RCA Interconnects

[Dryfly57]

Okay ladies and gentleman I'm a looking for suggestions for rca interconnects between my classic 60 amplifier and premier 11 preamp. Please tell me why you like the interconnects between the two. Thanks in advance.

[Truth71]

Cardas Clear Reflection. Wonderfully neutral, built like tanks, friendly and ethical company who stand 100% behind their products.

[admin]

What's your budget?

Got money: Audioquest has some very nice options. https://www.audioquest.com/collections/ ... erconnects I've had the oppertunity to listen to many of their offerings as my local high end dealer is an authorized seller. So almost all their setups use audioquest. Their line is varied and you can spend anywhere from two figures to five figures.

Got no money: Blue Jeans Cable. https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm The best bang for your buck cable in my opinion. I've actually made some custom RCA cables for myself and used their cable. No frills but very transparent.

[Big Dog RJ]

G'day mate, greetings from Down Unda.

Before proceeding any further on interconnect recommendations, I'm a bit confooosed on your description:

The Classis 60 is a power amp.
The Premier 11 is NOT a preamp...??? The last time I had these two units in my system were both power amplifiers (stereo versions to be exact). So what's the preamp you're using?

Regarding interconnect recommendations, well that's like asking what flavour of ice cream we prefer. In that case, I really do like Murray River Salted caramel. The wifey likes pistachio and the daughter likes cookies & cream. Since lately though, I've acquired a taste for Diggers Delight (flavour only found in Aus on Phillip Island) bloody good ice cream!

Just to add a few cents worth: although the Classic 60 is one of CJ's newer versions, it still has that wonderful golden glow. The Premier 11 is a true classic! It's a beautiful piece of tube gear, and served extremely well driving various speakers at the time: Paradigms, Maggie's, Infinity's to Quad ESL's. I used several preamps with the Premier 11A- starting with the PV12, PFR, Premier 16LS, Premier 17LS and ART preamp. Interconnects ranged from: VanDen Hull, Audio Quest, Cardas, Audio Note, Kimber Select and finally onto Nordost. That was nearly 35yrs ago, fast fwd to now, and I use exclusively Nordost, nothing else. Again, it's a flavour preference, although Nordost has a superb level of performance, sometimes I cannot justify their exhorbitant pricing, especially when it comes to their Odin Supreme reference.

The Classic 60 is CJ's current production, which is now offered in the Classic 62/SE series. I had all three versions: Classic 60/SE, and the 62se, partnered with the ACT2 preamp. This time driving mostly Maggie's, Quads and ML's hybrids. Interconnects used were a full array of Nordost. Again, that Diggers Delight flavour is awesome!

So matey, it all depends on what YOU like. You're listening habits, musical tastes and sound preferences. Do you prefer a warmer presentation, with lush midrange and good level of definition, any of those mentioned will deliver. If you're after a pristine midrange with smooth highs and decent bass, Audio Quest, Cardas, and JM Labs are really top quality. Then again, if you're after the ultimate listening experience with total transparency and supreme performance in total detail in mids, highs & bass definition where detail can sometimes be too much! Hence, the limitations are in the recordings, and need to be upto par... that is none other than Nordost!

As you can tell, Nordost is my preference, and although it's damn beautiful, it costs a bloody fortune! Nordost does have other lines that are quite affordable but when compared to others available at similar price range, the choices are greater. My sincere advice though, if using interconnects of one type, try to stick with the same brand for speaker cables and end with a higher grade on the speaker cables. The reason being, the signal ends with your speakers and onto your listening room, which you can't control much. Therefore, you want to have the best possible type of connection at your speakers ends, using the highest quality cables you can afford. Also don't forget that power cords also play an important role in any highend system. If you haven't planned to budget for power cords on similar quality, then you'll have a compromise in this area. Therefore, I would highly recommend the full power loom: interconnects, speaker cables and power cords, not just adding better IC's.

Definitely not necessary to sell the family sedan or mortgage the house for ultimate listening purposes to enjoy music. Although I do know a few you've done this and it's ended very sadly for them.

First of all, determine what you're after. What is it you're looking for when listening to your favourite recordings and make sure you have high quality recordings to begin with. Otherwise owning CJ gear is not justified. It really isn't, and CJ gear deserves the best!

