Affordable cables

Ok millercarbon,   I was a bit too humbler there. You will never find anything as good as my diy ic`s are moore correct. Remember, I haven`t invented them, just "found" them years ago. 

I have been looking for that special cable for my reasonably pricey setup. Trying out and owning some of these cables from known and respected brands which was not cheap, did some improvements but also had some drawbacks. What hit the spot for me was something that I never expected and that was using Michael Green’s Picasso and Bare Essence cables. Sometimes less is more :)

millercarbon, the fact is that you have convinced yourself that all home brewed cables are failures based on one persons botched attempts. Your message to all DIYers is you are doing them a favor telling them to give up before they have started and just accept your message of ultimate failure. Every company that makes cables originally started with one person coming up with the idea and developing the project.

As for beating the SR drum, go to their classified pages here on A’gon and you will see 100’s of ads by their dealers, no need to plug their rather astronomically priced (recognizing they are not alone in their pricing) Nano quantum products.

My simple diy ic`s are cheap but I can guarantee that you`ll never find anything better

If true then why aren’t you selling them for $10k per meter, instead of being a nobody nobody ever heard of before? I mean seriously, "never better" if even merely better than all but the best three you’d be an inter web sensation. Even if merely better than anything under $1k, wouldn’t be true but at least someone might think maybe might be at least halfway plausible.

Now if instead of blowing smoke you want to stoke up your credibility you might try something no one could argue with. Something like, "For only a couple hundred dollars worth of soldering iron and solder and flux and a couple hundred dollars more of RCAs and wire and shrink wrap my DIY design will let you build in only a day or so an interconnect so good you could spend $50 and only be twice as good."

If true this would actually be an achievement. One of the most experienced cable DIYers here, Erik, sometimes manages to build a pair that are only off by about 2 dB R to L. Yeah. DIY is that good. I guarantee it.

Several companies can assemble what you need:

Speaker cable = Canare 4S11
Interconnects = Mogami 2534

The music you are listening to was likely recorded utilizing one of the above in the recording studio.

emtrey

When I started , I was very cynical of costly speaker cables. Then I heard the difference they made in a system.  

I started with Dick Smith's finest speaker cable, around $4.50/m (similar to Radio Shack?)
The difference was significant. And have been updating ever since.

I went to Merlin Chopin interconnects to tone down a bright Plinius pre/power amp. Didn't realise part of the problem was the QED Silver Anniversary speaker cables I was using. Then progressed up to Merlin Verdi, and Merlin Vivaldi.

Now on Mad Scientist Nitro Nano power cables, and Audience AU24SX interconnects. Most probably my last.
Can't replace the in-wall Merlin Scorpion speaker cables.

Technical
I have all bluejean cables but I was curious about others. 

I do not have a super expensive reference audio system, or golden ears, and I cannot argue which cable is objectively “best” but this i can say....on the advice of others, i went with Blue Jeans LC-1 interconnects and I am very pleased all the way around.

They have a very low capacitance rating (greatly desirable esp. for turntables), robust shielding and heavy duty connectors. A basic 2’ pair is around $32 but you can get any length you like.

The sound is a huge upgrade over my previous RCAs and I think their products are a tremendous value. As the old saying goes, they’re “all balls, and no bullshit”. For its price, I’m not sure you can do better unless you DIY

You are wrong there Steve. My simple diy ic`s are cheap but I can guarantee that you`ll never find anything better, they are perfectly clean. Only loss will be in the connections. 

DIY cables always look good on paper. I even got sucked into it for a while myself. One audio bud devoted decades- not years, decades- building every idea and material, tearing down and copying, reverse-engineering, you name it. After all that his finest most proud achievement was blown away by some random old SR cable pulled from my used cable drawer and costing less when new than he paid just in parts to build his masterpiece. Not just my opinion either, he heard it himself. And was crushed. Not disappointed. Crushed.

There’s a lot of things in audio very much open to question. This ain’t one of em.

Since DIY has been mentioned - here's some advanced DIY cables that uses a slightly different approach...
http://image99.net/blog/files/54c02c12532d31f960ee85a6ed674b01-83.html

They are NOT what many people would consider "cheap", but then again noting worth having ever is.

Enjoy - Steve

audiomaze OP51 posts12-12-2019 7:39pm"I can DIY if you would be so kind to send any info.
Thanks
To clear: that is just what I am asking from "experience ". Some unbiased audiophiles can give an honest answer based on years of experience."

