Headphones Extension Cable degrades the sound?

[Dj_AmTraX]

I am seeking a 1/4 male to 1/8 female headphones extension cable, but I can't find one that is high quality besides Radio Shack. Any recommendations? If I buy the Radio Shack one, will it degrade the sound coming from my expensive headphones?

[jdandy]

Mike.......Order an extension cable from Stephen AudioArt. He will build you whatever you need. The Stefen AudioArt upgrade cable on my Sennheiser HD600 was a big improvement in sound quality.

[djwhog]

Or call Drew at moon-audio, he is the guy to make awesome cables

[Robert_Anderson]

Extensions, yes, unfortunately they do, replacements costing an arm and a leg by either Crystal or Stephan Audio Art, usually improve the sound. Cardas replacements are also good for a modest price.

[nsgarch]

Originally Posted by randerson3024

Extensions, yes, unfortunately they do, replacements costing an arm and a leg by either Crystal or Stephan Audio Art, usually improve the sound. Cardas replacements are also good for a modest price.

My experience has not supported the necessity of spending big bucks on Cardas, Crystal or Audio Art cable upgrades. That said, if one doesn't (or won't?) do some research (for me, one of the joys of this hobby,) well then yes, you can buy yourself a lot of crappy performance, no question about that!

I found these folks on the web. They didn't have exactly what I needed, but I was struck by the quality of the materials they use (like Canare micro-quad cable) combined with very reasonable pricing. Not cheap mind you, but they're clearly a 'pro' shop, and you don't get far by "stickin' it" to the professionals!

So here's what I bought, for $58 bucks + shipping. It's 34 feet long (to get from my front end to the bedroom) There's no loss of signal strength (with 150 ohm hp's) and no sonic degradation. Believe me, I A-B'd them to death, cable vs. no-cable, b/c my headphone amp (Melos SHA-1) has two phone jacks, so it was very easy to do using two identical headphones.

Personally, I think a lot of folks are simply using receivers with wimpy headphone jacks (op-amps) or even underpowered headphone amps. And they think the mediocre performance they're experiencing will be cured by purchasing fancy/pricey headphone cables and extension cables. Believe me, there's nothing like a really 'robust' headphone amplifier to put you in a whole 'nother world, performancewise. Then you can worry about cable upgrades if you must ;--)

Anyway, here's the info (of course I ordered mine with gold plated Neutrik 1/4" phone plug and 1/4" locking receptacle.) You can get the Canare cable in red/blue/yellow/black. I recommend blue or yellow for visibility on the floor

[Robert_Anderson]

[quote=nsgarch;227205]My experience has not supported the necessity of spending big bucks on Cardas, Crystal or Audio Art cable upgrades. That said, if one doesn't (or won't?) do some research (for me, one of the joys of this hobby,) well then yes, you can buy yourself a lot of crappy performance, no question about that!

I found these folks on the web. They didn't have exactly what I needed, but I was struck by the quality of the materials they use (like Canare micro-quad cable) combined with very reasonable pricing. Not cheap mind you, but they're clearly a 'pro' shop, and you don't get far by "stickin' it" to the professionals!

So here's what I bought, for $58 bucks + shipping. It's 34 feet long (to get from my front end to the bedroom) There's no loss of signal strength (with 150 ohm hp's) and no sonic degradation. Believe me, I A-B'd them to death, cable vs. no-cable, b/c my headphone amp (Melos SHA-1) has two phone jacks, so it was very easy to do using two identical headphones.

Personally, I think a lot of folks are simply using receivers with wimpy headphone jacks (op-amps) or even underpowered headphone amps. And they think the mediocre performance they're experiencing will be cured by purchasing fancy/pricey headphone cables and extension cables. Believe me, there's nothing like a really 'robust' headphone amplifier to put you in a whole 'nother world, performancewise. Then you can worry about cable upgrades if you must ;--)

Anyway, here's the info (of course I ordered mine with gold plated Neutrik 1/4" phone plug and 1/4" locking receptacle.) You can get the Canare cable in red/blue/yellow/black. I recommend blue or yellow for visibility on the floor

Cool information- I will have to check these out myself