I recently bought a pair of Kimber Kable PBJ interconnects with NeoTech RCA connectors on both ends (not the original Kimber RCA connectors) from eBay for AUD57. It sounds terrible, worse than the standard RCA cables that you can buy from almost any shop. I am guessing the problem is with the connectors. Does anyone know or have experience what interconnects would be best for a NAD C542 and NAD T760 or any NAD Amplifier? I am using a pair of Monitor Audio speakers.
I get good results with Chord cables. I'm particularly impressed with the new Chord Crimson which is near the entry level - I think it's very good value for money.
That said, higher end Chord cables are better of course! The result also depends on the speaker cable - if the speaker cable works 'against' the system, you could just make the problem worse by inserting an excellent interconnect. A good speaker cable is Chord's own Carnival Silver Plus. If that's too big, then QED's Silver Anniversary XT is a good match, if a touch brighter.
I am a bit surprised at your results with the Kimber. All the reports I've had from people I trust have been that it is good stuff.
Thank you very much for your reply and appreciate your comments. I am surprised too at the results. The main problem is the lack of stereo image and poor sound stage. I discovered one of the two grounds on both cables were not connected and reconnected them. But that did not improve the quality significantly. My last resolve is to change the connectors. If that does not help, I would be looking for a new pair of interconnects. So thank you very much for your information.
Some amplifiers provide a ground point which does not, in fact ground much! Try disconnecting the grounds and seeing what happens. If you cannot discern a significant difference, try grounding them to something else, such as a central heating radiator or something with a big metal chassis. If there's more difference then the ground point on the amplifier isn't up to much. If there's no difference then the earthing simply isn't having an effect (which can happen).
I finally changed my interconnect to Audioquest Diamondback because of my budget constraint. But it is so much better. I am hearing the stereo and image again.