RCA connectors--any compression types better than Canare's?

5979 Views 9 Replies 3 Participants Last post by MikeSp, Oct 10, 2007

MikeSp

Discussion Starter · Oct 10, 2007

Canare crimp RCA's are legendary, but are any compression type RCA's as good such as those made by F-conn or Liberty or ...?...

Mike

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I have not used the Liberty crimp connections, but I can speak for the F-conn and Canare. The Canare are better connectors all around. The F-conn are simpler to install, but don't maintain the 75 Ohm impedance all the way to the tip, which was the primary design goal of the Canare connectors.

However, the F-conns are cheaper and you would be hard pressed to hear a difference in short runs. A drawback is that you can't use stranded center conductors with the F-conns (if memory serves). Which is a shame, since I love using the LV-77S for interconnects due to its great flexibility.

The Canare are a much beefier connector and it feels like it makes a better grip on the component when you hook it up.

don't get me wrong, the F-conns are good connectors -- fast to install, not too expensive, wide industry following (i.e. you can get them a lot of places unlike the Canare stuff).

Again, no experience with the Liberty connectors.

Hope this helps,
Anthony

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Anthony

· #3 · Oct 10, 2007

Oh, one other thing: the F-conns can be used in semi-weathered environments. I would not recommend direct water exposure, but they do seal around the cable when compressed so it "should" keep water out of connected equipment. The Canare don't even mention this, so I would assume dry applications only.

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Anthony

· #5 · Oct 10, 2007

Hey Mike, I just finished looking at the Liberty connectors. They seem on par with all of these. Good grip center connector, looks to be easy strip and crimp, and the connectors look beefy and well made.

The inspection window is a novel idea as well to see if the compression ring seated all the way. One thing I like about the Canare is that you can hear and feel a click when the center pin locks into the RCA connector.

I don't think you can go wrong with either. If you want to save yourself the tooling costs, BlueJeansCable is a great company to deal with. I personally have enjoyed making my own cables (for me and customers). It amazes people how great these relatively cheap cables can sound -- especially when they're coming off Audioquest, MIT, or Monster products at much higher prices.

Also, if you do decide to get the tools yourself, check out ebay and other places. I ocasionally see these crimpers used. I know Parts Express has a generic crimp tool that works well with most of the F-conn stuff and is only $30. As for the Canare, I ended up with the real deal and don't regret it. They're crimp, stripper, and dies are VERY well made. Good solid feel and easy to use (and more importantly, easy to tell when you are doing everything correctly).

Good luck!

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Anthony

· #9 · Oct 10, 2007

Oh, bad timing. I just put in a huge order at Parts Express yesterday (over $500 is free shipping) and I could have tacked on a few F-conn connectors for you and relayed shipped them to you priority mail. You are right, it's murder to make small orders from these places. $10 shipping on $10 worth of parts. DOH!!!

I guess that's why all my friends that are in to speaker building and electronics ask whenever I put an order in -- to save on shipping!

And I also agree that the double blind testing is too much now. I just want something that works, is a good value, and that I like. I spent more time in my early 20's trying to tweak my system than actually listening to it! Now I just want to enjoy it.

Good luck and let us know how the Liberty stuff measures up.

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