Advice for RCA Interconnect Upgrade?

I have said this ad nauseum: wire is not a tone control. It would be a wonderful world if changing a wire made an improvement in sound quality. Alas ...

I have used plenty of wire since 1976, starting with Disc Washer Gold Ens. Anybody remember those? How about Mitch Cotter's Verion Triaxials? None have made the least difference, regardless of cost! Anybody tells me that wire B blows away wire A is just plain imaging things! It is pathetic to read here of people spending hundreds and thousands on something that has zero effect! Get real people! Spend your bucks on something that has real effect - new speakers!

I would suggest checking out Zavfino cables.  I dislike people making recommendations based on products they have not used and in full disclosure I have only used a Zavfino power cable. But it oozes quality and the Zavfino whole line receives great reviews here.

You don’t see many used Zavfino cables come up for sale, I know as I have been keeping my eyes out for them.

I recommend  an iFi SPDIF iPurifier between the transport and the DAC before getting new cables.

+1 Triode Wire Labs

I replaced my AQ Big Sur with the Spirit II RCAs. Nice upgrade.

@lrlacosse - Take a look at Zavfino cables - they are reasonably priced and offer a progressive range of cables from entry level to advanced

They are very dynamic and neutral sounding and offer outstanding clarity and detail.

Regards - Steve

Hey All,

Forgot to add my price to about $600.00.

Jasonbourne52: Yes I do remember the Diskwasher Gold Ends. They were my first upgraded IC that I purchased in the early 80’s. I hand an inexpensive phono preamp at the time and it was very noisy. When I switched to the Gold Ends the noise floor drop significantly. I’m a firm believer that good cables make an audio system sound better. At least your not spending money on cables.

OP: I don’t think of cables as tone controls. The cable better preform at all frequencies. It could be your room acoustics causing frequencies anomalies.

Always buy the best audio equipment you can afford and you should be satisfied.

Lots of good to great cables out there.

Joe Nies

Cables as tuning instruments is a losing proposition.  Upgrading cables is always a good thing.  However, don't expect it to cause less response in the treble region.  You'll have to make other changes there.  Do you hear harshness or is this just an app causing you distress?  

I'd look at the modifications you've done to your speakers and the potential loss of linearity.

Jerry

Invest in room acoustics first if you haven't. Super easy to tone down a bright system with absorbers.

I've gone for a full loom of Audiomica (previously Cardas) and have since stopped looking

Take a serious look at Wireworld. I have all Wireworld silver eclipse 8 XLR and RAC cables. Plus all Wireworld power cables. I learned to stop mix and matching cables. I started to upgrade my second system to these as well, the nice thing is I have them now so I can try them on the other system and hear the difference. I had a startle 8 red cable from my CD transfer to the dac, and swapped in the sliver eclipse8 and the difference was huge. All the shrill from the Norah Jones CD was now gone, rounded off is you will. The clarity and articulation is more pronounced.

I little work on your room can go a long way to “Taming” your room. 

My wireworld silver experience is opposite. Not a RCA connection but I used a hdmi between cd transport and dac and it hurt my ears so bad I thought I was having hearing problems, way too shrill to my ears. Silver has become an issue in my room layout. 

 You have good gear.  Put the $600 towards upgraded speakers. That will give you a much more audible improvement than a $600 interconnect cable ever will. Much more than a $6000 interconnect. $600 towards room treatment will also be a much more effective way of improving sound. Good luck.

I would try Cardas Clear Reflection. They are warm. 

+2 for Triode Wire Labs cables.

Owner, Pete Grzybowski, is an electrical engineer with 30+ years of experience in power and signal transmission.  His cables are honest, musical and affordable.  They never sound hard or strident, instead they reveal the soul of the source material.  Add to this is the fact that he is one of the Good Guys in audio.  TWL cables have a 30-day 100% money back guarantee.

Oh, yeah...  jasonbourne52 is clueless.

@ghdprentice +1 on CARDAS CLEAR REFLECTION.

THE GOOD: I upgraded from an all-NORDOST FREY loom to an all-CARDAS CLEAR ICs/ CARDAS CLEAR REFLECTION speaker cables / CLEAR & CLEAR REFLECTION PC’s array….. with a significant step-up in dynamics, slam, and taming of sibilants / digital “”edge”. It was a progressive process as funds permitted : ICs first, then power cords, then the speaker cables. Each step was a further sequential audio performance step-up.

