You might be surprised to learn that in many cases I discourage this.
I’m interested in keeping equipment original, which retains value. I want to give you the best bang for your buck and save you money where I can. There are others out there who will drain your wallet unnecessarily, that doesn’t interest me.
So, my question is:
“Do you want blingy connectors or the best sonic improvements for your money?”
See, much of what people think they know about connectors is wrong and doing all this is often not the best way to spend money improving your gear. Did you know the best connections are hardwired, soldered connections? Mains cables for example are best soldered directly to the power supply. It’s the same with signal cables, though obviously less practical.
Not the answer you were looking for? I’m not interested in trends or “what’s poppin” in the hi-fi forums. I’m only interested in what’s technically correct and sonically the best way forward. That’s why people come to Liquid Audio, or they learn that along the way and it brings them back.
Now, I can clean and treat your RCA connectors with a special connector treatment product and this really makes a difference. If you insist, I’ll add a mains IEC inlet for you. I’ll certainly improve an existing IEC inlet with a hospital-grade filtered Swiss one if you’d like. I can also bypass IEC inlets and hard-wire in some really heavy-duty mains cable. Many things are possible.
I can add new speaker terminals for you, but it’s again often unnecessary. Instead, I can change connectors on your speaker cables to suit your amplifier. If your speaker connectors are broken or useless, then sure, it makes sense to change them. There are options that most aren’t aware of, just ask me if you’d like to know more.
Yes, cables make a difference, more in some cases and places than others. That’s a topic for another FAQ!
Yes, replacing bad RCA connectors can be worthwhile.
No, adding a heavy-duty mains cable to a turntable will not make any difference whatsoever. It can’t.
And no, using stupid-thick RCA cables is not what that connector was designed for, they will break. I’ve repaired a super high-end amplifier damaged by ‘special’ hand-made RCA cables. There’s nothing special about that. You’ve been warned!