New interconnect

Any views on the QED Qunex 3? Im thinking about getting a subscription to hifi choice and I'd get one free with it. How would it sound on a turntable? looking at the project debut phono sb around april time, do ya reckon it would suit?

cheers again fountains of knowlege

 

The Quenex is ok in the same sense that the adlantic is ok!

It works, you need to look to the more esoteric designs to get a significant improvement over these average cables.
Alternatively I'm a great believer of DIY...do a search in the DIY section for the zero cost cable of mine. This is certainly a level above the QED ....I know as I own the Quenex Two.
I had a lot of sucsess using silver conductors in DIY designs so that may be the way to go.

The termination of the cables plays a big roll in the final sound so don't skimp here. Paradoxically some of the cheapest RCA plugs work very well due to there lack of metal between socket and conductor. IMO the best are the Bullets.

 

how tough are they to make well? I dont have a workshop at uni and getting the bits can also be a bit of a biatch.
Would I notice the improvement over the atlantic significantly with the qunex 3?

 

Just to give an example, I built a DIY interconnect based around DNM reson MkII and Eichmann Bullets in an afternoon. All that was required for assembly was a scalpel to cut/trim the cable, a pair of wire strippers and a soldering iron and a small amount of silver solder. With everything being assembled on the kitchen table. I replaced my existing Qunex 2 with this interconnect and haven't looked back. So if you want to upgrade your interconnect, I would second Zanash's suggestion of the DIY route. You can achieve some impressive results with very little outlay, for example my interconnect cost approximately £30 to make and would cost £70 for the commercial equivalent.

 

right, well I went to maplin today (as they do a nice lil temp. controlled soldering station for a tenner at the moment) and picked up a catalogue which I was subsequently shocked to be charged 3 quid for. Im a bit confused though. Is there any reason why I shouldnt use less than a metre of cable?
would this stuff be any good at all for a simple 3.5mm to 2 phono starter cable? http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=040128103203822&moduleno=131&Products=2
I would only need one run of that for a stereo interconnect right? but 2 runs of this - http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=040128103203822&moduleno=6227&Products=2 or would I need 4 runs? I dont get if you just use the very inner bit or one of the outers aswell like when wiring up an aerial. Is there a good website somewhere about it all somewhere? would that silver cable make a nice cable if I got 2 half meter sections and some phono plugs.

How do you know which plugs are better?
for example http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=040128103203822&moduleno=1005&Products=1
as opposed to http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=040128103203822&moduleno=36517&Products=1 these?

 

SNAP! I picked up one of those soldering irons, since my existing iron was a little underpowered. Pretty good units for a tenner.

To get to your questions, the first cable you mention http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=040128103203822&moduleno=131&Products=2 would be fine for a 3.5mm to 2 phono cable. You'd only need one run of it, as at the 3.5mm end both wires would be connected to the one jack/plug. For the second cable you mention, http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=040128103203822&moduleno=6227&Products=2,you would need two seperate lengths (in fact I believe this is the cable used for the GWS DIY silver interconnect, though I could be wrong). A friend of mine used this cable to make an interconnect and was quite pleased with the results.

When connecting to the phono plugs, you would solder the centre conductor to the signal pin of the plug and then twist a short length of the exposed braid to form a single 'strand' which you would then solder to the return pin/body of the plug.

As for your question regarding the plugs, it's all a matter of taste, but as you're looking to spend around £10 a pair you might want to consider these http://www.hificables.co.uk/Product...D/2361/v/753d60f9-880c-4612-980a-7fbd3e397685 which are only £5-6 more for a set of four, and from personal experience are very easy to work with and give excellent results.

In regards to websites, you could try http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/diycables.html or searching through the DIY forum.

Hope this is of some help.
BL21DE3

 

I'd try to use as shorter length as you can without putting any major stress on the cable.

I always try to get half meter ICs if I can.

 

Hi,

I can give the thumbs up for the Reson speaker cable as a interconnect. I too have built a pair of leads using this cable early on this year. The spaced conductors give you very low capacitance which is ideal for passive pre amps. They are not shielded but this isn't a problem for me.

Mine cost me £3.96. This was the price of the phono plugs. (I got the cable free.) I'm going to make a set with better plugs for a direct comparison.

SCIDB

 

I may have missed the point here, but the interconnect on the debut is hard wired, so using a different lead would be a bit tricky!

 

to go from the built in phono pre amp to the stereo amp. not from the cartridge output to the phono box.

Went to maplins yesterday and bought some cheap stuff to practice with but was foolish and got some pretty looking gold rca plugs. They are rubbish. There was no way of soldering the outer cable to the body of the plug so I was forced to just tighten them up and hope that some of the metal of the cable (http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/mo...&Products=2 ) would get caught. It did, it sounds ok. But I cant tell much of a difference yet from the atlantics. Maybe a touch tighter bass? Very slight anyway. But it was a practice so never mind. Next I think I will have a go at that cable that you made with the DNM reson MkII and Eichmann Bullets, I take it these plugs are easier to work with?
Thanks for all the advice so far guys.

 

Tebbs, the bullets are very easy to work with as long as you prepare in advance and take your time, much like any DIY project. If you check out their website you can see how the plug is put together. In the case of the DNM reson, since it is speaker cable, the width requires some careful planing to allow you to solder the wire and then replace the outer cover.

How I approached this was to prepare the cable by cutting out about 8cm of the center spacing material. Then strip back the two conductors and tin them with silver solder, note the stripping can be fiddly since the wire is quite thin. I then slipped the outer body of the plug over the two conductors. Then I had the body of the plug held in a small vice so that I could use one hand to hold the body of the plug and cable and the other to solder Note: I found it quite helpful to have a willing volunteer hold the cable in place while I used both hands to do the soldering, I'm sure you could bribe someone with the promise of beer to do the same . It was then just a case of soldering the signal conductor to the signal pin (in my case I chose the red strand as my signal strand) and then the return conductor to the return pin (the blue strand). Leave it for a minute or so to cool and then screw the cover in to place, and repeat for the other ends. Anyway good luck making your cable, and if you have any more questions feel free to PM me or post a message.

BL21DE3

 

I don't know the Qunex3 - but I tried a Qunex2 with my TT and even with the earth properly connected the system hummed badly - not sure if it's because of the design.
Donut