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For those who've done it, did adding RCA shorting plugs provide a noticeable improvement?
A forum search didn't turn up consensus on this one.
Follow Ups:
It was a spur of the moment buy, my inputs face upwards (perfect for catching dust). I did notice a SMALL (very small!) cleaning up of the treble... Audio jewlery if you ask me.
v.i.
Million miles from home.
What about the new IsoClean All-Copper RCA Caps that Music Direct sells? They state that they are the best caps currently available. They have a center plug on them, so they maybe a shorting plug, whereas the Cardas is just a cap. The Iso-Cleans are $99.00 for a 10/Pack, the Cardas are $45.00 for a 12/Pack ($10.00 each vs. $3.75). Do you think they are worth three times the cost?
Are there different places to use a cap vs. a shorting plug?
Caps on inputs, shorting plugs on outputs or the opposite? Shorting plugs on all? The manufacturers of both just tell you to put them on all of your unused RCA jacks.
IsoClean also has AC Outlet Caps, 24Karat Gold plated copper ($80.00 for a 4/Pack, that's $20.00 a piece!). They say to use them on any unused outlets in your room, and the unused outlets on the back of your power conditioner. Has anyone tried these? I could see maybe using the on the unused outlet of your power conditioner since your power conditioner is usually right next to you equipment. What are your thoughts on these? I'd have to buy 2 4/Packs just to try them out.
The IsoClean ac covers do work, especially on IsoClean filter boxes.
Hey Norm,
Shed some thoughts and your experiences with the IsoClean AC covers if U would please.
I posted a query on these about 5 months ago and the thread turned into a big negative debate :-(
I use child safety caps with a GS Acoustic disc attached to the cap on my unused outlets that works very well at dampening/reducing AC line/outlet resonances but nothing for RF absorbsion/reduction.
Cheers,
~kenster
I retain only an IsoClean power strip and use all the outlet, but I have kept the four ac covers. Only the ground has a blade to hold them in place.
Shorting caps do not work well on preamps with multiple main outs and on tape outs. In these cases, amny of the outputs are paralleled and shorting them, naturally, also shorts out the outputs: no sound or greatly reduced volume.
Also in the case of some digital/video outs, the opamps driving them may not like to see a dead short, hence a resistive load is prefereable.
Stu
the center pin is removable for use on outputs. I use them on my TVC (with dual inputs and outputs) and digital combo. I've had no issues with them even though they are a bit more expensive than the Cardas caps and Tweak Shop shorting plugs which I also have.
Thanks, That's good to know. It sounds like the IsoClean Caps should be the way to go since they are dual purpose and the others aren't. This way you can use the same IsoClean Plugs on everything.
Did you (or anyone else) notice any performance differences using the IsoCleans vs. the others?
I've always thought of the Cardas caps as dust covers and in no way did they do anything else for my system. The Tweak Shop shorting plugs work nicely when I want to test the noise level on my gear. Basically I short the inputs and with the amp turned on and speaker cables connected listen for noise at the speakers. My amps are dead quiet, no hum no hiss. The TVC is also dead quiet when connected to the amp via ICs and all spare inputs and outputs shorted. However, when connecting the DAC and transport I get varying degrees of noise, albeit when I have the volume control in a position greater then 3 o'clock and my ear next to the speaker. While the Tweak Shop shorting plugs did not reduce the noise, the Iso Clean shorting plugs did. I attribute this in part to their copper make-up.
Awesome, I'm glad they improved things for you. I think I'll the route of the IsoCleans.
Used as caps only they look as though they give better coverage of the RCA ring than the Tweak Shop or the MCM Shorting Plugs that Bluelobster, above, has mentioned. They seem to be more heavy duty, made of copper, and better all around.
By the way, what is the TVC you keep mentioning.
using S&B TX 102 MkI attnuation transformers. The TVC was custom built for me by Kevin Carter at K&K Audio. It is a dual mono design with separate input and volume controls using Seiden switches. For the price, it is one of the best pieces of equipment I have ever bought.
Carries a very nice item that dosen't cost much money. A couple years ago I got a hand full for about $10.
I'll add the link you can look it up. Look for shorting caps.
- http://www.mcminone.com/search.asp?keyword=rca+cap&btnSubmit.x=0&btnSubmit.y=0&btnSubmit=GO (Open in New Window)
"For those who've done it, did adding RCA shorting plugs provide a noticeable improvement?"
Yup. Been using shorting plugs on the unused inputs of my gear for years without ANY problems and they have always resulted in an improvement which can be attributed to a lower noise floor.