Is there any way to send pm`s here? My ic`s are made from two lenghts of coaxes and are a bit tricky to make up but I`ve saved a series of pictures that shows how to land it on the legs. 

We all know and can't dispute that SR and other uber expensive cables can do magic with your systems however most of us aspiring audiophiles simply can't afford them. 

Ted Denney is a victim of his own success. Thirty plus years building the worlds greatest wires and all it seems to have gotten him, well aside from a pretty darn nice lifestyle, is an undeserved rep for making astronomically expensive wire.

When the truth is SR is the value leader. You answered your own question: find the $100 SR! 

I started out in the 90's comparing all kinds of wire. Cardas, Wireworld, Audioquest, whole bunch of them. All across the price ranges. Been doing so off and on ever since. Started with a whole bunch of SR Looking Glass. Then Resolution Reference. CTS. Now Atmosphere. The hardest part about it is in your price range people tend not to think its even worth selling, on account of shipping becomes such a big part of the transaction. Or the selection would be huge. Because they sure sold a ton of it.

So basically SR makes it really simple: but the newest generation you can afford. No one else has such a long history of consistency across models and years but you can sure do this with SR. Interconnect, speaker cable, power cord, does not matter, same thing.

One thing, Active Shielding. Such a significant improvement that for years all their best used Active Shielding. A lot of guys don't want the extra cables and outlets. But its a great opportunity if you can find some, because unlike all other cables these can be hugely upgraded by replacing the diodes and caps and cheap circuit board in the AS power supply, either yourself or having Michael Spallone do it. 

Speaking of DIY, when it comes to cables, don't waste your time. Sorry to offend those who think otherwise, they are what we un-PC types call "wrong". Been there, done that, wasted time and money, and heard lots who wasted even more. Whatever some DIYer wants you to spend on parts, spend it on any cable- not even SR, just any throw a dart at it cable- it will trounce the DIY. And the SR even more so.

Take a look at AntiCables. I think they have an entry level IC around $125. I’ve had good results with them. 

Blue Jeans cables make some extremely nice interconnects as well as spkr cables. 

Audio Envy cables are excellent,I recently tried their interconnects and power cords.They are way way better than their low price would have you believe.

Yeah, I am (in theory) an EE, but I have to say that it ALL seems to matter.  Some to a greater degree than others.  Just replaced my power conditioner and was shocked at how good it sounded.

Cables?  Yep.  You can go quite crazy on them.  I have found that Tridoe Wire Labs cables are a great blend of price/performance.  I use them for all my interconnects and most power.  But I have also demoed Shunyata and Transparent, the latter never left.

And ethernet???  It just shouldn't matter.  Just no.  But it does.

I own 2 systems. The second one consists of mostly dirt-cheap components (for instance, $59, 158..). I took lots of pain assembling the much more expensive first one, especially matching cables to each component, and it sounds divine. What I'd learned from the experience, I applied to the 2nd one. Quite surprisingly, it worked wonders. On some recordings, I like it better even. So I believe even the cheap electronics will benefit from well-matching cables. Please note that I didn’t say expensive, but well-matching.

We all know and can't dispute that SR and other uber expensive cables can do magic with your systems however most of us aspiring audiophiles simply can't afford them

...

IMHO, a lot of the "magic" vs snake oil discussions are system dependent.

When I started , I was very cynical of costly  speaker cables. Then I heard the difference they made in a mid tier system.  

To me, cabling is very important.  Cost justified ?, that's a slippery slope.

One of the biggest cable discussions revolves around premium ether net cables ( its just "bits" ,etc. ) My new streaming system was installed with a basic ethernet cable. Selling dealer said I did not need more.  I had a used mid tier SR ethernet cable ( $350.) sent out on trial. ( just curious)

Guess what --it never went back. The difference was very obvious.

I believe in good  cables especially with good electronics. You don't have to go to top of the line stuff.  Buy used, for sure.  Experiment, no magic bullet and each system will sound different with different cables  Just like speakers--you want to find the sound right for you.

I can DIY if you would be so kind to send any info. 
Thanks
To clear: that is just what I am asking from "experience ". Some unbiased audiophiles can give an honest answer based on years of experience. 

 I happen to know how to make a reference IC for close to nuthin if you dear to diy

 

audiomaze

We all know and can't dispute that SR and other uber expensive cables can do magic with your systems however most of us aspiring audiophiles simply can't afford them ...

Actually, not everyone does know this and there is substantial dispute over your claim. Of course, most of those who raise such objections do so based on theory and prejudice, and not on any first-hand experience with the cable.