THE NOT-So-GOOD: You may have to open your wallet a bit more if you want to step-up to this model level of CARDAS interconnect cables . $600 bucks even for pre-owned regrettably may not do it.

Speaker sensitivity is 88db @ 8 ohms. The Aethos doesn’t appear to enjoy lower impedance loads. Since the speakers are modified, a mismatch between the amp and speakers may be afoot. The SVS may be dipping into lower impedance at certain frequencies. The integrated may lack the ability to provide the juice. 

If you haven’t already Acoustically treated the first reflection points in your room start there , as for cable upgrades I wouldn’t hesitate to go with Wire World Eclipse 8 ( Silver Eclipse was my choice after trying the Eclipse) just outstanding top to bottom control lending a continuous flow and musicality , they are music communicators !

I was a skeptic for a long time. Finally, to scratch that itch, I contacted a vendor and ordered a full set of cables for my rig. In short, I was very impressed. Clarity, sound stage, bass response and accuracy all improved to my liking. I suggest doing the same. Contact a vendor that allows you to return the cables before 60 days. You will need to pay return shipping but that is a fair price to determine if a $1K set of cabales will make a difference to your ears. If I may suggest, buy a set of Shunyata Venom-X RCAs, plug them in and see if you recognize a difference. Most cable makers claim the cables need to be broken in to discern a difference, but Shunyata says this is not necessary with these cables, I believe that to be true since I heard an immediate difference, improvement, upon swapping the cables out with my old ones.

my $0.02

Thanks All.  An interesting mix of suggestions.

My home is literally 20' x 20'.  I call it my "little cottage".  Seven foot ceiling and no basement.  Therefore, my living room(10x12) is my listening room.  Speakers on each side of TV and very little room for optimum placement. Especially those Ultra Towers.  If I could "unbuy" them I would.  When I stated "highly modified" this is what I did.

As you all know, many well established speaker companies skimp on the internals and SVS is no exception.  Very disappointed when I opened them up.  Basic components on the crossover.  Binding post crap.  Wiring type questionable.  I updated the crossover as much as I could and still get them to fit inside the cabinet.  Clarity Caps.  Ribbon and Litz coils.  This was done only on the upper and high frequency parts of the crossover.  The inductors I wanted to use for the bass part are just too big and an external crossover would be needed.  So, yes, probably my own fault for the bump in db in the 4 to 5k range.  I do not have access to proper testing equipment so it was a "guess" .  But I figured anything would be an improvement to what SVS used.

The cheap binding post is replaced with almost pure copper type, the company name alludes me at this time.  Used VH Audio hook-up wire and Cardas solder.  I added dampening to all the cabinet surfaces.

The result was worth the effort.  Not going to bore you with all the blah blah of soundstage and such.

Sure wish I had a dedicated listening room but heck, My rent is only $350.00/mo. and that includes heat and electricity!  That is a big plus here in northern Michigan.

I'm leaning towards Triode Wire Labs.

I have said this ad nauseum: wire is not a tone control. It would be a wonderful world if changing a wire made an improvement in sound quality.

I DO find cables to be effective at seasoning the sound. They are not my first or even second go-to options, but they’re completely effective and legitimate.

The first option is speaker position, the second is room treatment, the third is any tubes in the system...later on, though, cables are another tool. For me.

Only one opinion and should be taken as seriously as those of us that are Zavfino Fans. You need to try them, they have return privileges with a restocking fee.

Also step up the line to the The Fusion - Solid Pure Silver & OCC Copper - ZavfinoUSA

I like their products and you could do a lot worse in my opinion.  

As far as Zavfino is concerned, I tried the Arcadia and they were OK. Way too far from a jaw dropping performance but perhaps a solid choice for around $100-$125 used. I expect their upper tier interconnects to represent similar value. Buy those used. Sorry Zavfino fans for 💩ing on your parade. 

