Opinions on RCA jacks for tonearm cable

[Salectric]

For best sound quality without regard to cost you have two choices—-WBT Silver or Audio Note AN-P Silver. I have cables with each one but have not compared the plugs alone.

KLEI plugs, all of them including the Absolute, have a softness that may sound pleasant at first but once you identify it you can’t ignore it. It’s a coloration.

 

[Gemini]

[/QUOTE]WBT Silver or Audio Note AN-P Silver. I have cables with each one[/QUOTE]

Do you use Audio Note silver wiring as well?

 

[Salectric]

My Triplanar tonearm has copper Discovery wiring. For the link between the SUT and phono preamp, I use Audio Note cables either AN-Vx (silver) or ISIS (copper). I have Audio Note Sogon (silver) between the phono preamp and linestage and ISIS between the linestage and power amps. With one exception, the AN interconnects all have AN-P RCA plugs. The exception is the 1/2m ISIS between the SUT and phono stage; it has WBT Silver.

My son recently replaced the copper Cardas wiring inside his Siggwan tonearm with Audio Note silver, and he was very pleased with the improvement.

 

[Gemini]

Thank you for the clarification. I probably did not express my original question very clearly. I am trying to find out whether it is likely to bring worthwile sonic benefits to upgrade my tonearm wire from Discovery cable to something else, and what such alternative solution might consist of. It would be quite frustrating to go to all this effort and then find out that I should have stayed with my currrent set-up.

 

[Salectric]

I understand. The Discovery wire in the Triplanar is quite decent as you know. That's what I have used for nearly 15 years and I have never felt it was holding things back. On the other hand, unless we hear the same setup with better wire, we won't know how much better it could sound.

Why not contact Tre at Triplanar about upgrading the wiring? I know he is using silver wire inside his current arms, or at least it is an option, so he would know what type of silver wire sounds good in this arms. As I am sure you know, there are all sorts of silver wire and many of them do not sound good at all.

 

[DaveyF]

I understand. The Discovery wire in the Triplanar is quite decent as you know. That's what I have used for nearly 15 years and I have never felt it was holding things back. On the other hand, unless we hear the same setup with better wire, we won't know how much better it could sound.

Why not contact Tre at Triplanar about upgrading the wiring? I know he is using silver wire inside his current arms, or at least it is an option, so he would know what type of silver wire sounds good in this arms. As I am sure you know, there are all sorts of silver wire and many of them do not sound good at all.

Interesting comment about Tre...why do you believe that his opinion of what silver wire sounds good in his arm has to jive with yours..or anyone else's?
It certainly could, but then again...is it not possible that it would not?
My point is that we seem to always believe that the designer/manufacturer has knowledge of exactly what sounds the best in their product, while many times this may be true, IME in many instances...it is NOT!

 

[Salectric]

Tre seems like a conservative designer. He isn't one to make changes quickly. That leads me to believe he evaluated more than one silver wire before settling on the one he is using. But you're right. I don't know that for a fact, and audio designers often make choices I wouldn't make, whether for reasons of economy or otherwise.

But how likely is it that you will re-wire your Triplanar with multiple wiring harnesses just to hear how they sound?

Fortunately some arms are much easier to re-wire. A great example is the Analog Instruments Siggwan which has all of its wiring pressed into a slot on the underside of the cocobolo arm. I replaced the original Cardas wiring in my Siggwan with copper Litz wire made by 1877 Phono, and after a year or two replaced that with a custom harness of Discovery copper wire. The Discovery harness was more of a lateral move, but both were better sounding than the Cardas. As I mentioned earlier, my son who also has a Siggwan replaced his Cardas wiring with Audio Note silver Litz tonearm wire, and he noted a major improvement. So there is one arm with 4 different types of wire. Each wire change has to go through its own period of break in so it is not easy to compare one wire to another when one of them is new.

 

[ceausuc]

For best sound quality without regard to cost you have two choices—-WBT Silver or Audio Note AN-P Silver. I have cables with each one but have not compared the plugs alone.

