Mogami 2534 Neglex Quad Cable balanced interconnects from Markertek - $50 for 2m pair

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Metralla, May 7, 2011.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002 Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    As I posted here a few weeks ago, I replaced my Welborne Labs Laurel IIx 300B SETs with Lamm ML2.1 SETs that use the 6C33C tube.

    http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=247308

    The physical layout of the Lamms is such that the input jacks are on the left side (as you face the amps) rather than on the back. The speaker jacks and the IEC power input are on the back - but not the inputs. This meant that my existing 1m interconnects would not fit!

    I have a BAT VK-50SE preamp which sports XLRs only, and I had Grover make a pair of interconnects for me many years ago - XLRs on one end, and RCAs on the other. I wanted to use these on the Lamms, but they needed to be twice as long to fit. Fortunately, I had another pair of balanced Grovers and I could daisy chain the two different interconnects together and make the connection.

    This was not optimal for a number of reasons:

    (a) The obvious weakness was the extra connector, which I certainly did not want. Any extra connection in the i/c will surely have a deleterious effect on the signal from preamp to amp.

    (b) I could hear a small amount of hum through the speakers and wasn't sure what the source of this was. Grover's interconnects are not shielded and I have had issues in the past with small amounts of hum which I had eliminated by positioning the cables just so. The Laurels had zero hum and made only the slightest amount of tube noise. I wanted to try a 2m shielded interconnect to see if it was the cables or the Lamms.

    (c) The Lamms sport pseudo-balanced XLR inputs wired in parallel with the RCAs. I have little love for RCA jacks, so I wanted to use the XLR inputs.

    (d) The extra connections just did not look very nice in the cable jungle behind the rack. That matters to me.

    [​IMG]

    So I was looking around for a used 2m pair of balanced interconnects to try.

    John Marks of Stereophile posted on Audio Asylum that before trying any fancy cables, one should try the TecNec Audio Cables, available from Markertek. For a 2m pair it was under $50.

    http://www.markertek.com/Cables/Aud...Nec-Cables-Connectors/MSC1-5XXJ.xhtml?MSC6XXJ

    These are made from Mogami 2534 Neglex Quad Microphone Cable with Neutrik connectors. The Mogami is very well shielded and is useful in high RFI atmospheres.

    http://www.mogamicable.com/category/bulk/microphone/quad/

    The connections are solidly made and it reputedly has low handling noise. I figured that these things were made in bulk by decent machines and I would be getting the benefit of economy of scale. I would find out if they worked (into the XLR on the Lamm - I wasn't completely sure how they were wired) and where the hum was coming from.

    I ordered a pair and they arrived in 3 days - chose the USPS Priority Paid shipping at $14 - a little pricey, I suppose. They were in my mailbox last Friday when I got back from Brussels. They are flexible, very nicely made and are available in several colours - but basic black for me.

    I put the cables on the FryKleaner for a week to break them in. This device from Jim Hagerman puts a pretty decent signal through the interconnects to help burn them in - it's a combination of broadband noise and low frequency modulation. I just have the board model that uses a wall-wart power supply. I actually think he stopped selling this basic model.

    [​IMG]

    Because the FryKleaner only has RCA jacks I had to cobble together a mashup with male and female XLR to RCA leads, but I have enough of this stuff lying around from various projects. Strung them together, laid them out on the bedroom floor, and hooked up the conditioner - and forgot about it for 7 days. Well, sort of - but I was strong and let it go the whole week.

    [​IMG]

    Today I disconnected the old leads, pulled them out and put the new ones in place. I was able to plug them into the XLRs on the Lamms. Very nice.

    [​IMG]

    Now it's a bit tidier behind the rack.

    [​IMG]

    Well the good thing is that they do work - they are wired just fine and music comes out. Score one for the Mogami.

    Secondly, the hum has gone - which is brilliant. It wasn't the Lamms - they are really quiet. Just a little more noise from the 6C33Cs than from the Western Electric 300Bs.

    The cables are flexible and easy to route and they look good.

    I've only just started listening, but I must say, I'm very impressed. The sound is crystal clear with excellent detail, but not tipped up at all. Bass is all there, when the recording calls for it, and the sound projects very nicely into the room.

