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Why so few devices with BNC's??

It's an ongoing amazement to me how many manufacturers use RCA's for 75 ohm digital connections.   Is this really to just save a couple bucks?  Lower end McIntosh stuff has RCA's as does most Japanese gear regardless of price.  It's not like BNC's are really so exotic, and 75 ohm cables are readily available.  In fact, the general lack of inputs is an annoyance.  Not everybody wants to use USB or Toslink.  Rant over. 😠  Thanks for reading.

[Please, this is NOT a thread to list all the exceptions.]

128x128kletter1mann
cd318
2,636 posts
 

@yoyoyaya

When later questioned on that decision, enigmatic Naim boss Julian Vereker would just say, we do it because we think it sounds better like that.

Naim were once an iconoclastic company, but in this particular case they took it too far.

After I eventually ditched the BNC/RCA adapters and got my Linn tonearm cable terminated with BNCs I was just a little disappointed to find that the amount of improvement in the sound equalled an absolute zero.

As Shakespeare might have said, it was all a much ado about nothing.

Thank you Julian, thank you Naim.

 

 

yoyoyaya's avatar
yoyoyaya
741 posts
 

@cd318 - yes, it made zero improvement. However it did further enhance the cause of making Naim gear a closed ecosystem where the easiest thing for customers to do was trade up rather than out.

I did like the calendars they used to produce in the eighties though - sorry I didn't catch your Naim etc.!

technotoad
13 posts
 

RCA connectors are infamous for impedance "bumps" in the signal chain in RF applications.  Since they are not 75-ohm, they can set up signal reflections along the transmission line.  Those reflections become a standing wave and that can interfere with the wanted signal.  BNC, TNC, N, C, etc. are constant-impedance connectors, when properly selected and installed.  Not just any BNC will do, as there are both 50-ohm and 75-ohm BNC connectors.

kennyc
1,472 posts
 

I purchased a Chord MScaler to use with my current and future DACs, but Chord’s BNC connection is a pain as many DACs do not support.  If I get a custom cable with BNC only on one end, selling it later may be impossible.

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 

@cd318 

After I eventually ditched  the BNC/RCA adapters and got my Linn tonearm cable terminated with BNCs I was just a little disappointed to find that the amount of improvement in the sound equalled an absolute zero.

As Shakespeare might have said, it was all a much ado about nothing

This does not surprise me. Many listeners have enjoyed genuinely superb sound quality with audio /digital components utilizing RCA connection. As with all audio matters, it comes down to the level/quality of the implementation.  Sonic performance is the real life arbiter.

Charles

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