grounded interconnects

[absolon]

Found some new interconnects today for $2 each at a local Cash Converters. They are made by Viszer and are a foil sheilded braid with gold plated RCAs and a separate ground conductor wire which emerges at each end. Not sure how good they are, but they are a step up from what I've been using. I can't buy gold plated plugs for that price so can reuse the plugs later on better ICs if I need to and still be ahead.

I replaced all the ICs in my sytem and have noticed an improvement in clarity and definition even without connecting the ground.

I'm not having much luck tracking down information on how the ground wire should be connected so would appreciate advice from more knowledgable members.

 

[Morden2004]

Found some new interconnects today for $2 each at a local Cash Converters. They are made by Viszer and are a foil sheilded braid with gold plated RCAs and a separate ground conductor wire which emerges at each end. Not sure how good they are, but they are a step up from what I've been using. I can't buy gold plated plugs for that price so can reuse the plugs later on better ICs if I need to and still be ahead.

I replaced all the ICs in my sytem and have noticed an improvement in clarity and definition even without connecting the ground.

I'm not having much luck tracking down information on how the ground wire should be connected so would appreciate advice from more knowledgable members.

Is there ground continuity from the RCA connector on these IC's end-to-end? If so, then the gnd wire is really not necessary unless the RCA jacks on the equipment being connected are themselves isolated from ground.

These gnd wires are sort of extra baggage, I think.

Paul

 

[sanyofreak]

Car cables perhaps ??

If the ground wire is not connected to the RCA shield ground (isolated), then these type of IC's are common in Car audio, where ground loops are a certainty, the extra wire is typically used to ground a source unit from the same point that the amp is grounded to, which is usually within inches of where the amp is mounted. If that isnt necessary, the wire can be used to send a remote turn on signal to power on amps or other SP's in the chain. From my experience, Car audio interconnects can certainly be pretty high quality, but the last thing I want to do is get anyone going on cables or steer this thread in that direction at all. Hope this helps

 

[absolon]

Thanks. There is continuity on the RCAs. I'd just wondered about whether the ground was intended for use to drain off induced current in the ICs. Turns out it is a straight through and not connected to the shielding so they are likely car audio cables as suggested. I found only one reference to Vizser cables and that was on a car audio forum where someone posted that Vizsers are "killer" ICs.

I did do a test where I switched the preamp to mono, left the standard RCAs connected on the left channel and the new ICs connected on the right channel. Right-left testing showed a marked improvement so I consider my $20 well spent. Of course, the next step is to strip the gold plated plugs from the extra sets I bought and try some ICs with higher quality cable.