Are you buying the right interconnects ?


In the late 90's I purchased a pair of Paradigm Active 20 speakers from Definitive Audio. Prior to buying I purchased a 3 meter pair of MIT interconnects from Audio Advisor. Regular retail price was $700 and they were on sale for 50% off. 
Hooked every thing up and waited a month for a full burn in. Wasn't satisfied. I thought, whats going on here? So I decided to try the Paradigm stock interconnects that came with the speakers. They were twenty feet long and looked really, really cheap like you find in a department store. They cost $20 a pair. I switched them out and was blown away.
The sound from those 20's suddenly sounded, rich, full, very sweet top end and the bass sharpened up to complete focus. I called Paradigm and spoke to an engineer and asked why the sound difference? He said the MIT's are not a match since they are a high impedance/capacitance cable and it has nothing to with the price. He mentioned the impedance/capacitance value numbers vary with different brands. He said you should always talk to the engineers at the amp/preamp companies, and ask which cable values would best match their components. Once you get the specs, go to a local electronic supply house, the one's that sell cables to TV station's and radio station's. Give the measurements to the salesperson to find a match and your good to go. 
audiozen

Showing 1 response by bigkidz

I got off the cable merry-go-round a long time ago.  Began upgrading parts and lowering AC noise.  It was easy for me because of repairing components, I could hear the different parts to see if there were any improvements and was able to compare them to what I owned.  Recently heard the impact of the Plitron toroidal choke.  It did create a much blacker background that the Hammond choke I was using, etc.

If you are commenting on all of this stuff, look inside your components and tell me the parts quality versus the price.  Most parts are pretty low grade for the amount of money you pay.  There is a manufacturer that uses filters with their speakers.  MSRP $1300 but inside $128 in parts like WIMA capacitors and cheap resistors.  Time to learn how to do this stuff for yourselves.

Happy Listening.