Heartland Belden 89259 w/ bullet plugs good choice for all rca's in my system? (1 Viewer)

[Todd smith]

Was thinking of going the Heartland route for my rca and hopefully digital coax as well (do they sell a digital coax and is it great quality?) How would this belden 89259 with the bullet plugs be for rca connectors between amp and pre/amp (sheb 7/2100 nd h/k 525) and also for my dvd-a/sacd connections?

How would these rca's and digital coax compare quality/performance wise with bluejeans offerings and better cables silver serp. rca and digital coax? Bullet plug a good idea?

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi Todd.

I may be out of data on this, but when the Bullet plugs came out with their 'reduced contact' feature, it seemed like a bad idea to me.

With higher and higher frequencies - you CAN get away with a tiny amount of contact, to get signal transfer. I've seen this with even RF signals with the CATV coax. Just touch the center wire into the back of the TV and the picture snaps on. Shoving more and more wire into the connector - makes little to no difference.

When playing with my subwoofer, I have noticed that the sound changes as I slowly remove the RCA plug from the jack. Low frequency sounds seem to desire lots of surface-area.

So a 'reduced-contact' RCA plug like the Bullet plugs for audio - just does not seem like a good idea.

My opinion is entirely based on playing around with my system and not from any special knowledge so I could very well be wrong. (Example: the change in subwoofer sound could be caused by the shielding being reduced as I pull the plug and my hand acting as an antenna to inject noise.)

If it were my system, I'd stick with regular RCA plugs. They have been around for years, everybody uses them, etc.

If you do go with the Bullet plugs - let us know how they work out.

 

[vasia]

Check our audioasylum. These cable seems to get really great reviews and the same goes for bullet plugs. I am considerign getting the pair of these myself and all the research suggests that they are the best bang for the buck. Bluejeanscables seem to be a great deal as well, but probably just a step down (both in price and audio quality). There is also Signal Cable Analog 2, which is essentially the same thing as Heartlands and also has great reviews on Audioasylum, but the jury is out whether its higher price over heartlands (probably extra 15-20$) is justified.

 

[Kevin T]

i've purchased all heartland bullet plugs for the ht / surround side of my main system. they're used for audio and digital only. i use a dvi for video. my main rig (which isn't complete yet) will use nordost blue heavens.

kevin t

 

[Chu Gai]

There might be some economic benefit with regards to s/h by picking one source. The 89259 if I recall correctly, is a teflon version and is somewhat stiff so I'd make sure that the cable had proper strain relief put in to deal with the flexure. Most of the cable houses sell it, including Blue Jeans but it is considerably more expensive than the non teflon versions which are more flexible. You may find this page from Belden to be of some use...http://bwcecom.belden.com/college/techpprs/rhtheatp.htm as it gives an tablular overview of the cables and their typical applications.

There's not much to a digital coax, and you can use any video coax, including the 89259 with success.

In your cabling, give some thought to having the cables bundled to neaten up things in the back. It gets mighty sloppy looking running 6 individual cables when going 5.1 to 5.1.

The Bullet plug is a poor idea, rave reviews over at the asylum notwithstanding. It is not mechanically durable and may require some heating to soften the plastic to get it to fit. The RCA connector, which all of us live with, is quite a turd having the virtue that it is small and can be made inexpensively. Eichmann has figured out a way to make even a poorer quality connector, charge more, and lie about its benefits. Canare's is a superior offering and if you want something different, you can look into locking RCA's.

 

[vasia]

What about RS Cable Solid Silver interconnects from rscable.com? They cost somewhat more than Hearland ICs, but still pretty reasonable. Those also seem to get great reviews from various sources. They can be purchased with locking RCAs or bullet plugs.

 

[Chu Gai]

and what benefit is silver?

 

[Todd smith]

Thanks for all your info everybody. I dont like the idea of the bullet plug not being a secure connection in back which makes me want to stick with rca's. I want a step or two above blue jeans (no offense to BJ, they are nice cables for the money) for my 13 rca cables for amp/pre connection and for multichannel audio. I was looking at bettercables but the general thought on them is that they are overpriced for what you get. So what are some more options for me to look at that will give me good bang for the buck, but are a step or two above BJ rca offerings?

 

[Chu Gai]

Well a step or two up means what? Consider the following comment I made that may shed some light on matters. Its damned easy and damned inexpensive to make a competently performing audio interconnect that vastly exceeds the requirements.

 

[Kevin T]

i've never had any issues or problems in using eichmann bullet plugs. they are not difficult to connect or remove and i've never had to heat them up in order to properly secure them to an rca jack. i'm not going to say they are the "bee's knees" when it comes to connectors, but i do like them.

kevin t