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The high-quality RCA audio cable in Hi-Fi optics

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The term "RCA audio cable" in Hi-Fi usually refers to stereo cables INTERCONNECT with RCA connectors. It is the connector that gives the whole cable its name. But if you look closely, digital coaxial cables, for example, and turntable cables are also fitted with RCA connectors. In short, it is the type of connector that gives the cable its title, regardless of its function and construction. Potentially, however, any type of connection could take advantage of the RCA connector, even a power connection. But then: why have RCA connectors continued to be used for signal transmission for so long? Is it possible that the technology has not improved in any way? Before we take a snapshot of the current situation, let's take a step back and see where the RCA connector came from.

When was the RCA connector born?

The RCA connector became a standard in the 1940s and was named after the company that designed it: the Radio Corporation of America. This was a US electronics company, founded in 1919 by General Electric; the brand is now owned by Sony and Technicolor. RCA's origins as a company go back as far as a reorganisation of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America, founded in 1899 as a subsidiary of the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company of London, a company with the aim of promoting Guglielmo Marconi's radio inventions.

No later than 1937, RCA introduced this prototype as an internal connector in its radiophonographs. The amplifier chassis had female connectors that accepted males from the radio and phonograph. Originally, the design was intended to support "unplugging" of sources during maintenance troubleshooting.

rca radio corporation of america logo

Around 1938, RCA moved the female connector to the rear panel of many of its AM radio models to allow customers an intuitive way to connect an external phonograph or television later. This is how, little by little, the RCA connection gained more and more space until it became a real standard for transmitting INTERCONNECT audio and video, sometimes even in the professional world.

RCA audio cable in Hi-Fi: how does it work?

Even if you are not an expert in audio and video connections, or even if you don't frequent Hi-Fi environments, it is very unlikely that you have never dealt with an RCA connection. The RCA audio cable in Hi-Fi is usually male/male, but there are also different variants (think of an ordinary extension cable, which must necessarily have a female side as well). In the wiring of a Hi-Fi system, RCA cables are not only male/male but also required in pairs. This means that they are often found in a stereo configuration, i.e. with two single mono cables coupled together, and serve as the connection, in most cases, between source and amplifier. RCA connectors boast a veritable colour-coded legend to encode their function and simplify wiring. Still talking about the most common use in Hi-Fi, which requires the audio RCA cable to be absolutely shielded, we can say that the connectors are white for the left channel and red for the right one. This, however, is strictly at the discretion of the manufacturer. The RCA connector is cylindrical in shape and has two contacts. In the male, the first contact is a central metal pin (positive pole); around it is a metal ring (ground ring) which acts as the second contact, i.e. the negative pole.

RCA connectors

RCA connector: why does it endure in Hi-Fi audio?

We wrote at the beginning of this article that the RCA connector is one of the most "solid" ones, able to resist to fashions and to the passing of time. The reason is quite simple, and is functional both on the performance side and on the user side: the RCA connector has done and continues to do its job. The limits of this connection only emerge when dealing with high voltage and current peaks.

But at low voltages and currents, the RCA connection does its job very well without the advancement of science and technology being able to come up with different standards for which the game is worth the candle. On the user side, the system 'with the plug' works in turn and is extremely user friendly.

RCA in Hi-Fi today (and beyond)

Today, the RCA connection is used in the electronics industry mainly in audio. In Hi-Fi, the best RCA audio cables, in order to be of high quality, must not present any magic, but a lot of concreteness. We are referring to a technically conscious construction and high-quality materials in terms of conductors, connectors, shielding (which is essential in a cable INTERCONNECT) and all other components. Not so many years ago, this connection was also used in the video field thanks to the composite video triplet in combination with the stereo audio coupling. Think VCRs, DVD players, and game consoles. However, RCA connectors in video, due to poor impedance matching, have been superseded by HDMI digital connectors. Returning to high fidelity audio, RCA cables are still among the most popular along with power cables and Speaker cables. This is why Ricable offers them in all its main series: Primus, Magnus, Dedalus and Invictus, in order to meet everyone's needs.

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