I have used Audioquest Type 4 for years. I did try Audioquest type 8 not sure there was a difference. The type 4 work well for me. Never tried Kimber. Have thought about it but why for what the AQ is giving me.
Audioquest or Kimber kable.
So I'm looking for a little guidance on speaker cables. I recently moved up to Focal Aria 926 and 906 speakers and trying to decide between better speaker cables. The 926's share duty between home theater and 2 channel while the 906 are going to be used in a more dedicated 2 channel. Both are paired to Emotiva Xpa gen 3 amps with the 926's connected to my Yamaha 2050 pre-outs and the 906's to the Emotiva PT-100. I plan on upgrading my Emotiva down the road and would like cables that can grow with my system. I'm looking at Audioquest Rocket 33 and kimber kable 8tc cables. Which direction would be good and would it be worth going up to Rocket 44 ? Thank everyone for any and all advice.
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I have honestly never heard of those. I am new to all of this. I have had my Martin logan ESL for years but never really put any time or money into my systems until I was injured 2 years ago at work. I have been recovering from multiple surgeries since then and have really found a new love for music and movies. I have spent a lot of time reading up on equipment and learned there is a lot I need to learn about lol.. I finally decided to purchase Focals and now want to grow my systems . |
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Raven Audio. Simply the best speaker cable for dollar. 45 day return privileges and made in the Republic of Texas. https://www.ravenaudio.com/product/speaker-cables/ |
I have been using Rocket 88s with great results on KEF LS50s, Ologe 5s, Magnepan LRS and B&W Matrix 801 S2s. 4 significantly different types of speakers. I also have a "lower" grade Kimber that sounds fine as well, just not like the 88s. A "higher" grade Kimber wjould probably perform like the 88s. At this point though, it’s really a matter of your personal preference. Can’t go wrong with either. |
https://youtu.be/6evV01Z-mWY Check out Audioholics review |
I use Kimber 8PR biwired in my high end (entry level) system and Im very pleased. In Audioholics they have compared the 8PR against the 8TC and they say you can get with the 8PR about 95% of the sound of the 8TC at considerable lower price. I would buy the 8PR and get something else with the money saved, like a dedicated streamer or the Uptone Etherregen if you are on digital. You will get much more bang for the buck that way. |
I use a double-run set of Rocket 44 speaker cables that are terminated with Furutech rhodium spades. The Rocket 44/88 are the best wire that Audioquest makes before you get into the silver-plated or battery stuff. Also, I would avoid any cable that uses silver or silver plated terminations (spades/bananas). They are not a good match for those Focals. The Audioquest is all multiple awg solid core designs. Rocket 88 has the best pure copper wire that Audioquest makes. I would suggest Rocket 88 or some slightly older models if you want to buy used, but make sure to avoid the silver-plated bananas/spades. Audio Advisor has "no frills" and "premium" versions of Rocket 44/88. It's cheaper than the retail product and you can buy them in any length. They just run it off a large spool and cut/terminate whatever you want (bare ware / spades / bananas). I would not have the Audioquest wires setup as bi-wire because they are only a 13awg speaker cable. If you bi-wire, you end up splitting this into a small 16awg for highs and 15awg for lows. The Kimber cable could be a good choice as well and they do have multiple awg wires, but they are standed bundles. Still not fully solid-core like the Audioquest is. |
Bill Low personally recommended "33s" to me (for bi-wiring) at a local audio shop a couple of years ago, and I liked them...when I went back to single wire I switched back to a pair of Type 8s...Audio Advisor has been selling those for a while (I got mine used from a private source) at a fairly amazing discount and they’re great sounding cables. |
Yeah, now this stuff can get emotive, not so? 🤔 As for myself its a bit like arguing about motorcars, as mentioned earlier. I had some repeated minor, shorter term encounters with both brands. Yes, both can be kind of stiff, plus in my recollections they have this 'so what' factor. Nice looking too, and then so what? 🤔 More or less, and by sheer accident, I now wound up with Transparent XLR cables for transport to DAC, and pre- to power-amp. Not short for any long term testing, loads of testing, both can not be bettered by anything that I had before, and still have. No BIG deal - but one, if one cares to listen 'deeply' turning out to be for keeps. AND... I'm not talking about their latest expensive offerings either, i.e. an older Music Link Ultra to the poweramp and a digital Reference to my DAC. Maybe I was lucky to acquire them at an affordable price? In any case the Ultra is nicely flexible, the Reference however -far from it- just to mention it. Michélle 🇿🇦 |
As someone who lives in Germany, american cable manufacturers were "terra incognita" for me. When I configured a vintage system with Mark Levinson components and Infinity speakers I felt there should also be cables made in the USA. Thanks to Audiogon I discovered Silnote Audio - those cables are spectacular even in the budget Morpheus range. Also worth looking: Morrow Audio. My latest speaker cable for testing (I write for a German High End magazine) was the stellar Audio Quest "William Tell". Not the cheapest piece of copper but a sonic revelation and close to In-Akustik 's Air cables that cost trice the price of those Audio Quest speaker cables. After all keep in mind that interconnects and speaker cables should be regarded as a whole. The system in my sleeping room (a Sony SACD with a Trigon "Snowwhite" preamp, a small Audiolab amp and Kef LS50) is connected with Morrow cables. Those low capacity connectors enhance the openess and definition of the system. If I want more bass I choose Audio Quest. Hope I could give you some hints. Greetz, Hans |
Yeah I am definitely coming around to looking at other options. I have the option of just taking the cash offer for my speakers and looking somewhere else for cables. Not knowing enough I thought it would be easier to buy from the same place I was selling to. Now I will be looking at the ideas all of yall have given me and make a decision from that. |
Kimber all the way. I have had both over the years and also build my own cables. Being a cable building hobbiest I have dissected both. With Kimber the different cores and quality of cable materials are clearly different grades as described. I also admire that Kimber will sell the raw cable to their customers. With Kimber you clearly get what you paid for, as described.A very important factor in any speaker cable, keep them as short as you possible can. Every time you shorten a speaker cable there is noticable improvement in speaker quality, hence perhaps why active speakers like ATC's are so incredibly superior....there are no speaker cables! Good luck and most of all....HAVE FUN! |
I have the Aria 936 and went from the Rocket 44 to Kimber 8tc. I much prefer the Kimber. The AQ seemed to suck the life out of my system. The Kimber, to me, are very neutral You had a gold-plated spade/banana on the Rocket 44. The solid-core of the Rocket 44 are very neutral and not harsh. The gold plated terminations definitely make things warmer and the end result could have been too dull sounding. The Kimber typically uses it's own terminations, which are a plated allow - much more neutral. |
Audioquest is the new monster and they offer no measurements on their speakers with "dbs" or without. THey are snake-oil salesmen. Yeah, I used to think the same thing years ago until I started testing with them. The power cables and speaker cables are "sleepers" that can be totally hot-rodded with better terminations. The interconnects are likely very good too (upgraded with better Furutech rhodium RCA/XLR). However, I am disappointed with their HDMI cables. |
Yep, I have done a direct side-by-side comparison of a lot of HDMI cables over the last couple years. I tried the Audioquest Vodka, which is a step above your carbon. The video was okay, but audio was thin and a bit bright in comparison to several other cables. The problem here is that the Vodka uses extremely small 30awg conductors. The very old Wire World Starlight 5-2 cable beat the crap out of the Vodka (5-2 series is basically single 24awg silver plated solid core OFC conductors). I can go on with a lot more here, but it would be hijacking the thread. |