Hope my 50cts worth is helpful.
Cheers, RJ

[roberto]

Hola,
Copper is very good for bass, and silver is great for highs and definition. You could combine both too. As AJ said, you can choose with these two elements the flavor of your sound. I combine both metals in my system and I am very pleased with the results. Take your time with the tests. You must listen one change for some good time, have a notebook on hand and write your findings, what you liked and what you did not, Don't use your immediate memory, because it last only a few seconds, Use your long term memory. This way you won't get wrong what you are really liking. Trust your ears, they are the final judges, no matter what I can say or a reviewer. Your liking might be different of what I do like and vice versa. The sound quality is a matter of liking. We can coincide with our liking, as an example...Conrad Johnson sounds right!

RJ explained all these using ice creams flavors.

[Joe Appierto]

I think the Premier 11 as a pre is a typo by the OP. I believe he has a Premier 14 pre, or at least he did, according to his profile.

Carry on.

[Big Dog RJ]

Oh ok, Premier 14 preamp... that makes more sense. Didn't check the profile.

Also just to add another 50cts worth: cables and power cords are also heavily influenced by the type of speakers. So not just IC's... such that, every speaker system sounds different. Multiple drivers will sound totally different to panel type speakers, which use a single driver with a single type of material. This reduces phase issues, diffused sound, complex cross-overs and presents a purer sound. One that is uncoloured and more natural to the musical instrument.

The more driver arrays the complex the cross-overs, and every type of driver operates in its own range and various frequency ranges. Merging different driver types is a very complex and time consuming process, in order to arrive at a balanced sound.
Some brands do a marvellous job, whiles others are all over the joint. So choosing the right type of cables will depend on the type of speakers and the signature sound they present vs what the owner/user is looking for.

Other than that, enjoy those fine tunes!
RJ

Note: just wanted to edit my earlier post, slight error on the JM Labs... it's actually DH Labs. Not sure where the heck I got JM Labs from... must be those exhaust fumes after the car service today. Sorry about that.

[AnotherJohnson]

Highest current CJ muckity muck told me in conversation once that the CJ gear is not that sensitive compared to many others.

When I was running gear from that era (in that era), I used Straitwire and Van den Hul. At the end of my “love affair” with CJ, I was using AudioQuest Mckenzies.

[Dryfly57]

Okay ladies and gentleman I'm a looking for suggestions for rca interconnects between my classic 60 amplifier and premier 14 preamp. Please tell me why you like the interconnects between the two. Thanks in advance.

[Joe Appierto]

I've owned three different CJ preamps, two amps and one control amp. None were the ones you mention. Always found XLO to be an excellent match because they simply get out of the way and allow you to hear the sources. One thing to be careful of is to get them from either someone you trust or from an authorized dealer because Chinese knock-offs of XLO abound.

That having been said, the members of this forum are a wealth of information and have tried a bunch more of both CJ equipment and cables to try them with.

[paulCJ]

Am just seeing this thread now, almost 3 months later, but I just discovered Front Row Reserve rca interconnect by Audience. Has a combination of copper and silver along with their cable design. Has helped my GAT-S2 preamp, both from source to preamp, and from preamp to amp.

[admin]

I attended (via Zoom) a meeting of The Boston Audio Society this week (https://www.bostonaudiosociety.org/index.htm). They had Galen Gareis, retired Belden engineer, and designer of Iconoclast Cables, and I think the man behind Blue Jeans Cables. It was actually a really interesting talk with much of the electrical equations and concepts going above my head, but nonetheless it was probably the first time there was a technical explanation of why RCA interconnects can sound so different.

I think many are familiar with Blue Jeans Cables as a supplier of high quality cables at (what most audiophiles would consider) bargain prices.

They apparently have a higher end line which is more expensive aimed at the upper end. It's worth a look as Mr. Gareis seemed very knowledgeable. Their website is: www.iconoclastcable.com

[paulCJ]

Galen is a guru, and still involved, even though is sort of retired. Have met him a few times at Axpona and he can explain cables better than most. He has found measurable differences in audio cables and has designed cables based on those measurements. While his designs do sound better than some other cables, some cable companies have released cables that are claimed to sound much better than his by other audiophiles that I trust.

[admin]

I'm certainly not claiming that his cables sound better (or worse) than anybody else's. I was just impressed with his presentation which was very technical with a focus on actual electrical equations to explain differences in sound and cable design vs the typical "we use 99.9999% pure silver that we cryo-treat 16 times and that is why ours sound the best" explanation.