kimber cable 8 tc is a geat cable
I have used Van den hul D 352. It is not good for me |
For speaker cables, I recommend Luminous Audio Renaissance, which proves you don't have to spend big $$$ to get a great cable.
For IC's, try one of the magnet wire cables. |
I got discounted Audioquest Granite. They are quite neutral and sell relatively cheap at Audio Advisor. For interconnects, I used Nordost Blue heaven, very detailed but perhaps a bit on the bright side (used might be $100). I changed to Nordost Red Dawn, more expensive (around $300-$400 used) but more balanced. Hope this helps. |
I think that Acoustic Zen Satori is an especially good deal. It competes with some of the big boys and has a real down to earth price. Read the review in Stereophile about it. It can be had at your price on the used market. |
Military grade silver plated copper, Teflon insulated will beat just about everything tha's in your price range (12 ga, about 37-41 strands). The surplus wire I use has replaced in other ystems Kimber 8TC, XLO, Cardas--and when cryo treated was *uncomfortably* close to Pure Note Epsilon.
It's best to spend your $$$ on neutral ICs. I am using Ridge Street Audio MSE Gen II, which are extremely transparent, neutral and musical.
Don't forget noise control and room acoustics. You'll need to get them right before you can start making educated choices... |
We've all been in your position. I have found the intercons and power cords to have the most affect at this stage of the game. Some good value components to consider are Synergestic AC Master coupler power cords, Straight Wire
Virtuosso intercons and speaker cable (excellent value) and performance. Also YBA power cords.
good luck and good listening
Potsey |
My first quality system resembled yours, with an I-5 at its heart. I can second the Synergistic Research recommendation and would add Harmonic Technology ic's and JPS Labs power cords to your list. |
Thanks for all the feedback guys. Using your suggestions as well as other info I could find I've listed some of the cables available both used and new in my price range.
I plan on looking at powercords too, just not yet. If anyone could weigh in on some of the choices below as well as others I'd appreciate it. Thanks again...
NEW - Kimber Kable 8TC Speaker Cable 6' - $216
NEW - Luminous Renaissance 8' - $240
USED - Nordost Red Dawn 6' - $375
USED - Acoustic Zen Satori 8' - $350
USED - Synergistic Research Signature 2 - $225 to $300
USED - Coincident CST1 6' - $335
NEW - Moon Audio Silver Dragon 6'- $280
USED - XLO Reference Type 5 8' - $325 |
Good choices...the Danes are very revealing speakers...so a more a cable with a more "mellow" top end might be the ticket...and then one can add or substract nuetrality with the interconnect...that being said...I do like NOrdost products(they tend to sound their best in warmer systems) ...even though some have accused them of being a bit "thin" sounding...at any rate...their Flatline speaker cable is superb for the money.... |
jroth has made some great suggestions on the speaker cable.
by sticking with a major player, you can sell them pretty easily down the road.
if you are looking for a netrual cable that is revealing - the xlo is a great choice. if you are looking for a warm cable then the satori.
most cable fall into two camps
1.revealing/detail/fast- xlo,coincident, nordost
2. warm,,bloom,slow - cardas,az satori
finding a "neutral"cable is difficult.
the fast cables sometimes can have a lean midrange and bright top end.
the slower cables can have a midbass bloat and/or obscure detail that the image specifity is gone ( cardas comes to mind)
i would check with dynaudio and other audiogoners on what manufacture they suggest with speaker cables with your speakers. they were voiced with a certain brand and solid state gear and go from there. ( i might suggest the xlo- they are a awesome cable). the dyna's image like crazy and are not bright speakers imo
since you only need one set of interconnects i would try to get my hands on as many as i could and experiment ( also a good idea for the speaker cables if you can)
for innterconnects some suggestions are:
coincident -neutral and good budget interconnect
xlo signiture 2- neutral / transparent
discovery plus 4- ever so lightly warm side of neutral- can be found very reasonably. great perfomance / dollar ratio.
straightwire -nice midrange cable and images very well
try the major players first. if you find something else you can resell them easily.
get your hands on as many as you can !!! by the time you are done, your ears will be very trained toward small changes like these.
then when you find a smaller /unknown company your ear will be trained. also, with smaller companies, make sure there is a 30 day return policy.
i would save power cords for last.
hope that helps,
mike |
I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to respond to my questions. All the advice and suggestions received here are invaluable to someone just getting started in this hobbie like myself.
Both the Dyn's and Moon I-5 are considered fast and revealing and were some of the primary reasons I chose them. However, I didn't want to take that aspect of the system to an extreme so I thought mating them with the Rega Jupiter which tends to be a little on the warm side would balance things nicely.
That being said I don't think I want to add any more "warmth" to the system and preserve as much detail and speed as I can. So I contacted another A'goner today to purchase the XLO Reference Type 5a speaker cables. I'll probably pick up a matching set of XLO IC's as well. As Mikesinger pointed out, if I don't like them at least there's a healthy aftermarket for them. Thanks again for all the help guys. |
Jroth...if speed and detail are your major concerns...my vote still stands for NORDOST...have fun...it is exceptionally transparent.... |
Thanks Phasecorrect but I've already committed to buying the XLO's from someone. Over the last week of researching cables I was definitely considering the Nordost. However, some info I read lead me to believe, possibly without any real merit, that they can be very unforgiving in the wrong setup...particularly the Red Dawn I was considering.
Being my first attempt at getting everything configured right I figured I'd save them for a later time. |
Jroth, my first wire, which I am just about to retire is Cardas Crosslink Speaker wire. It is a good starter wire, comes in any length you want and it can be bi-wired. Get some spades on the amp end and air lock bananas on the speaker end. You should be able to get the speakers wires and Crosslink IC for about or less than what you want to spend. |
