Do phono plugs *really* sound different?

[_D_S_J_R_]

I'm asking this question due to a panning of the Neutrik pro plug elsewhere by a budding interconnect supplier compared to cheaper plugs he said were far superior soundwise.

I did all this comparison shit years ago and high capacitance of some suspect cheap plugs aside, I'm darned if I could ever really tell any apart. For me, the main difference is ease of use (inserting and removing ) and without destroying the sockets in the process, which WBT locking types do if misused.

I've used the expensive Neutrik Pro plugs for years (the type with sprung retractable outer sheild) and always thought them excellent if a bit cumbersome. My very early TIS has them and they don't get in the way of the music (or HiFi aspects) at all. Normally for cost reasons in my home made stuff, I use the basic Neutrik plugs as well as the type NVA use, which are even easier to make cables with (and cost slightly more in single numbers as well). I've also used the Starline plugs beloved of the AOS peeps and these are silky smooth to use, but to me they 'sound' no different to the cheaper ones I use above!

What's going on here? maybe my stereo's really are so bad they don't reproduce the subtleties others claim to hear, yet I can easily hear the subtle differences in the cables themselves. This chappie dissed the Klotz stuff too, but he's entitled to his opinion - so easy for the inexperienced to prefer a sharper 'tone' from gear and wires, where long term, it causes fatigue (he obviously hasn't listened to period Rega sources with this cable either, or old Arcam CD players with Audioquest, which they imported at the time).

There are some very posh looking phono plugs on the market, still using the shit technology we're stuffed with in this design, but expensively made and presented in lavish packaging. I still like the good old XLR connectors myself for audio use and of course Levinson used a very expensive precision connector once. Naim tried to use BNC's, possibly for commercial reasons rather than anything else (DIN is total shite imo and so limiting in the cables used) and The Doc recommended an RF/AV type of connector I remember.

S'cuse the rant, but I'm cross and unable to reply there, so throwing it open to you lot, to see if any of you have tried different connectors in the past and either tell me I'm wrong, or maybe agree?

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

That was SMA and is still the best connections I have used, PITA to use though, and screw fit so not just push.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMA_connector

[Fretless]

Don't know about the difference in plugs but I did notice a difference when I carefully cleaned the plugs and sockets (especially on old amps/leads). The SQ did become slightly crisper and clearer.

[Geoff.R.G]

The only real way to find out would be to make up a set of cables using each of the makes/models you are interested in using the same make/model of cable between them. That way you could quickly change the cable and connector. However I would suggest that the standard of cable preparation and, if applicable, soldering will probably have more effect on the sound than will the connectors. Probably worth considering that the internal connections to the sockets on the equipment at each end may be the limiting factor, unlikely with NVA as we know the care that goes into the design but other manufacturers... Who know what goes on inside the box.

[_D_S_J_R_]

I just worry that some people 'hear' differences that aren't there in reality. I bought my loan TIS because I missed it when I took it out - same with the BMU and even though my vinyl sources don't deserve it, the Phono 2/PSU is so clearly 'better' for me, it ain't going anywhere right now.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

I just worry that some people 'hear' differences that aren't there in reality.

Ego syndrome, "must be best 'cos I bought it and own it and I am best". I call it Marco syndrome. It is the big problem, it effects this both ways. Diminishing and over inflating product depending on me me me, who has upset me, who I hate, who I want to impress - a life of continual drowning in self made bullshit.

[Daniel Quinn]

In my experience hard wire is best but copper is better than normal .

Having said that one hand means both are not possible at the moment and normal rca's are just fine. I do not miss the better sound they provided.

By comparison if I had to listen to at95e I take up reading.

[_D_S_J_R_]

They've been improved a couple of times since you probably last heard one and there's always the VM95-EN to upgrade to, or an AT520

[Daniel Quinn]

I got mine 5 years ago. Still got it so I know when I've gone deaf.

[Lindsayt]

DSJR, if you can hear the differences between different interconnect cables in your system then you're doing better than me.
The last time I compared interconnects (each with a different cable and plug) in my system I couldn't hear a difference, or the difference was so subtle that I didn't think it was worth paying any money for.

If comparing and picking different phono plugs makes other people happy, then that's fine by me.
I however am happy using my ultra cheapo / free gift interconnects and plugs.