3.4 RCA Male Connectors

The RCA connector was designed and popularized by (who else) the Radio Corporation of America – hence the name. Back in the 1940s and 1950s home hi-fi equipment was a new field, and there weren’t too many standards or equipment makers.

So when RCA needed a small, low-cost connector for the equipment they were manufacturing, there wasn’t anything currently on the market that quite fitted their needs. They designed a new plug and it became an industry standard.

RCA connectors are strictly for unbalanced wire runs, i.e. one-conductor shielded wire. You’ll see them on stereo gear, home theater components, semi-pro and pro audio and video gear, and that dying class of equipment: turntables for vinyl records. You’ll ...

Get Audio Wiring Guide now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.