I also use both the RCA and the Balanced Cardas caps on my REL subbass systems with a noticable improvement there as well.
If your nervous about the shorting plugs, just solder a resistor from Hot to GND on the RCA plug that is the same value as the input impedence or use the caps.
Cheers,
~kenster
Some pieces of gear may not take too well to it.
What you want is a cap that simply fits over the RCA ground barrel and shields the center conductor.
I think they're worthwhile.
se
Steve,
I admit to not having tried it, but it seems unlikely in the extreme that they would make any difference except in very special cases, the special case that comes to mind being a very near field source of intense noise voltage. The thing is, most RCA jacks have the hot contact recessed about 1/4 inch. That combined with the outer shield and (excepting phono input) line input levels AND having the input deselected since it's not being used, would seem to make any problems unlikely.
Finally I've gotten around to the question: Why do you think them worthwhile?
Regards, Rick
If you select that unused input, is keep your piece from emitting 'open input hum'. Some gear will hum pretty loudly on an open input. Tube gear, which tends to have a higher value input load resistor for the preceding circuit, seems to be a little worse.
Aloha,
Poinz
Huh... that's interesting.
Would that be from an external source or internal? Having wasted my youth building electronics rather than chasing gals, I've built many tube amplifiers. I can't say that I recall any hum problems at normal volumes even though I always ran the filaments from AC. If the source was internal, putting open caps over the RCA jacks should have no affect anyway. Shorted ones naturally would help.
Regards, Rick
In my experience, shorted or capped inputs reduce RF pick up, and considerably so if you live in a noisy RF environment as many of us do.
Cardas makes a nice set of caps, BTW. They work well because you can use them anywhere, inputs or outputs. For digital and video outputs, I generally short the center pin to ground via a 75 ohm resister. That seems to help limit the amount of RF they put out. I do that because of the large amounts of plastic on the components' backing these days. If yours has a decent amount of metal, I suppose the caps will work just as well.
Stu
I'll be darned, guess I'll have to give them a try. I ran across a small bag of them a while back that must have come with some piece of gear so I'll keep an eye out for them. Have you heard overt differences?
Output terminations are a different matter and make a lot of sense. I don't THINK I've got any open...
Rick
Well, I wouldn't consider the sonic differences earth shaking, but you do have to short or cap all inputs and outputs. For inputs, the RF can enter through the ground circuit if left uncapped.
Actually, I consider it better to address the various jacks on the digital and video sources first. Since many of those outputs are live, they are actually radiating a lot of RF and creating havoc with the rest of your analog gear. Try finding a cap for your S-video jacks, though......and.....take a gander at the number of fittings on a new TV set or on a A/V receiver!
RF sources these days are proliferating very rapidly. Even the LED displays will emit RF. I discovered that by accident when experimenting with some lead sheeting. A sheet in front of my CD player's display noticeably increased detail, you can easily check this out as some players have displays which can be turned off.
Capping a few inputs or outputs may not amount to much, but if you zealously do all, then the improvement becomes more noticeable. I like the Cardas caps, but sometimes I use those el cheapo IC's and simply short them out or buy those really cheesy RCA's and solder them closed (those all metal ones for like 5 cents each looking like refugees from the 50's ). The good thing about those caps, in general, is that it keeps the RCA jacks from corroding.
Stu
For inputs, the RF can enter through the ground circuit if left uncapped.
It's the center pin that the RF couples to. What the caps do is effectively shield the center pin.
se
Somehow I got my thinking a little convoluted, no excuse.
A while ago, there was a brief thread on the ultra Tweeter operating in the mega and gigahertz range. There, the speculation was that RF was entering the amp through the feedback circut.
8^)
Stu
A while ago, there was a brief thread on the ultra Tweeter operating in the mega and gigahertz range. There, the speculation was that RF was entering the amp through the feedback circut.Bah! Don't need to go that high. I've found you don't need to go over much more than 100kHz or so. Check out my Ultra Super Tweeter tractrix wood horns. Still waiting for someone to make a driver for them.
se
I just ran this past my dogs and they are keen on the idea. With their extended hearing they've been looking for a little more bite in the upper octaves...
Rick
nt
Wasn't aware of the S-video caps. The BNC caps have long been standard for radio use, BTW, and you can also buy them (non audiophile, of sourse) terminated with a resistive load.
Stu
Lot of stuff nowadays has RS232 for remote control. Maybe not as important since they are not part of the audio circuit?
paranoid. Since they serve remote functions, they have to live!
8^)
Stu
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