The answer for me at least and probably all of us, is room, system, music and personal preference dependent. We all need and prefer different sound characteristics. And to those who say the problem is more evident in less reveling systems, that’s incorrect. I ‘fixed’ my cable issues with Wireworld’s top solid silver cables which, by design, are warm with accurate detail.
My cable merry go round started some years ago when I thought it would be cool to hear more detail in this higher end system. I run Wilson speakers, all top Conrad-Johnson electronics and a dCS front end. We had just moved to Florida and my room is large and highly reflective glass, tile and masonry.
Nordost cables give lots of detail at the expense of musical richness. For some systems, their top lines are great but didn’t work for me. I was thrilled to hear all that detail but over time missed the richness of the music. Their Valhalla 2 speaker cable was way better than their lessor lines but the Wireworld platinums gave me just what I wanted. The detail is still there but in balance with the richness. Acoustic guitars have a real wood sound as does the big bass. I have finally arrived.
Are cable “upgrades” just as likely to make your system sound worse?
Many of us with highly resolving systems have found that speakers cables and interconnect cables can improve the sound quality of our systems. But are they also just as likely to do the opposite?
A few months ago, I “upgraded” to a renowned speaker cable, and immediately noticed more detail and resolution. I was so pleased I also “upgraded” the interconnects. But with more time I realized that the trade-off for more detail was a thinner sound with diminished tonal richness. Thus began a maddening series of attempts to fix the problem – different speaker cables, different DAC, different streamer, and now even a 30 trial of a new amplifier to try to overcome the thinness and find a more natural tone. It finally occurred to me to replace the out-of-sight-out-of-mind interconnects (with my original interconnects), and immediately the problem was blessedly solved.
Have others experienced this frustration? What recommendations do you have to avoid such fiascos?