[lessblue]

I'm going to make my own RCA interconnect for my Squeezebox Touch which will connect to a vintage Yamaha integrated amp which is connected to some vintage JBL L112 speakers.
 
I've seen these Neutrik NF2CB/2 connectors which are on the expensive side. The big deal being:
 

1. Makes ground before signal contact and breaks signal before ground
2. No more disturbing noise and broken speaker cones

 

 
Are these worth the premium  (~$15/pair)? Would I need to terminate both ends with these for them to be effective? Anything to help keep my vintage JBL L112s safe would be worthwhile but just wondering how effective they are really.
 
In terms of connectors, I guess some are fancier, but as long as the solder points are good and (gold) plating not done cheaply there's not much difference no?
Is there a well regarded bang for the buck RCA connector out there? Canare's?

 

[nikongod]

Those are awesome plugs. 
 
Im 50/50 on them. 
I like them QUITE a bit, but there is no good way to use them if you have recessed RCA jacks. They are also a bit of a pain to use on "outtie" RCA jacks, but they hold on tight. 
 
For safety, just take care not to plug/unplug them when your gear is on and your fine. 

 

[labrat]

Delete

 

[samsquanch]

I use these on test cables at work, they're great when you have to plug and unplug test gear on a running system.  they also hold up really well to abuse.
 
For a cable that's just going to be plugged in and stay there, you could save a few bucks and get some gold plated switchcraft plugs.

 

[qusp]

hehe guess he doesnt know what forum hes on, never seen neutrik called expensive here before. that being said neutrik make good stuff. listen to nikongod, you shouldnt be worrying about how it sounds when you disconnect the interconnects; because you shouldnt be disconnecting them while the amp is on, no matter what connectors you use!!!

 

[labrat]

Delete

 

[samsquanch]

Quote:

... because you shouldnt be disconnecting them while the amp is on, no matter what connectors you use!!!

 
not trying to be a jerk, but that's a silly statement.  If this were true, patch bays wouldn't exist.  Besides, these plugs are made to be plugged and unplugged while gear is on and running, that's why they have a ground ring that is designed to make contact before the center pin, that way you don't send an audible pop through a system and possibly blow a speaker.

 

[lessblue]

Quote:

I use these on test cables at work, they're great when you have to plug and unplug test gear on a running system.  they also hold up really well to abuse.
 
For a cable that's just going to be plugged in and stay there, you could save a few bucks and get some gold plated switchcraft plugs.

Thanks, I think I can do without the  NF2CB/2 as nice as they are. I don't plan to plug and unplug much if it all.

 

[buson160man]

 I just bought 4 pairs of the pro-fi connectors.I plan to change the inexpensive connectors on two of my home made twisted pair interconnects.I was just wondering what people think about the sound chracteristics of these connectors or what the sonic effect of using these connectors over other connectors.These are not really expensive the kimber ultraplates cost twice as much.The cardas connectors are more too.
  any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[qusp]

 
not trying to be a jerk, but that's a silly statement.  If this were true, patch bays wouldn't exist.  Besides, these plugs are made to be plugged and unplugged while gear is on and running, that's why they have a ground ring that is designed to make contact before the center pin, that way you don't send an audible pop through a system and possibly blow a speaker.

old post but gotta reply I just saw it, if you dont want to be a jerk, dont be a jerk.... there are all manner of reasons not to plug and unplug connectors live when you have speakers or headphones connected, its just bad practice and why buy a connector just so you can continue bad habits? are you really comparing (mostly line level or below and hardly high quality) patchbays connected to crappy mono industrial systems.... to amplified hifi gear? patchbays are often of the 1/4" mono type anyway, pretty rarely RCA, dont know of many ground first 1/4".... but patchbays have mostly been designed with this in mind

just for example, lets say you have a common gate amplifier, its been on, its AC coupled, while on charge has been building up on the outputs, you plug it in, ground first or not its going to unload all that DC thats built up on the caps, if turned on with it connected it doesnt have a chance to build up. of course this should really have a 50-100K resistor to ground to drain it, but you just dont know with some gear or designs so recommending it as OK us not something I would do. in this situation it would happen even with a balanced common gate stage with XLR and the discharge wouldnt be symmetrical so wouldnt cancel either. its just bad practice and should be avoided.

its cool to have this precaution, it will help in some circumstances, but its not an excuse to do stupid stuff.

if you know for a fact either from experience or because you built the thing that its OK, then sure play loose, but not as a general recommendation on a forum

 

[samsquanch]

Typical patch bays, in let's say in a major league baseball stadium, such as the audio system for the new New York Yankees stadium, which I built (I don't say this to brag, but merely as a point of reference), is full of patch bays, mono through TRS long frame 1/4" jacks, which they swap around like crazy, either to switch which microphone is being used (nation anthem and other announcement type needs), switching EQ/Compressor/Mic Pre and other dsp effects, swapping sources such as cd/fm broadcast/mic pre outs, to rerouting speaker outputs incase of amps blowing up, there are even NL4 jack plates which can be used to reroute speaker level signals for when amps blow out.
 
