SVS rca interconnects --> warm/thick sound with admirable detail retrieval/noise mitigation (same goes for their speaker cables, xlrs, etc)...There is no beating SVS cables on a 100 dollar budget if you like that type of sound.
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If you’re just starting out, my advice is to buy a pair of ICs from Blue Jeans cable and listen for a year. Then you can try something more expensive and see if it makes a difference in your system. Blue Jeans is very solid entry-level stuff. If you have to spend more, I would look at Audioquest. They have cables at all price points, so just find whatever they are selling in the $100 range. I really wouldn’t agonize over this at this point. But I still think Blue Jeans will give you a very solid foundation. |
I agree with others re Blue Jeans but would add it might help in determining when to move on, if at all, to having a set of cables with known different sound you can use. I recommend an inexpensive set of Mogami. They are different. When you can actually hear the difference it may be a good time to move on and it might as well point out the direction you should go. Take your time, don't get caught up in the hyperbole about cables. |
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My vote is for World’s Best which uses Mogami or build your own from pure silver, shielded, balanced cables available from Parts Connexion. They will become your actual reference cables from which all other fancy cables change the music one way or another. From my DAC to my integrated I use the Parts Connection (DH Labs) cables, but from my HT processor/receiver I use Worlds best. All the other cables I’ve used somehow move the tonal balance, but always in a subtractive way. |
OP: Often fancy cables will darken the sound, which if your speakers are too bright will be a good thing, but in your case a similar effect can be had by adjusting the direction of the speakers. Always worth experimenting with the tweeters pointing behind and/or above your head. You may find your personal sweet spot is NOT on a laser line with the tweets but somewhat below them. Best,
E |
There aren’t any good cables around the $100 mark. I tried some of the best Blie Jean cables instead of my reference just to see what people were excited about. They were gone in no time. Save your money and get a good set of cables that you can keep for years and they system upgrades. With any $100 cable, this will be your bottleneck now and in the future. Also, if you think you are saving money by going cheap now and then later get something better, remember you will get 40-50% of the price you pay for the cables when you sell. Now, anything I want to buy, I don’t work my way up to it, I save or wait until I have the cash or want to spend the cash on what I want for the next 5-10 years. |
Ditching the $100 mark, Decware makes a terrific interconnect. Oft overlooked, I’ve owned lots of ICs up to over several hundreds of dollars a pair, and these are seriously good. https://www.decwareproducts.com/dsr3 Signal Cable also makes a very good hybrid for not much. Hope that helps. |
If you are open to buying used cables, Darwin or Amadi make very good sounding interconnects sounding better than many times their price. The original Darwin Silver ICs are still a very good IC. They don’t look like much, but their sound is excellent. Look them up. They are way better sounding than most anything at $200 or less, maybe 300-400 even.
Bob |
You can’t go wrong with Blue Jeans at your price point. Also, I’ve had good luck with custom cables made by performance audio in Salt Lake City. Great to deal with, lots of wire & design options, and high quality. https://www.performanceaudio.com/collections/custom-rca-to-rca-cables |
For really well designed, high quality parts, hand made cables made with pride and passion for the Audiophile space, check out Pine Tree Audio. Call Jessie and he’ll recommend the design best for you based on your sonic preferences and system. Check out Pine Trees site, read some of the reviews and do yourself a favor and call, tremendous value and you won’t need to upgrade down the road. |
OP, I have used and can recommend: DHLabs (not White Lightning), Morrow Audio (50% sale right now), Supra Cables Trico or EFF RCA cables (dealer selling on eBay), or Pine Tree Audio which are showing promise. All could get you a very nice RCA pair that will grow with you through to "mid-fi". A couple might cost a little over your $100 limit, but only by $20 or $30 |
I was firmly in trenches in the ‘wires don’t matter camp when I had a friend come listen to my system running SVS speaker cables. He was very polite commenting about the transparent sound stage, but lack of detail. It left me ready to go amp shopping until someone asked what speaker cables I was running.. I ordered and installed a pair of Anti-cables.. much more detailed, spacious with precise placement.. just goes to show you don’t know what you don’t know! |
I was in the same camp too thinking cables don’t matter. Then I finally tried the Belden 9497 speaker cables a few audiophiles recommended just to try without having to spend a fortune and I actually heard a difference. Appreciate everyone’s feedback, but now I’m feeling totally confused about which rca interconnect to try and I’m not limiting to $100 anymore. I just want to get a good one and be done with it, if that’s possible. I’m currently leaning toward trying DH Labs BL-1 SERIES II 2meters direct for $212. What do you guys think? |
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My vote would be to skip the Blue Jeans, this coming from someone who used them exclusively for my first six years or so with this hobby. In the end I discovered they don’t scale up very well from entry level, and better options in comparison reveal them to be a little grainy and bass shy. The Mogami 2497 is $100 for 3 feet and is superb, would recommend wholeheartedly. Transparent, uncolored, neutral sound, with better high frequency extension than BJC, and much better mids and bass with a wider soundstage. They aren’t as good as Transparent in my system, but hold their own considering the reasonable cost. |
like this one @nixanthrope ?
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@retroactiv Yes! I think you’ll enjoy. |
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+1 on Darwin Cables. Right now, on their Specials page, they have a pair of their entry level Silver 1 RCAs for $195. You really can't do better at that price. All the best, |
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Usually anything silver I like best between electronics, although an interconnect manufacturer told me that copper was best between a preamp and subwoofer as copper does better with bass than does silver. A friend in NorthCentral PA made his own silver interconnects, called them ‘Blasphemy ICs’ and were some of the thinnest most reasonably priced silver ICs I ever saw. They sounded phenomenal! I bought many pairs over the years, and then gave them to friends or sold them with the gear that I sold at the time. At one point, I was using all of his ICs in my system for several years, as I change gear pretty often. You don’t need to spend tons of money to get great ICs. |