KLEI plugs, all of them including the Absolute, have a softness that may sound pleasant at first but once you identify it you can’t ignore it. It’s a coloration.

Have you ever tried also ETI link silver RCA?
WBT Silver is everyone's favorite but some people complain about using them...
It seems that in order to access the ground pin you have to remove a plastic part and some say it is not that easy, it may also break... Anyone experienced that?
I'm a hobbyist, not an experienced cable builder ...

 

[DaveC]

Have you ever tried also ETI link silver RCA?
WBT Silver is everyone's favorite but some people complain about using them...
It seems that in order to access the ground pin you have to remove a plastic part and some say it is not that easy, it may also break... Anyone experienced that?
I'm a hobbyist, not an experienced cable builder ...

WBT are among the easiest of RCA plugs to install and the silver WBTs are the best.

Some have issues with the locking mechanism, but imo it's really not difficult and the newer 0152 have a way to prevent over torqueing of the locking barrel. So, I'd go for 0152 Ag.

 

[microstrip]

Have you ever tried also ETI link silver RCA?
WBT Silver is everyone's favorite but some people complain about using them...
It seems that in order to access the ground pin you have to remove a plastic part and some say it is not that easy, it may also break... Anyone experienced that?
I'm a hobbyist, not an experienced cable builder ...

Although some of them are known to sound excellent, I dislike RCA connectors with minimal or fragile ground connections - a loose ground connection can result is severe damage in a system, particularly if you are using mono block amplification, where you do not have the protection of the other channel ground wire.

For safety nothing beats the Neutrik RCA that connect ground before signal.

 

[DaveC]

Although some of them are known to sound excellent, I dislike RCA connectors with minimal or fragile ground connections - a loose ground connection can result is severe damage in a system, particularly if you are using mono block amplification, where you do not have the protection of the other channel ground wire.

For safety nothing beats the Neutrik RCA that connect ground before signal.

WBT RCA plug's ground is neither minimalist nor fragile. With the locking mechanism it's very robust imo.

People's issues with WBT plugs are due to over torqueing. Info here:

How To Use WBT Locking RCA Plugs

I'm going to go over how to use the WBT 0102 Ag locking RCA plugs I use in many of my cables. First, why locking RCA plugs? They are a pain! :evil: I know, but there are some advantages! :) - RCA jacks are not all the same size so if you don't have locking RCA plugs some may be too...

www.whatsbestforum.com

However, the 0152 that I currently use has a step in the body to prevent this issue.

 

[Salectric]

Have you ever tried also ETI link silver RCA?
WBT Silver is everyone's favorite but some people complain about using them...
It seems that in order to access the ground pin you have to remove a plastic part and some say it is not that easy, it may also break... Anyone experienced that?
I'm a hobbyist, not an experienced cable builder ...

I haven't tried the ETI Link silver but I did recently try ETI Link Copper, and I like it very much. The Copper Link has good detail and dynamics and a fairly even tonal balance; my only complaint with it was a somewhat dark upper midrange. That said, WBT 0102 plugs, copper and silver, have significantly more inner detail and don't suffer from any darkness coloration.

I have never experienced any problems with the WBT 0102 plugs coming loose from chassis jacks or any other type of reliability issue. I agree that the WBT plugs don't feel quite as solid and secure when tightened (properly) to a jack as, say, Audio Note or ETI plugs, but in practice I have never encountered any problems with them. I might have a different opinion if I was using the WBT plugs with a massive cable or if the cable had to make a sharp right angle bend close to the plug, but with the lighter weight cables I use I have never run into any problems with the WBTs.

One other thing---the WBT and the ETI plugs are very easy plugs to terminate, at least with lightweight cables.

 

[DaveC]

I haven't tried the ETI Link silver but I did recently try ETI Link Copper, and I like it very much. The Copper Link has good detail and dynamics and a fairly even tonal balance; my only complaint with it was a somewhat dark upper midrange. That said, WBT 0102 plugs, copper and silver, have significantly more inner detail and don't suffer from any darkness coloration.

