Rca Female
[phpbay]Rca Female, 100, 14948, “”[/phpbay]
Cables are neither ‘digital’ nor ‘analog’. Cables are conductive material, usually metal, generally surrounded by non-conductive insulating material. The properties of cables that matter are:
- Gauge – The thickness of the conductor. As a general rule, thicker offers less resistance to the electrical flow.
- Conductive Material – The nature of the wire itself. Generally copper is used based on overall price performance. Yes, gold would be slightly more conductive, but at a much higher price.
- Connectors – In the case of standardized connectors as in home audio, likely differences between connectors are surface coating – gold is less prone to oxidation so makes a generally good connection. With RCA type connectors and many other types, the quality of the jack (female) is more important than the plug, because it should include some flexibility in order to press itself onto the plug and make a good electrical contact.
For signals that are to be amplified, i.e. not for power connections and not for speaker wire, there are some other criteria
- Shielding – a conductive layer outside the insulator (and perhaps inside a second insulator) that prevents unwanted signals from being induced into the primary conductor(s).
In audio and video signal applications, this is very important. Poor shielding results in noise. This most often manifests itself as hum in audio and snow in video. Poor shielding will provide a poor signal just about anywhere on the planet.
- Capacitance and Impedance – no matter what, the relationship between the shielding and the signal carrier will be a capacitor. In simple terms that means some form of signal degradation. In most modern (since 1950) cable, this is minimal. If someone claims they can notice this effect in audio cables without using test equipment, hearing specialists would like to examine them. In video, the worst thing you might get is a slight colour shift. If you can see it, change the wire.
So… are monster cables better? The fat ones for speakers may be of value if you are pumping out more than 40 watts – particularly in car audio applications where the voltage is perforce low.
Otherwise, be like the cable guy who answered earlier and do a test using returnable cables. When ‘free’ cables are included with equipment they are usually reasonable quality. The equipment manufacturer is not going to risk the whole purchase on badly performing cables.
[phpbay]Rca Female, 100, 14948, “”[/phpbay]
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