Help finding good Coax for RCA cables

[xxllmm4]

Hey everyone,

I'm interested in making my own RCA's. I have made some in the past from left over scraps but I'm looking for something a little higher end. Maybe some military graded or for the industrial market cable?

I'm not looking for high end audiophile price tag's just a good quality Coax at a good price that's easy to work with and flexible.

Thanks
Jordon

 

[nashbap]

Hey everyone,

I'm interested in making my own RCA's. I have made some in the past from left over scraps but I'm looking for something a little higher end. Maybe some military graded or for the industrial market cable?

I'm not looking for high end audiophile price tag's just a good quality Coax at a good price that's easy to work with and flexible.

Thanks
Jordon

Try navships who sells on Ebay. He carries a lot of different kinds.

Nash

 

[xxllmm4]

Thanks for the info, would something like this be suitable for RCA's ?

25 Feet 22 AWG Shielded Silver Teflon Wire Coax White | eBay

 

[DF96]

You don't need silver. You don't need teflon. You don't want military or industrial coax, as that may be inflexible. For interconnects an RF impedance of 75R will have less capacitance than 50R; use higher impedance if you can get it, especially for longer runs.

 

[AndrewT]

you can use microphone cable into an RCA plug.
Screened two core or screened star quad, can both couple to an RCA plug.

 

[Speedskater]

An excellent paper on real world RCA analog interconnect cable:
LC-1 Audio Cable Design Notes -- Blue Jeans Cable
Subwoofer Cables from Blue Jeans Cable

An excellent more theoretical paper:
"Balanced vs. Unbalanced Audio System Interconnections" (pdf file)
http://www.hottconsultants.com/pdf_files/Audio Interconnections.pdf

 

[Pano]

I use Canare guitar cable and love it. Sturdy, beautifully built, flexible, non-microphonic, superbly shielded and comes in pretty colors. What's not to like?

Canare GS-6 Guitar Cable Per Foot - Black

 

[richie00boy]

You don't need silver. You don't need teflon. You don't want military or industrial coax, as that may be inflexible. For interconnects an RF impedance of 75R will have less capacitance than 50R; use higher impedance if you can get it, especially for longer runs.

While I agree with the above, teflon insulation makes it easier to solder. I use RG316 purely because of that reason. It is also thin and flexible and not too expensive.

 

[DF96]

A bigger hotter iron combined with a quicker soldering technique can reduce insulator melting.

 

[erik777]

I find using microphone cable gives me excellent performance on the cheap.

 

[SY]

I do what Pano does- I get low noise cable at a guitar shop. Teflon/silver carries too much noise risk while delivering no particular benefit.

 

[Pano]

Teflon/silver carries too much noise risk...

For those interested, look up Triboelectric Effect.