    I'm playing a CD that I put on yesterday called "Global Fusion" by L. Subramaniam. I know this album very well. This is one of my favourite crossover albums - stunningly brilliant South Indian and Kanartic roots with a modern jazz feel. Soaring vocals in the Indian style, tablas, guitar, percussion, keyboards and of course, the fabulous violin work by the master, Subramaniam. Very impressive. As I just listened to this yesterday, the improvement is obvious to me. There is a nice drive to the music, and the interplay between the performers is delightfully rendered. The album is mostly acoustic instruments and the tone is right on.

    To be honest, for $50 I just did not expect this quality of sound.

    I thought I was getting something to tide me over while I decided on a serious (well, seriously priced) interconnect to go with these $30,000 amps. But I can tell you, these are going to stay on my system for a while - at least until I get the full measure of the Lamms. I'm as bad as any audio junkie and can be completely sucked in by the fancy cables - but this has totally reset my thinking.

    As they say in the magazines - highly recommended
     
  2. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    I use Mogami sometimes in pro applications. Good neutral sound. I use them with my Ampex 351-2T, one end XRL, the other RCA. Also with my Ampex mic/line mixer sometimes, when I don't need a wire EQ boost of some kind.

    Good sound, smooth, no weird EQ stuff. Cheap and good, like most pro wire.
     

    Attached Files:

  3. blakep

    blakep Senior Member

    I use a Jelco balanced tonearm lead which is constructed with Mogami 2534 (as is the Extremephono tonearm cable). Very affordable for a balanced tonearm cable at around $150.

    The Jelco replaced another balanced tonearm cable constructed with Cardas wire and a Cardas DIN. Both the Jelco and the Cardas were cryoed and burned in on an Audiodharma cable cooker. The Jelco was half the price of the Cardas cable and was noticeably better. Fuller, smoother and, at the same time more detailed.

    As an experiment about 4-5 months ago, I bought some Mogami 3103 speaker cable (about $2.50 ft. from Performance Audio in Utah-they were very good to deal with) and had it terminated with copper based Vampire spades. It ended up replacing Kimber 8TC (which was terminated with Kimber Postmaster Spades) which retails around $25-both of these were cryoed and burned as well to keep the comparison absolutely fair-and I sold the Kimber which I had owned for many years and pocketed the difference.

    Mogami has a range of wire(s)-their higher end offerings, which are still ridiculously cheap, are capable of very high performance. I'd characterise the Mogami sound as being very neutral and smooth across the entire frequency range. They don't really "hype" any particular part of the frequency spectrum and just sound "right".

    I'm a big fan of Mogami.
     
  4. Aereoplain

    Aereoplain Forum Resident

    Location:
    NC
    Im a fan too. Mogami, beldon, blue jean.
    Nice!!!
     
  5. Nice stuff-- Mogami, Canare, Belden pro cable is tough to beat.
     
  6. Blazer

    Blazer New Member

    I was very pleased the first time I used a pair of interconnect cables using the Mogami Neglex quad 2534 cable. I even use that on the tone arm on my SystemdekII table. I have had several pair of these made by studiowiring.com in California. He will make them up in any length/connector you wish... very affordable!
     
  7. Blair G.

    Blair G. Senior Member

    Location:
    Delta, BC, Canada
  8. blakep

    blakep Senior Member

    The other thing to consider with respect to this thread is that, by its very nature, a true balanced differential circuit will result in the influence of the cable being greatly reduced (some argue virtually eliminated).

    As a result, for all intents and purposes, a high quality (but not necessarily expensive) balanced cable will sound much more like the much more expensive balanced cable than in a single ended application where differences between cables may be much more noticeable. As such, truly balanced differential circuits can save one a lot of money in the cable department. (Which is not to say that an inexpensive cable can't sound better than a more expensive cable-cost is not always an indicator of sound quality.)
     
  9. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002 Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    The Lamms are single-ended. They just have an XLR socket wired in parallel to the RCA. Although I am using balanced cables from the BAT to the Lamms they are not working like balanced cables.
     
