Can I do any better than BJC LC-1 or Gotham GAC-1 Ultra Pro for the money?

I just went through this exercise my self and use BJC LC-1 in my system as well. However, most of my system is balanced. I A/B/C Mogami 2549, Mogami 3173, Canare L-4E6S, Belden 1800f and Gotham GAC 4/1 Ultra Pro. Cables are system dependent so you have to try for yourself in your system. I ended up liking BJC Belden 1800f between Preamp/Amp and Gotham GAC 4/1 Ultra Pro between Dac/Preamp. I have had many high priced cables from Nordost, Audioquest, Kimber, Purist Audio Design, Cardas Etc but don’t care to spend that kind of money anymore.

Thanks for keeping it real about expensive cables vs affordable ones. Yeah I guess in the end I need to try them myself but is nice to hear from some others that have experienced with them too.
Thanks!

When asking about wires it is nice to have a point of reference otherwise the advise you get will be rather generic for you. BJ's is a good cheap cable, IC's or speaker, but does have a sonic signature. Its not razor sharp likes some others which are highly regarded (or condemned) by some folks. What I like to suggest is that you waste a few bucks to see just how much you can hear the difference between two cables/IC's and if you can hear the difference it might point you in the direction you should go with your whole system. You might get a 2 meter BJC L1  and a 2 meter WBC Mogami 2549 and listen to them. They are both good quality cheap cables but with a distinct sonic signature. If you can't hear the difference don't waste money on cables at this point in your audio trip. If you can hear a difference you can choose, or at least get recommendations for cables with a similar signature.

Here are a couple pairs of Acoustic Zen interconnects at an attractive price that may punch above the bargain basement stuff. Owner says they approach the performance of AZ’s much pricier interconnects, and if that’s the case I think they’re well worth a try. At $325 for two pairs it’s pretty low risk, and you can always turn around and sell them for little/no loss if they’re not superior to others in your system. Just another option, and best of luck.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisb685d-acoustic-zen-studio-one-interconnects

@newbee , shouldnt I be able to measure it, say like in REW, if I can hear the differences between them?
I do have other RCA like, Onix from Monoprice, and RiCables (probably the most expensive ones I have), some old Monster stuff, etc.

@soix, unfortunately $325 is not even close to the price of the ones I mentioned though plus I will need 11 cables (7 at about 5’ and 4 at 2.5’)

Got it.  Well, you could buy one of the AZ interconnects for only about $165 for the arguably more important connection from pre to amp and go cheaper for the Atmos connections.  Just a thought FWIW.  

OP, measurements? I don't think so, not at least from a practical point of view. It's really about synergy between components and your speakers/ears. Lack of meaningful measurements is one of the reasons that that is so much discussion about cables in the first place. Don't get me wrong, there are measurements that are meaningful for someone who knows how to use them in the context of their system, but no one can really make really meaningful recommendations without experience with your stuff, in your room, and specific sonic preferences sound wise.

Yes you can…i used WBC mogami cables until I tried some Nordost odin 2 and Gold Chinese copies.  Way better if you don’t have an issue buying Chinese.  Stunning SQ for the 💰.  Highly recommended by many. Check out this thread.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/counterfeit-chinese-cables

@newbee but is someone claims say one cable has highs that are rolled off vs another, I surely should be able to measure that. Dont you agree?

No, I don't agree. As previously indicated there are measurements available for cables, but cables/IC's, etc are meant to connect 2 components, and the sum of these three items would be the meaningful measurements to consider. Most folks I believe have neither the competence nor equipment necessary to make such measurements, nor the ability to assess how much of what they hear comes from other components or room set up. 

FWIW, when it comes to describing sonic differences, I'm not sure you will be able to get any uniformity of opinion about what constitutes high frequencies. There are primary tones and there are overtones. The frequency range for 'high frequencies' for the former can be up to say 2500 to 3500 hz (unless you are listening to a recorder or Ema Sumac) and overtones ranging from 3500 hz up to dog frequencies. When I think about what constitutes high frequencies I think of 'overtones' because that makes the spectrum more natural. But I know of folks who think high frequencies consist of the sound in the 2500 hertz range. In fact some equipment manufacturers have been know to juice up that range to give their components a greater sense of highs. 

