[Spareribs]

I found some old cheap stock RCA interconnects from the 80's that my mom bought with our Kenwood system growing up. They're those plastic cheap looking Radio Shack style RCAs, not even gold plated.

Wow, they sound great! They survived after these years. I'll still use my expensive after market cable though but damn, stock cables are an amazing bargain for their performance and longevity. I'm impressed.

 

[rb67]

Very nice

 

[Dimitris]

He he. It happens to many people. Some people are very surprised when they go back to their stock ipod buds and they find they they actually dont sound that bad.

 

[penguindude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spareribs /img/forum/go_quote.gif I found some old cheap stock RCA interconnects from the 80's that my mom bought with our Kenwood system growing up. They're those plastic cheap looking Radio Shack style RCAs, not even gold plated. Wow, they sound great! They survived after these years. I'll still use my expensive after market cable though but damn, stock cables are an amazing bargain for their performance and longevity. I'm impressed.

You went back to ur after-market cablea because you don't want to accept the fact that you've wasted a lot of money on something not as worthy.

 

[stewtheking]

Quote:

Originally Posted by penguindude /img/forum/go_quote.gif You went back to ur after-market cablea because you don't want to accept the fact that you've wasted a lot of money on something not as worthy.

Wow, that was... blunt...

In a marginally less rude comment, how do they compare to any stock cables you have lying around from today? Are the stock cables of yore any better than the ones from new stuff?

 

[Thelonious Monk]

lucky you; my stock rca connectors almost completely died in the left channel. must be a faulty connection. i buy aftermarket cables so stuff like this doesn't happen; never had a blue jeans cable fail on me like that. but yeah, my system will have to be far more expensive than it is now for me to further experiment with cables...

 

[PhilS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by penguindude /img/forum/go_quote.gif You went back to ur after-market cablea because you don't want to accept the fact that you've wasted a lot of money on something not as worthy.

Wow, we just can't seem to have any of these discussions without the rude or implicitly insulting comments, huh? Human nature I guess.

 

[toric334]

Only decent interconnect I got is a mini to RCA. Got my DAC, and the only RCA-RCA interconnect I got is a crappy stock one with frayed wires. It sounds suprisingly good.

 

[Patrick82]

Stock cables don't sound bad because the muddiness compensates for the edginess. Every audiophile should listen to a stock cable instead of live in ignorance. Then they know if their aftermarket cables are worth the price. After I listened to stock cable I bought more Valhalla because then I knew it was worth the price.

 

[lowmagnet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimitris /img/forum/go_quote.gif He he. It happens to many people. Some people are very surprised when they go back to their stock ipod buds and they find they they actually dont sound that bad.

What? I can't hear you because I lost my 4kHz range thanks to those little buggers

The Firestone guys include a really nice bright (and thick) yellow IC with their hardware. Its brand is "High Quality Audio Cable" (it's printed down the jacket) I wasn't expecting them to be in the boxes so I bought some Sonic Impact cables. They are nice, and reasonably priced. I love the plugs, made out of some shiny material.

I have all sorts of old gray mono Ratshack stuff from 70s 80s. It's just that ever time I toss something, I end up needing it 4 months down the road

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimitris /img/forum/go_quote.gif He he. It happens to many people. Some people are very surprised when they go back to their stock ipod buds and they find they they actually dont sound that bad.

yes. this happened to me a while ago. i upgraded my dac for my computer rig and had no way to listen to music except through the headphone out on the computer. at first, i was surprised at how good it sounded. but after a few days it sounded awful and began to hurt my ears. when i finally got my new dac, it was not difficult to realize the sizeable (very significant) improvement that it made to the music. my point is that quick a/b comparisons are often misleading and that any worthwhile comparison of components needs to be done over a period of time.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif at first, i was surprised at how good it sounded. but after a few days it sounded awful and began to hurt my ears.

That happens to me every time I try to make a downgrade, it doesn't sound that bad at first, but after a few hours I just want to turn off the music.
After a couple of days I get used to the worse sound and it sounds normal, but I don't like to listen to music anymore for some reason, it becomes very boring. When I restore my system I hear how much I have been missing and I fall in love all over again, I want to listen all day.

With stock cables I'm not interested in music at all. With Nordost Valhalla I want to listen all day, Valhalla is that good!

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif With stock cables I'm not interested in music at all. With Nordost Valhalla I want to listen all day, Valhalla is that good!

i bet they are. i would love to hear them some day.

 

[SayNoToPistons]

Pics?

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimitris /img/forum/go_quote.gif He he. It happens to many people. Some people are very surprised when they go back to their stock ipod buds and they find they they actually dont sound that bad.

I recently found my stock iPod buds and tried them out. I couldn't "go back" to them because I had never actually listened to them when I got my iPod a year ago. Anyway, they sounded terrible.