2. cables
  3. 192496-21

Belden 8402, 8412, and 8428

I am starting to have some time to play around lately so decided to try some cable comparisons and to make some more cables.  

I have been exclusively using Furutech u-P2.1 interconnects made with FP601/602 balanced connectors.  The cable is a 19awg fine stranded OCC copper in foamed PE with a copper braid shield.  There is really nothing to complain about.  However, I have previously made other cables including ICs using Western Electric wire, Duelund wire, and Belden 8402 a 20awg tinned copper cable that is said to impart a tonally rich, dense, midrange, at the slight expense of the high/low frequency extremes.  IME, all of the tinned copper does that to some extent.  Jeff Day wrote a few articles for Positive Feedback about it (about 5 years ago) after the guys from SPEC Corporation said the 8402 ICs and Western Electric 16awg speaker wire contributed to "Real Sound" or musicality. 

I have a few 8402 cables around here (Vampire or DH Labs XLR connectors) so I replaced one of the three sets of ICs I currently need with the 8402 and started making cables to replace the other two sets.  One set is now completed and spending some time on the cable cooker, after which it will go from my DAC to my volume control.  I have started another set to go from my SMc buffer to my amps, where I currently replaced the Furutech ICs with a set of DIY shielded Duelund 20 awg (tinned copper) ICs.  I am noticing a bit of a difference between these tinned copper ICs and my Furutech cables, with the tinned cables being maybe a little warmer and denser.

I have tried the Belden 8412, which is similar to the 8402, because I was curious how the Belden tinned copper wire would sound with PE insulation and a different jacket but the 8412 doesn't seem to have the same level of warmth and engagement as the 8402, or the Duelund wire. 

I have also ordered some Belden 8428, which is identical to the 8402 except that the signal wires are 18awg and the outer jacket is CPE instead of the CPSE on the 8402.  I like the 8402's CSPE jacket much better than the PVC on the 8412 cable, so I hope I don't dislike the CPE, which is likely to be stiffer than CPSE.  Do any of you have any experience with the Belden 8428?  Here is a thread discussing several of those Belden cables, including the 8428 near the end of the comments.

This may just be an opportunity to try something new because I am bored, but it is also sort of fun.  I may very well go back to using the Furutech u-P2.1, which is well-made, good sounding, and hard to beat without spending stupid money.

 

mitch2

Showing 1 response by climbereg

climbereg
1 posts
 

The only thing better than finding a thread posing and answering exactly the questions you're looking for is realizing that if you'd searched for it two weeks prior, it wouldn't have existed.  


One of the main criteria for any system of mine is always solidity and tonal density,  which can be challenging to achieve without overly rounding things off.  For ICs I'd settled on Anticables the last few years, but I bought a pair of 8402 last summer and now my interest in this rabbit hole is again piqued. 

I'm very happy with the 8402 running out of the phono pre but they didn't work as well from other sources and that's because of the music itself.  As it happens, all the records in my meager collection are either relaxing listens or acoustic instrumentation or both, and the texture and color from the 8402 play very well to that.  When I'm playing CDs or streaming, though, I'm more likely to be listening to something that requires zippier transients, has more expansive soundstaging, or needs firmer foundations than the 8402 provides.

I'm definitely going to build a second pair with a lifted ground to see if that minor addition of air and speed will help but figured while I'm at it, why not find a few other options to make and compare.  Go big or go home, as you say.

Thanks for this thread and I'm looking forward to your further findings.

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