So my original advise still stands. Take it and you will have a personal view of the type of sound you which to hear. Hopefully you will like one of the two and then be able to make your decision accordingly. 

Good luck.

There are three levels of cable performance:

Bad ones.  Not just cheap, some very expensive ones are crap. Most cheap ones are not the best in at least RF filtering. 

Good ones. WBC and  Blue Jean LC-1 seem to fall into that category. So do most well made ones. I have been happy with some Amazon "Cablesonline.com" ones. A lot of boutique ones are at just as good.  There is some to be said for star-quad or braided like Kimber IF you have a LF noise problem.  I don't think I would do a long run on the Kimber, but that is just me. ( not cheap either)  I would attack the hum problem elsewhere, but I am an engineer and I look at systems inclusively. 

I like that WBC and Blue Jean will make any length.  Shorter is always better!  I also don't like the two foot long RCAs BJ uses.  Preference.  Most honest cables post their capacitance, but not their inductance so knowing if they are balanced is hard.  I have not been convinced yet that anything above Belden 1505F, Gothan, LC-1, Canare L4S6, Mogami W3080 etc.  on generic DIY all brass RCAs is any better in any system that costs less than my house. I'll never know. 

Magic ones.  All in the price and your head. No cable can add anything, only take away. All addition is in your head. Real to you even if not in the real world. I do not want my cables to  tailor my music by distortion or filtering.  Some do. 

We can measure everything about a cable. We can't tell you which of those measurements make you, or  as newbee correctly pointed out, measurements are of the cable, not your SYSTEM.    No magic. Just science.  Fortunately most line level are reasonably predictable with somewhere between 10 and 100 Ohms out but differences in feedback  and most inputs between 22  to 50K inputs, but differences in input filters. A passive preamp can throw a monkey wrench in it.  Much easier than speaker cables. 

@newbee, Well when I say measurements I am talking about the actual system already working and swapping the cables, if someone hears rolled off highs with one cable vs another, you clearly should be able to measure that., Not to mention, unless you are very young, our hearing degrades pretty fast from that 20khz normally used as our max.

Other than having to obtain sensitive test equipment and the experience to use it meaningfully, you have no other impediments to measuring roll off, or other artifacts, in cables. Personally, as you might have guessed, I prefer to use my ears. Cheaper for sure, and good enuf for me.

You win the argument, now what are you going to do? :-) Oh, yeh, as you might have also guessed I’m not very strong on the value of other folks opinions as they relate to my stuff and what I want to get out of it sound wise. I do a lot of ’listening" and judge for myself.

Rolloff is not a magical thing, it can easily be measured unless you are talking about something else. Your ears, well there is this little thing called Placebo..ever heard of it? ;)
Win Argument? I didnt know this was a competition..but ok.
Yeah I did notice that and that allows me to answer you questio about what I am going to do?
Avoid these types of interactions ;)
I am done with this thread

Regards

@gabrielphoto - Based on your last post it appears that I may be too late to the party, but I wanted to share my limited experience with interconnects.

I used the BJC LC-1 for a long time because I consider them to be a stand-up company with honest marketing and reasonable prices.

I did some dabbling with power cables and was surprised with the results, so I dabbled a bit with interconnects to satisfy my own curiosity.

My first move from the LC-1 ($50) was to an Audioquest Chicago ($100)  unbalanced connection.  I found it to be a significant upgrade in my system.  That led me to move up the line a bit so tried the Audioquest Sydney ($200) and again found it to be an improvement.  The jump from the Chicago to the Sydney wasn't as significant as it was from the LC-1 to the Chicago.  Within the Audioquest line the basic sound was essentially the same and it just got a little bit better.

Later I upgraded my DAC so could utilize balanced cables.  I started with some basic Monoprice cables that I borrowed from a friend.  The design of balanced cables should significantly minimize any outside noise so I feel that the differences between cables should be less significant compared to unbalanced cables.  I used a Black Friday sale to pick up a pair of Morrow Audio MA4 cables and was again surprised at the improvement.  For comparison, the basic Monoprice XLR cables sounded nearly identical to the Audioquest Sydney RCA cables which I think demonstrates that the basic design differences are meaningful.

I'm not sure if there's a undeniably better cable than the BJC LC-1, but I found it worthwhile to step it up a bit.  My cable choices were very much based on the maximum price I was willing to pay for a cable.