I have never experienced any problems with the WBT 0102 plugs coming loose from chassis jacks or any other type of reliability issue. I agree that the WBT plugs don't feel quite as solid and secure when tightened (properly) to a jack as, say, Audio Note or ETI plugs, but in practice I have never encountered any problems with them. I might have a different opinion if I was using the WBT plugs with a massive cable or if the cable had to make a sharp right angle bend close to the plug, but with the lighter weight cables I use I have never run into any problems with the WBTs.

One other thing---the WBT and the ETI plugs are very easy plugs to terminate, at least with lightweight cables.

If you check out the link I posted the locking barrels are now made of a softer brass and many of my customers started to over torque the plugs where previously it was very rare.

Interestingly, I've found a vast majority of folks don't see that the locking barrel has separated, and as micro said this is dangerous because it won't lock the ground in place reliably anymore.

The way to avoid this is simply to buy the 0152 instead.

 

[Salectric]

If you check out the link I posted the locking barrels are now made of a softer brass and many of my customers started to over torque the plugs where previously it was very rare.

Interestingly, I've found a vast majority of folks don't see that the locking barrel has separated, and as micro said this is dangerous because it won't lock the ground in place reliably anymore.

The way to avoid this is simply to buy the 0152 instead.

I read the instructions and cautions on the post you linked to. Fortunately I believe my manner of tightening and loosening the WBT plugs matches the recommended procedure. It's really just common sense but I can certainly see how some people will carry the tightening to an extreme and could damage the plug as a result.

 

[microstrip]

WBT RCA plug's ground is neither minimalist nor fragile. With the locking mechanism it's very robust imo.

Yes, they are very solid. I was only addressing the ETI link silver RCA type.

 

[ceausuc]

I received the 0152's the other day. Indeed, it was really easy job to solder the cable on them. Locking them is also pretty intuitive. I can't comment on their 'sound' as my new cable uses different wire, but I like a LOT.
Too bad I didn't buy them from the start and I waisted money on cheap, bad connectors...

Thanks everyone.

 

[Ron Resnick]

For jacks Furutech FT-903(R)

For plugs WBT 0102 Ag. Another good choice is Furutech CF-102 but the WBTs are a little better. Every good RCA plug is locking, they need to be because tolerances for the OD of the ground connection of RCA jacks are not great.

Hi Dave,

Why do you prefer the FT-903(G) over the FP-900?

Thank you!

 

[DaveC]

Hi Dave,

Why do you prefer the FT-903(G) over the FP-900?

Thank you!

Hi Ron, the 900 is copper alloy, 903 is pure copper. 901 is the highest end RCA jack and has a brass body rather than plastic, but is not available with gold plating. Overall I think 903 is a great value for a pure copper connector.

Also, the new CF-102R NCF RCA plugs are a huge improvement and at least the equal of the WBT silver plugs. They are more robust, have superior plating that is easier to clean and come with a carbon fiber/stainless locking barrel to control vibration, with WBT I add a carbon fiber damper. Listening to both, it's really hard to tell them apart, the NCF material has a noticeable effect but not as much as the NCF AC power products. Overall the new Furutech NCF RCA and XLR plugs are my top choice.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Dave, you'll be glad to know I'm going with WBT 0152 RCAs on new copper and silver Litz tonearm wires I'm having made up for me.
Zavfino 1877 Litz, Alphason Audio Pin-Jacks at cart end.
The guy making them up for me praised them for ease of connecting wire into them and their SQ.
Good to see you back up his choice.

 

[DaveC]

Dave, you'll be glad to know I'm going with WBT 0152 RCAs on new copper and silver Litz tonearm wires I'm having made up for me.
Zavfino 1877 Litz, Alphason Audio Pin-Jacks at cart end.
The guy making them up for me praised them for ease of connecting wire into them and their SQ.
Good to see you back up his choice.

They are excellent plugs, just make sure to clean them regularly, if you let them go too long it can be hard to get the dirt off... the platinum plating doesn't corrode but it's not quite as dirt resistant as gold or rhodium.