Use vh audio v twist with eti and aeco rca’s...lots out there to try.These have had me satisfied for a long time.The puresonic end on triodes,audience,ect are reasonable $ and have me curious... but i suspect Eti’s are as good as anything out there imho 😉

I ordered the Triode RCA set today.  If not happy I'll just send them back.

I know the cable is not the first step to improve sound in my case but I'm making this a Xmas present for myself!😉

I haven't got the TWL RCAs, but really like his Freedom ethernet cables.

The RCAs being copper, and said to have a 'natural' sound is promising for you.

Decware.  Steve has a simple approach and designs well.

@lrlacosse Thinking about upgrading RCA interconnects between DAC and Int. amp..Currently using CHORD Clearway 1M.

What are you using between your digital source(s) and your DAC now?

While I usually compare pairs of rca interconnects, recently rediscovered notable differences and varying results with different digital cables too. Tried a former well known mainstream digital cable I had stored and was surprised how bad it was.

"What are you using between your digital source(s) and your DAC now?"

AFTERDARK. BLACK MAGIC MKII CARBON FIBER SHIELDING (CFS) I2S HDMI CABLE

@lrlacosse "This was done only on the upper and high frequency parts of the crossover. The inductors I wanted to use for the bass part are just too big and an external crossover would be needed. So, yes, probably my own fault for the bump in db in the 4 to 5k range. "

With the crossover mods and part changes, why do you believe you caused a bump in db in 4-5k range? Did you change the specs on parts used or change the crossover point or something?

decooney

"With the crossover mods and part changes, why do you believe you caused a bump in db in 4-5k range?"

I used a simple app on my iphone and a test cd. Probably not very accurate.

@lrlacosse I used a simple app on my iphone and a test cd. Probably not very accurate.

Gotcha. I’d be tempted to ask SVS to review/advise and send you an updated pair of crossovers vs. trying to mask the issue with interconnect cables. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a IC cable nut, tried way too many, yet fixing the root cause is usually the more beneficial option. BTW, I design(ed) and built speakers as a hobby 45 years. A proper crossover from a proven designer familiar with SVS drivers can be a game changer. Danny at GR Research could help if you wanna pay the price.  Best of luck.

Hey All,

Ordered and been using Triode Wire Labs RCA interconnect for some days now.

I'm impressed!  Noticed a difference immediately.  (was using CHORD Clearway)   First time that changing just an interconnect made such a difference.  The only other time is when I purchase Fidelium speaker cables/ribbons.  However, the change did not calm down that frequency bump in the 4-5k range.  I highly recommend TWL.  Never heard of that company before posting here.  So, thanks to All for the advice.  Looks like I got some crossover tweaking to do this Winter.

Hey decooney    -   SVS send updated crossovers?  SVS would never do something like that.  They would laugh at me if I tried.

Lawrence From MI 

I like TWL on digital components, especially their power cords. IME your smallish room is your biggest problem. I've got the same problem. Think about trying DSP and experimenting with cheap homemade room treatments. Google AMROC to put in your room dimensions and see your room modes. BTW I'm a Michigander too:-)

@lrlacosse "However, the change did not calm down that frequency bump in the 4-5k range.".

Yep, if you changed the crossover and/or crossover point, quote "Using an app on my iphone, the response has peak db from 4k to 5k", ...a new pair of interconnects is not going to fix that problem. An app on an iPhone aint gonna cut it for designing a proper crossover for any SVS speaker. Yes, there are helpful engineers at SVS, just like everywhere else - and if you are nice they might send you proper crossovers to restore your speakers to operate properly again.  

Don’t go crazy, there only cables.

having some silver in the wire does boost the highs and sparkle a wee bit, compared to just above average cabling 

those Groneberg rca’s are quite nice, as well. 
 

I now use average Belden shielded rca ‘s from amp to preamp, they remedied the radio station tower 1.5 miles from my house, where as the audioquest did not. 
 

 There are a lot of 10$ words for cables, don’t get sucked in to spending too much $

try those Groneberg rca’s, they are shielded very well' and are a good snuggish fit on the pre and amp. 
 

I like those cables, I also like my audioquest balanced pair. Haven’t used in a while. 
 

anyway, get those cables home and use one on right Ch one on the left ch. , and switch back and forth for audible differences. 
 

enjoy the auditions