RCA tip

[JaxPT]

Just a little tip on RCA interconnects.

Cat 5 or 6 PC networking cable works great for making your own RCA cables. http://www.directron.com/cbl-rj45-50.htmlYou'll need your length of network cable and RCA terminals, you can find em at radio shack or somewhere similar, theres 2 types, crimp and solder. I prefer not to solder so I got the crimp on style for $3 (pack of 4)http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=274%2D451

Making the cable is really simple, get your section of network cable and strip about 3" off of each end. pay attention to the twisted pair cabling inside before untwisting make note of the color twists. there are 4 pair of twisted wires inside, each a seperate color, a solid color twisted with a neutral color (white or tan). Untwist one pair at a time and strip the covering off of your wires but keep each pair together so when you get to the other end of the cable you'll know which positive goes with which negative.

seperate the shielding from the RCA input and slide it over the pair you're working with now attach the positive wire to the positive terminal of the rca and same with the negative. crimp and viola. replace the rubber shield of the RCA and you have one Input. you can have up to 4 rca's with one cable. 2 + and 2-.

repeat the process on the other side of the network cable and your ready to roll. Oh and to make life much easier, run your cable from your amp to your head unit before you attach the rca's, its much easier to fish the cable without the ends already attached.

you should end up with something like this http://community.webshots.com/photo/...08178714lxjnwS

you can get real fancy and heat shrink the ends and cover the cable with any typre of wire loom you like

There ya have it nice shielded RCA cables for way less then you would pay for even a cheap 15' pre made rca

[IRPT]

JaxPT, thanks for the information.

[bobs turbo pt]

cool info!! thanks !!

[Rolo]

Hmmm....I dunno. Cat-5/6 are a balanced cable, and regular audio cables are not; the twists will probably distort your signal and likely weaken it.

[ElectricBlueGT]

Unshielded twisted-pair wire is probably the best audio signal transfer cable other than fiber optics. Anyone remember Autosound 2000? This was tested years ago by David Navone and Richard Clark.

Shielding acts as an antenna for injecting noise into a signal path. Shielding is only good for high-frequency noise, not the frequencies associated with the dreaded "alternator whine." Car audio companies stress "shielding" because we think a better cable should have it.

A coaxial cable is inherently "noisy" since the two conductors are far apart (center conductor and the outside conductor are separated). Twisted-pair cables place the two conductors as close as possible via the twists.

Most amplifiers use a form of balanced inputs. Any signal (or noise) common to both conductors is removed via difference. Since the two conductors in a coaxial cable (RCA) are far apart, one conductor will always see more "noise" than the other (amplitude difference). The difference in the two conductors can be very subtle (inaudible) or dramatic. A twisted pair cable design helps ensure that the two conductors see the same (or very close to the same) amount of noise (same amplitude). At the input of the amp, the signal common to both conductors is eliminated. If there is an amplitude difference that is dramatic, the signal or noise will pass through. If the amplitude of the signal or noise is the same or very, very close, no signal or an extremely small signal (inaudible) will be amplified.

Scott

[JaxPT]

Scott,

yep thats where i got the idea to use them, Richard Clarks Audio forum on Carsound.com
Theres still some contraversy about balanced and unbalanced signal but in all reality, i cant hear any difference between these and some $150 gold plated bling bling rca connectors