I need some help choosing inter-connects between my CD player and my amp and pre-amp. I have a Nad C270 amp, Rotel RC 1070 pre-amp, and a NAD c542 CD player. They are all arriving in the next several days, and I am confused as to what I need to connect them.

The CD player came with a cable with RCA leads, but I have read that maybe I should be using coaxial cables with RCA leads instead. And, how do I decide whether to use the analog outs from the CD or the digital outs?

What cable do I use to connect the pre-amp to the amp? RCA co-axial or regular RCA cables?

Thanks in advance for your help.

First your Rotel does not have a coax connection for the cd player.You will need 2 sets of analog interconnects, one for cd player to preamp and 1 for the preamp to amp connection.Thats all.

Bob, if I've followed your posts, you're going to be using M60s without a sub for two-channel only. In that case you can use the included RCA cables from the analog outs of the player to the analog ins of the processor. Except in a rare situation where the interference is unusually heavy(calling for a more heavily shielded coaxial cable), the included cables are entirely satisfactory for analog transmission over the few feet involved. You'd also be able to use similar cables with an RCA plug on each end for the analog connections between the 1070 and 270.

BobG,

Your RC-1070 does not have digital inputs, so you don't need to worry about coaxial cables. All your connections will be analog.

The cable that came with your CD player should work fine for connecting to the pre-amp. Similar cables will also work fine for connecting the outputs on the pre-amp to the inputs on the amp.

Here are a few sources for quality cables at inexpensive prices:

Dayton Audio at Partsexpress.com

Radio Shack (yup, Radio Shack)

Hey guys, thanks for the responses.

Johnk, yes, I will be using the M60's, they arrive tomorrow. This will be my first 'good' stereo, I have been using my Kenwood KR7400 and Bose 201's for over 25 years.

One matter for clarification - is there not such a thing as a coaxial cable with RCA leads? From your posts here I see that I wouldn't need them anyway, but I am just trying to figure out this cable thing. Are they just for digital signals?

Sound advice so far. Like JohnK said, you'll only need two pair of cables. One pair from the amp to the pre-amp, and then one more pair from the cd player to the pre-amp. I've switched all my old mish-mash of cables in for cables from Blue Jeans At $25/pair they're about as good as you can get. Solid, well built, nice connectors that grip, but don't hold so tight you ruin your gear trying to remove them (as MONSTER does...bleck!)

Sounds like you're going to have a sweet setup. Enjoy!

Bob, there certainly are coaxial cables with RCA plugs on them, and it would be fair to call them "RCA cables". The term is often used however to refer to a less expensive cable not of the shielded 75 ohm coaxial variety, which can make things confusing. No, a "digital" cable(strictly speaking no such thing exists since any conductive metal can handle either analog or digital signals, over at least short distances)doesn't necessarily have to be a 75 ohm coaxial cable. For example, up to about 40 feet, digital CD output works fine over an "analog" cable. Longer than that(and shorter distances for HDTV), a 75 ohm coaxial cable should be used.