  10. Campbell Saddler

    Campbell Saddler Used Bin Explorer

    Location:
    United States
    When I needed a cost effective 25 foot run of XLRed interconnects, the Mogami Gold was a great option at $63:

    mogami_gold.jpg

    Nothing sounded overly emphasized when installed, and it's still the interconnect from my Preamplifier to Amplifier in my main system:thumbsup:
     
  11. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I think the Mogami cables are fine, but I'm more a fan of the Canare star-quad. Pretty much the same price ($1 a foot) plus connectors. Even the super-fancy gold pin Neutrik XLR connectors are rarely more than $6-$7 apiece. (I see Billy Budapest above has a similar opinion; this is essentially what Markertek sells as their in-house cable, but I usually prefer to roll my own.)

    Here's a link to a very good piece in the British Sound on Sound magazine about the benefits of balanced cables and star-quad wiring.
     
  12. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002 Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I did not even know about the Canare star-quad option. I was working off a recommendation by John Marks of Stereophile. I should have checked with you guys, eh? ;)

    When I bought the Mogami interconnects they were delivered with a flyer offering me $20 off my next purchase at Markertek. Maybe I should exercise my discount and also try the Canare.
     
  13. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002 Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Nice link - thanks.
     
  14. I believe the Mogami cable is also constructed in a star quad configuration so my guess is there would be little difference performance-wise between the two. I always lean toward Canare cable but that is more just personal preference than anything else--I own a lot of cable made from Canare stock!
     
  15. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002 Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    It probably is.
     
  16. stereoguy

    stereoguy Its Gotta Be True Stereo!

    Location:
    NYC
    All good cables listed above, but I still swear by Belden 89259 and Canare crimp on RCA connectors. Simple, No Solder to confuse the sound, and the 89259 is one of the best sounding wires out there. And the p[rice of the cable is very reasonable for what you get back.
     
  17. Jim N.

    Jim N. Just another day in what was once Paradise...

    Location:
    So Cal
    As far as the RCA's go on Markertek, the Canare, Mogami and Belden 1192A (all 4 conductor cables) have essentially the same list price, usually within one dollar, for the same length. The Canare's are on sale for a few bucks less right now.
     
  18. Blair G.

    Blair G. Senior Member

    Location:
    Delta, BC, Canada
    Is there a clear preference for Belden, Canare or Mogami?

    I'm seeing good reports on all of them here.
     
  19. johnt23

    johnt23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon
    I would be interested in whether a long run of very well-shielded budget cable from these makers would yield a very rolled-off top end. Excessive shielding is known to do this.
     
  20. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002 Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I have avoided shielded interconnects because I agree that it can often dull the top end. Grover does not like shielding his interconnects, and I'd rather not have the shield if I can get away with it.

    Between the SACD player and the preamp I can get away with it - and I use a pair of Grover's ribbon interconnects in that position.

    Between preamp and power amp the unshielded interconnects were not as successful, and I wanted to try well-shielded cables (and the Mogami is that) in this position to see if things were better - and they do work. Perhaps 2m is not long enough that the shielding rolls off the top end - my auditioning over the week-end is all positive in that area. The treble region is clear and well rendered.

    For $50 it has been a successful adventure and now I have a benchmark to work from. I will almost certainly look to upgrade this connection in the future, but it would have to be through a home trial against what I have now.
     
  21. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    I run up too 300 ' of Canare Star Quad, balanced XLR, 6 pin stereo, at mike level, on occasion (last weekend, from one end of Tewkesbury Abbey to the other) and never suffer capacitance roll off or any RFI /EMI/AC induction.
    Thats why I don't understand boutique single end cable so prized on this forum.
     
  22. johnt23

    johnt23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon
    300 *feet*? In a hi-fi set-up? I am surprised you're getting good results. Did I read this incorrectly?
     
  23. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002 Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    It's a recording setup. Maybe he has a healthy level from the microphone to the recorder/mixer. Is "mike level" higher than line level?
     
  24. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    No.
    It can be any where between -70 dB for ribbons and - 40dB for capacitors
    Ie pu cartridge levels.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine