Our RCA cables are analogue interconnects for the line-level link between a source and an amplifier, from Kimber Kable, AudioQuest, Inakustik, Montaudio, Zavfino, Rega and Franco Serblin. The range runs from straightforward copper pairs for a CD player or streamer to silver hybrids and air-insulated designs for owners who treat the interconnect as part of the system.
Copper, silver and the hybrids in between
Most of the range is copper, though not all of it is the same copper. Rega Couple 3 uses multi-strand oxygen-free copper with Neutrik RCA plugs. Kimber Kable's Tonik, PBJ and Timbre braid VariStrand copper conductors, AudioQuest's Yukon, Mackenzie, Sydney and Yosemite use solid Perfect-Surface Copper+, and Zavfino Arcadia MKII is PCOCC single crystal copper.
Silver arrives as plating, alloy or a true hybrid. Kimber Kable Silver Streak combines two copper strands with one silver strand, Montaudio Bowen AH-1 silver-plates every conductor, and Zavfino Fusion Pure MkII blends solid pure silver with PCOCC copper. Franco Serblin's Yter uses a silver-palladium alloy conductor with WBT silver connectors. Each maker has its own reasoning for the mix, and comparing them is the kind of conversation we never tire of.
Braided, shielded or air-insulated
Construction is the other big split. Kimber Kable braids its conductors, and on some models the braid takes the place of a shield: Timbre is unshielded, and the four-wire braid in Kimber Kable Hero is designed to reject noise without a shield. Montaudio and the Inakustik Premium pair go the other way, with copper foil, braided shields or double shielding around the conductors. AudioQuest's Asymmetrical Double-Balanced geometry, used on Yosemite, Sydney, Big Sur, Golden Gate, Evergreen and Tower, keeps separate positive and negative conductors within each channel.
Inakustik takes a third path. The NF-104, NF-204 and NF-404 Micro AIR models and the NF-1205 and NF-2405 AIR hold their conductors in air rather than solid insulation, with the aim of keeping capacitance low, and several use solderless RCA plugs pressed onto the conductor.
RCA to RCA, 3.5mm to RCA and long runs
Not every RCA audio cable joins two hi-fi boxes. For a computer or portable player feeding an amplifier, AudioQuest Yosemite, Sydney, Big Sur, Golden Gate, Evergreen and Tower come in 3.5mm to RCA versions, alongside Kimber Kable's GQMINI-CU, GQMINI-HB and GQMINI-AG and the Inakustik Premium 3.5mm Male to RCA.
For runs across a room, Golden Gate, Evergreen and Tower go out to 20m, Red River to 6m and the Inakustik Premium pair to 5m. Many designs here, including Kimber Kable Hero, AudioQuest Mackenzie and Inakustik's NF-1205 and NF-2405 AIR, are also made with XLR plugs, so if both components have balanced connections, our XLR balanced cables are the place to look.
Questions we get asked
Do audiophile RCA cables make a difference?
An analogue interconnect is part of the signal path, so its capacitance, shielding and connectors are real electrical properties, and the makers here design around them. How much any change matters depends on the source's output, the amplifier's input and the run length, and listeners disagree on the size of it. We'd rather talk through your system than promise a result.
What RCA cables do I need for a turntable?
A turntable's output is far smaller than a CD player's, so many decks use a dedicated phono lead, often with a separate ground wire, and some have the lead fixed in place. Check the back of your deck first, then start with our turntable cables.
Can I use an analogue RCA cable for digital coax?
Digital coax also uses RCA plugs, but it is designed around a 75 ohm cable, which analogue interconnects aren't built to. Our digital coax cables are made for that job.
RCA or XLR: which should I use?
If both components have balanced XLR connections, that is usually the first choice, particularly over longer runs. If either end only has RCA, an RCA interconnect is the right cable, since an adaptor turns a balanced link back into an unbalanced one.
Tell us what the cable has to connect and how far, and we'll talk through which construction suits it, along with the speaker cables that finish the system. Call the team or visit our Murarrie showroom in Brisbane, and call or message first if you'd like a demo arranged.
Stuart Taylor, founder and director
