I believe the above quote is missing two commas:SOLID, SILVER COATED, COPPER.

I think the person who answered your email just quoted the catalog page and probably doesn't know the answer to your email question..........

HOWEVER:


Thanks Joachim. Somehow I missed this post yesterday. Probably because I felt so embarrassed about saying how great STEEL cable sounds. Anyway, I again listened for three hours last night and there is just no comparison between my silver Darwin RCA's, my RG 58, and my RG 142's. The RG 142's are as Peter states about his RG 93's BADASS. As I said in Reply 161:


Peter, I'm waiting for your L-Com order to arrive to see what you think of the RG 142's!

Brian

Before i call, lets wait till the end of the day and see if they reply to you. Thanks for beating me to the punch!

Well if the L-Com RG 142 is steel then steel sounds better than you would think! Very weird that they list steel as a center conductor component in many of their cables but not the 142. I'm giving them a call today. I'm also going to order some RG 223.

One other thing, the BNC/RCA adapter I ordered from L-Com and have been using has a nickel plated RCA center pin. Links to two other types of adapters I'm considering are below. One is plated in silver and the other gold.

http://rfsearch.rfindustries.com/ShowProduct.asp?classID=19&productID=3864

https://www.fastenal.com/web/products/details/0749410

Unfortunately the gold adapter only comes in packs of ten, though they appear to be of a much higher quality than the $1.25 ones that usually come up in a google search.

I think its the same kind of intuitive hunch, or great good fortune, that pushed me to order XXHighend back in 2009. One must rely on such feelings when one has NO technical expertise. 

It will be interesting to hear how the RG 213 sounds being 13 gauge and stranded. However, if you find that the RG 142 cable sounds truly terrible don't be afraid to tell!

Well, when I wrote the above it was just a hunch. So this afternoon I got some six dollar a piece, 3 foot, RG 58, el cheapo solid copper BNC cable and compared them to my 20 dollar a piece, 3 foot, RG-142 solid copper-silver plated, high temp L-Com cable and the difference is huge. Earlier in this thread there was a comment that the cheap ( I assume RG-58) bnc cable sounded a bit slow and may have some loss in dynamics, but in all other respects, particularly the tonal balance of the low, mid and high frequencies, they sound very good. I can now verify that that perfectly described the cheaper RG 58 cable. But, I would add that after hearing the RG-142, the RG -58's sound mushy or as Paul suggested "grey."

The solid copper silver plated conductor - no steel- of the L-Com Rg 142 cables have transformed my system. You could say that all frequencies seem infinitely more focused, so the decay of cymbals, drive of the base and and resonance of vocals are all more clearly focused or defined with the consequence that the harmonics emanating from them sound more real than ever before. In one sense you could say the sound seems more bright or fresh, but not in a fake or objectionable way. Rather, its like you just opened the door to the club and you are immediately overwhelmed by the sound. Maybe I'm crazy or just like bad sound, but for me, this is the most significant change for the better in my system since I got one of Bert's amps.

One reason folks might find differences with their coaxial cable is the difference in wire sizes and center conductor construction. By sheer luck I selected a cable with an 18 gauge silver coated solid copper center--no steel. (RG 142). I think the cheaper cables using RG58 conductor is a 20 gauge wire.

Below is a chart of the various types of coaxial cable from the company where I bought mine:



 

Hey Paul, at 30 hours I felt the same, BUT, after 70 hours of running in things are dramatically better. I listened for a good four hours today. Incredible sound here.  I had no idea how grey sounding my old solid silver interconnects were. (Darwin Silver Plus.) Mid range-male vocals- have come alive here. Mickey Newberry's Shenandoah from his  Live in England cd was a revelation.

Does it matter if the adapter is rated at 50 or 75 ohms? Joachim, in his reply #2, said he used 50 ohm adapters, so I ordered 50 ohm too. Looking at Nik.d's list above I couldn't tell if they were 50 or 75 ohm.

http://www.l-com.com/coaxial-coaxial-adapter-bnc-female-50-ohm-rca-male

No mention of any steel conductor in the RG142B cable that I ordered:

http://www.l-com.com/multimedia/catalog_page/2K14M1_165-RG142B-U-and-RG213-U-50-Ohm-Cable-Assemblies.pdf

The order was from here:

http://www.l-com.com/coaxial-rg142b-coaxial-cable-bnc-male-male-30-ft

Well, I just ordered the following (silver plated solid copper---a bit more expensive.):

http://www.l-com.com/coaxial-rg142b-coaxial-cable-bnc-male-male-30-ft

Didn't see the posts after my initial one this morning. Manny, let us know if there's a difference between the cheap cable and the "Huber" cable. Thanks guys.

Thanks Joachim, I'll look for a cable made with solid copper instead of stranded.

Okay, is this cable what you folks are talking about and does the length matter?

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BNC58-3

What I said above is WRONG. Sorry Peter. However, what I originally said is correct: the filters in 186i change the sound when AP is ticked and not Custom, and, because those filters are changing the sound of AP, the AP sound of 186i is different from the AP sound of 186a.

Had some time this afternoon and tested this. I was wrong that I had to change the filter in 186i to 176/192 in order to play in AP at 8x oversampling. The filter can be either 705 or 176/192 and AP 8x oversampling will play. HOWEVER, the sound when in AP (not Custom) is very different when you change from one filter to the other. It is very different again when changing from any configuration of AP in 186i to that same configuration in 186a. So, AP in 186i is not the same AP we've been listening to for the past months.

Don't know if any of this matters, but here it is what is happening.

Sorry about the confusion. What you said above is what I was trying to say. I did not select the custom filter, was in AP, and was not able to play at 8x until I selected the 176/192 filter. Then and only then would 8x AP play.