looking at it usually.

[sleey0]

Oh, and it is better to have more cable and hide it than have too little. The last thing you want is cable stretching.

[YarisSedan]

I am looking for audio rca cables.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Kicker+-...rca&cp=1&lp=12

im thinking somethign like this. I think anything is better than what i have.

[IsLNdbOi]

Screw expensive cables. I use wire clothes hangers.

[127.0.0.1]

ditto, do NOT pay much for cables. not worth it. you are better off
ordering a spool of wire (nice fat gauge stranded) and your own plugs, and
soldering them up yourself. hack up some power cords for supplies.

cheap = weak solder connections, thin copper
expensive = overpriced, burning money
in-between = maybe best deal, least effort
home grown = best overall

[vten]

unless you're running a 10000' of cables ...then don't worry about paying a high cost for those.


purely cosmetic differents on the $10 - $100/ft. spend your $$ on better speaker components or amps ...or on the Head unit.

been there done that :P , I had Denon Dct-Z1, 3 tru technologies C7.4 amps and scans speak revelators speakers and a pair of 12" phase linear Aliante subs before with just the stinger cables while I can go above n beyond using the kimber kable ...but Im glad I didn't do it :D

[KCALB SIRAY]

the total THD from expensive and cheap is mininmal and cannot be recognized just by listening anyway. go cheap.

[talnlnky]

copper is copper, no one company has better copper than any other.

The type of solder used (lead vs silver) and the solder joints could make a difference, but still nothing huge except maybe for durability.

the jacketing doesn't make a big difference because most of the cable will be under carpet and never move...

Shielding is pretty much a joke and just marketing. The type of shielding offered by RCA's is incredibly minimal, If you are serious about THD/Noise reduction/prevention you'd be running balanced or optical signal wires.

As long as your rca doesn't fall apart... that's what matters.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by vten

unless you're running a 10000' of cables ...then don't worry about paying a high cost for those.


purely cosmetic differents on the $10 - $100/ft. spend your $$ on better speaker components or amps ...or on the Head unit.

been there done that :P , I had Denon Dct-Z1, 3 tru technologies C7.4 amps and scans speak revelators speakers and a pair of 12" phase linear Aliante subs before with just the stinger cables while I can go above n beyond using the kimber kable ...but Im glad I didn't do it :D

I've got a Denon deck (awesome piece) and would love to have a Tru amp... the revelators are serious drivers too, don't know anything about those subs tho. Nice to see another serious stereo guy around.

[vten]

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/452753/12

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/452753/13


yup, I used to be an audio freak ..lol..and those things cost as much as my yaris now

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by vten

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/452753/12

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/452753/13


yup, I used to be an audio freak ..lol..and those things cost as much as my yaris now

small world, my last car was the 97 626 as well.

Not sure if you're familiar with this stuff, but uhere is the equipment i'm sitting on until I get around to doing my install work

The Denonford (fosgate badged denon)
Audio Control EQT's + 2XS
Adire Audio Koda 8 midbass
Creative Sounds WR125 (might replace them with the FR125 tho) 4.5"
Some audax tweets

and some old cheap US Acoustics amps... doing 3-way setup, no subs.. 500rms total.

[bzinn 1]

Using Knukonceptz wires in the car,spendy but I like the power wire,super flexable even in 0/1

for the cost it had better last a while......

[sqcomp]

I know at our shop we've got old RCAs just sitting in a box collecting dust. There were some really nice old school PG Zero Point RCAs in there last time I looked. As for expensive cables...I went ahead and bought Stinger's HPM3 series interconnects. The price I would have paid to make my own (the Belkin star quad cable and the Neutrik Pro Fi connectors) was almost identical to my pricing on the nicest Stinger cables. I said, WTH, and went with having a warranty. So far I have absolutely no complaints, the cables are doing the job marvelously.

You know, I could probably convince the shop owner to sell you the nice Zero Point RCAs if you want...for a really cheap price.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by sqcomp

I know at our shop we've got old RCAs just sitting in a box collecting dust. There were some really nice old school PG Zero Point RCAs in there last time I looked. As for expensive cables...I went ahead and bought Stinger's HPM3 series interconnects. The price I would have paid to make my own (the Belkin star quad cable and the Neutrik Pro Fi connectors) was almost identical to my pricing on the nicest Stinger cables. I said, WTH, and went with having a warranty. So far I have absolutely no complaints, the cables are doing the job marvelously.

You know, I could probably convince the shop owner to sell you the nice Zero Point RCAs if you want...for a really cheap price.

i'm not spending any money on gear until I start putting stuff in the car. So, if they are still there then.... then we'll talk.