It's 100% ok, and happens all the time.  Most of the time the connections aren't even making ground first.  Best practice would be to turn the volume down on the channel your about to swap, but even that doesn't happen every time, and their system is still alive and kicking.
 
The Neutrik RCA's are absolutely designed to be plugged and unplugged with the gear up and running, it's a part of their design where the ground connects first to avoid such problems, which I've never seen be an issue with standard RCA's that make connection with signal before ground.
 
Times where you don't want to go goofing around with connections are on old tube guitar amps (Old Ampeg V4's as an example), you'll blow the amp up if you disconnect the speaker from the amp while it's running.  Thankfully this problem has been addressed in newer amps, because of such problems, if a drunk drummer stumbles behind your stack and knocks your speaker cable loose, it's a really hard to get him to cough up the money to fix your head...
 
If gear can't handle a hot swap of cables, then it's got bigger issues, this is not something that should make you cautious of with your cables, but something that a manufacture should be highly scorned for doing.

 

[qusp]

still using something designed for plugging unplugging live as part of its very existence to argue? low bandwidth, line level (yes the thing being plugged is line level) every switch shunted most likely. if it didnt work that would be pretty stupid.

these days its becoming more and more likely that turning the volume down is meaningless in this situation (digital control means its full volume all the time from an analogue transient's point of view)

its a stupid thing to do without knowing its OK

i'm not making recommendations for a perfect world, i'm making recommendations for the real world

 

[samsquanch]

From Neutrik's product page (http://www.neutrik.us/en-us/phono-rca/profi-cable-connectors/nf2c-b-2)for the Profi connector:
 
 
 

1. Makes ground before signal contact and breaks signal before ground
2. No more disturbing noise and broken speaker cones

 
Implying they are designed to do just as I'm saying, to hot swap cables.
 
It's fine to be paranoid about gear, and I may be coming off a bit rude and arrogant, but this is seriously something in all my years in the A/V industry, that I've never seen be an issue.  We pull connectors on active systems driving +$100,000 worth of speakers with no issues.  Is the pro A/V world different than home hi-fi?  Sort of, but not by much, home hi-fi gear is built with a more paranoid mindset, since the people using it range from people who know the complete ins and outs of the gear, to the person who buys a wave radio because the commercial said it was as good as a full rack of equipment.  I've swapped headphones on my Beta22 with it running, done the same with an O2, as well as a tossed together CMOY.  I've never had an issue, and I can't recall anyone ever reporting issues doing so on here, yes I've seen people recommend not doing so, but that's seemingly the extent.  Could it be a problem with tube headphone amps?  Possibly, depends on the amp.
 
I don't make a habit of giving advice on things I know nothing about, and when it comes down to hot swapping RCA's on gear, absolutely fine.  If you can simulate an issue with standard gear, not something you've designed to fail, then I'm more than willing to eat my words.  But when companies such as Neutrik are making RCA's with the intended purpose of swapping cables on running gear, I'm inclined to trust them.

 

[buson160man]

Quote:

 I just bought 4 pairs of the pro-fi connectors.I plan to change the inexpensive connectors on two of my home made twisted pair interconnects.I was just wondering what people think about the sound chracteristics of these connectors or what the sonic effect of using these connectors over other connectors.These are not really expensive the kimber ultraplates cost twice as much.The cardas connectors are more too.
  any opinions would be appreciated.

 I made a mistake buying these connectors. I finally changed the connectors on a twisted pair rca cable and the results have been disappointing to say the least.I had inexpensive nickel plated rca connectors on the cable before and they turned out to be a lot better sounding than the neutriks.I am sorry that I bought the second pair.There was a distinct softening effect with the neutrik connectors and a definite reduction in sound clarity with these as compared to the inexpensive nickel plated rca connectors I originally had on the cable.Oh well at least the connectors were not outrageously priced like a lot of rca aftermarket connectors.Just the same there goes sixty dollars on 8 connectors as opposed to sixteen dollars for the nickel plated ones.
  I cannot recommend these connectors to anyone who plans to use them, keep looking if you had.I reccommend the cheap nickel plates over this connector you would be getting much better sound if you did.In a word these connectors suck.

 

[samsquanch]

Quote:

 I made a mistake buying these connectors. I finally changed the connectors on a twisted pair rca cable and the results have been disappointing to say the least.I had inexpensive nickel plated rca connectors on the cable before and they turned out to be a lot better sounding than the neutriks.I am sorry that I bought the second pair.There was a distinct softening effect with the neutrik connectors and a definite reduction in sound clarity with these as compared to the inexpensive nickel plated rca connectors I originally had on the cable.Oh well at least the connectors were not outrageously priced like a lot of rca aftermarket connectors.Just the same there goes sixty dollars on 8 connectors as opposed to sixteen dollars for the nickel plated ones.
  I cannot recommend these connectors to anyone who plans to use them, keep looking if you had.I reccommend the cheap nickel plates over this connector you would be getting much better sound if you did.In a word these connectors suck.

 
Can you say with 100% certainty that your soldering was not the cause of your troubles?  I use them, never heard them affect sound quality.