IC Failure

Do you have a multimeter? You can do a test for continuity across your suspect ICs.

Did you try doing a continuity test with a volt meter on the cable? This will tell you if there is a short. It's possible and it's happened to me with a set of cables.

More than likely the cable has an open connection.
More than likely at one of the RCA male plug connectors.

Bending the cable too sharply near the end can cause a connection to break free.

If the ends are the type that can be disassembled, carefully take the connector apart and inspect the terminations of the hot signal and return signal ground wires.

You have a 50/50 chance of finding the bad end the first time......

Yep you need to open and see the termination. These expensive pieces are often home made and the termination may suffer either lack of skill or equipment quality limitation for home use.

Open/Unscrew the RCA plugs of the malfunctioning interconnect and you'll see where the problem is. The issue itself is in short number of connecting and disconnecting the wires that get eventually stressed and than disconnected.

On my home-made interconnects I used Neutrik lockable RCA plugs. I can abuse these interconnects(pull them by the wire) and be worry free.

Thanks, all. I try to be gentle with IC's but my bet is there is a short. I do have have a multimeter. What am I looking for? Thx.

Neal

WOW DMM MUST read short if there's no damage to IC. If IC isn't operation it should be OPEN circuit i.e. infinite resistance.

Touch one lead probe of the meter on the outer shell of one RCA plug, the other meter lead probe on the outer shell of the other RCA plug. You should read continuity.

Do the same test on the center hot pin of the RCA plugs. You should read continuity. Be careful not to come in contact with the outer shell of the RCA plugs so as not to get a false reading. Use a little tape on the lead probes if necessary.

If no reading on one of the tests you have an open connection. Wire is broke or broken off the RCA plug.

To see if there is a short in the cable....

Touch one lead probe to the center pin of an RCA plug and the other test lead to the outer shell of the plug. Make sure the probe you are touching to the center pin does not come in contact with the outer shell of the plug or you will get a false reading.

Continuity indicates a short.....

Repeat the process for the other RCA plug as well.

If the test reveals a short the short may very well be in the wire to RCA plug connection of one of ends.

OMG, don't tell me this is another Synergistic Rersearch workmanship failure. One of my S.R. got intermittent, I opened it up and found S.R's assembler missed soldered the wire to the RCA connector both + and -. The soldering cup has no residue or any indication of the wires were ever being soldered. Geez, they already over priced the cables, now get the job done right. I will never buy S.R again.

Neal, do as Jea48 suggests. I would add to turn the multimeter to measure Ohms, the symbol shaped like a horseshoe to measure continuity. Any setting in the ohm range will suffice. Make sure that your leads are plugged into the multimeter correctly to measure ohms (red/black and plugged into ohm/volt not amp). Continuity = close to zero. If there is a break, your multimeter will probably read 1 or OL.

I've had a solder joint break on an inexpensive pair of Monster interconnects years ago that caused an interconnect to "go bad". Since it was cheap I just soldered it myself. If the cable is expensive, I'd send it back to the maufacturer for repair.

If it's a failure in the expencive cable than why they charge so much for home-brew stuff? I'd simply request a full refund and not penny less.
I've compared the termination quality of Siltech interconnect to Mogamy and Mogamy wins 'by unanimous decision' with its built quality: $60/m Mogamy vs. $500/m Siltech. Knowing that termination quality may cary large part in performance, at least 65% of audiophile grade cables are built very poor.
The best built quality among the audiophile grade cables I think is VanDenHul as well as the money spent for performance. VanDenHul also provides a professional cable charts and sufficient per-unit parameters to figure out the best performer for your system.

There is a lesson here.