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1st System - Help with cables

Hi Everyone,
I'm in the process of putting together my 1st quality audio system. At this point it consists of; Simaudio Moon I-5 Integ Amp, Rega Jupiter cdp (on the way) and Dynaudio 1.3 mk2 speakers on dyn stands. It's taken me quite a while to research and choose these products and I wound up purchasing each through Audiogon classifieds.

Now I just have to get speaker cables and interconnects.I'm mainly focusing on the speaker cables and would like to find something in the $300 or so used range that would be a decent starter/baseline cable for this system. Something transparent that won't add any uncessary color to the sound. Since I haven't used the system yet I can't say that I'm looking for a cable that will alter the sound in any particular way. I can always look for that later after I've had extended listening time and develop some preferences.

Any suggestions would be very helpful as the choices are pretty overwhelming. Thanks for the help...

John
jroth
jroth OP
8 posts
 
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.
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Jroth...if speed and detail are your major concerns...my vote still stands for NORDOST...have fun...it is exceptionally transparent....
jroth OP
8 posts
 
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.
eldulcesol
197 posts
 
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.
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