Review of Ghent Audio Canare L-4E6S Star Quad RCA Audio Interconnect Cables

December 5, 2018

#294

Gentle reader,

As you may have noticed, I believe in buying better audio interconnect and speaker cables. However, I am on a fixed budget, and even when I worked, could not afford very expensive things. 

Thus, I became interested in trying some of these Chinese assembled Japanese RCA stereo interconnect cables:

A01(0.5m 1.5ft) --- Pair(2pcs) Canare L-4E6S Star Quad RCA Audio Cables | eBay  

They were shipped airmail for free. They spent more time in NY Customs than it took to get them from China to New York.

For more on the Japanese microphone cable they use to create them, please look at Canare's site:

Canare Corp.: Star Quad Microphone Cables: Star Quad Microphone Cable(L-4E6S / L-4E5C)

And here is a link to Ghent Audio:

ghentaudio --- Do something for HiFi Fans  

I am NOT associated with any of the companies reviewed here. These are products I purchased based upon fitting my needs and my budget.

They have supplied them with signal direction arrows on the color coded heat-shrink tubing. Whether there is anything to that directionality notion, I do not know. But I installed them with those ends plugged into the source. In this case a Denon universal disc player.  They came well packed and protected. They included the Velcro ties with them.

I had originally bought them when I discovered a problem (of my own making, it turns out) with the listening room system. I thought the Dynaco PAT-6 preamplifier was subject to distortion when playing records. I could not turn it up very far before loud distortion was coming from the woofers. 

So I bought a new Pro-Ject phono preamplifier knowing I would need a short pair of RCA interconnects to place between the turntable and the Black Box.

This proved an unnecessary cost. The source and other buttons on the PAT-6 are very short, while the source buttons glow red when pressed, the others do not. What had happened is the Loudness button was pressed in! Visibly, since they move so little in and out, it was impossible to tell at a glance that it was in. I pressed it and the distortion vanished. Whew!

So, I returned the Pro-Ject phono preamp. Since I am still waiting for the 15 foot Monster Cable Z-Series speaker cables for the listening room, since I reorganized the room, I decided to try them in the system right next to me in the "office".
Complete Re-Do Of The Listening Room Dynaco Klipsch  

I like the quality construction and sound of now-vintage Radio Shack Gold Series interconnects. Which is what I have been using with the stack of component as seen above. But they are overly long for such close together components.

The photos above and below shows a comparison of the two side-by-side. The terminals are solid brass and well made as are the gold-plated connectors. The machined indentations make them easier to grasp when pulling them out.

With the possible exception of preventing wear on the rubber outer insulation, braiding is purely decorative. But I like it.

Stereo L/R outputs on the Denon DVD-1920, above and CD inputs of the Yamaha RX-496 below.

The connectors grip tightly, but not too tight as some do. I worry that I may pull off the outer connection when unplugging some aftermarket RCA interconnects since they hold on as if death was imminent should they loosen their grip.  

This is the rear view showing the long cables. I wish more makers produced shorter interconnects.

Here is the stack that is inches from me and never silent if I'm in here. Fisher cassette is feeding the Fisher receiver. The Denon since it has more than one set of outputs feeds both receivers. Which means I can have all eight speakers going at once if I wish. Or any combination of the four pairs. Yes, I know that since every component is different, except the source, that there is no sonic improvement playing dissimilar speakers.
But sometimes it's fun to play around.

Final thoughts. I really like these little cables. If you take a look at the auction page and Canare's you will see that all of the components are high quality. With the low labor costs in China and highly skilled labor forces, one can buy quality cables at bargain prices. Even with Customs delay (can you imagine how MANY packages they must open everyday to keep us safe?) they still got to me very quickly. 
They sound great, take up less space and are extremely well made. I will be buying more. Since microphone cables have to be able to carry the tiny signals sometimes long distances, then you know they must be low loss. These are therefore certainly eligible to be used as turntable cables. I will try the other pair on my Denon turntable, I've been using 1/2 meter Liberty Cable Z-500 interconnects for years now. They cost a LOT more than these did. You can see them below:

This photo is from 2011 and you can see how thick the Liberty cables are. Also braid covered. Their bodies are ceramic rather than brass of the new Ghent Audio cables. They are also marked as to direction of signal.

I chose not to use them with the turntable. But installed them as seen above. 

SO much neater than coiling the too long cables as I've always had to do.

Yes, I do use Swiffer 360 dusters to clean records. They are quite effective for ones that are simply dusty.

Once again, thank you SO much for taking the time to read my words and view my photos. It is your kind words and encouragement that keeps me creating these articles.

Scott
December 5, 2018
#294