Best speaker cables for Thiel CS 3.7

I was thinking of Transparent yes.
Any of you guys audition Echole cables ? how do they sound ?

Cardas still popular with Thiel ?

Goertz Alpha-Core
OCOS
Straightwire
Wireworld

thieliste-

have you auditioned any cabling? If so, which brand(s)?
Happy listening!

Hi thieliste,

I used Straightwire Maestro (first) and Crescendo speaker cables (later) for years with my 5i’s. Very good. Preferred them to the Transparent XL speaker cables due to the great bass slam, but the Transparent cables are very refined, yet open sounding cables, and easily recommended if you have the $$$$. Wireworld cables tend to sound similar to Straightwire IME. Very good also.

I avoid Cardas cables like the plaque, although I own the Ayre K-1xe preamp and CX-7eMP player and Charles Hansen/Ayre loves Cardas cabling. Way too rolled off and closed-in sounding for me.

If you want a very low noise floor, detailed and incisive sound with a ton of air and a huge, layered, transparent soundstage, try the Synergistic Research Tesla Precision Reference or Apex/Element CTS/Atmosphere Level 4 speaker cables.

http://positive-feedback.com/Issue79/synergistic_atmosphere.htm

Best to you thieliste,
Dave

jafant i didn't audition cables in my system, my system being too modest at the moment but i did audition at dealer's and at shows different brands like Esprit, Legato audio, Synergistic, Absolue Creations and others.

Dave thanks for your input, i will look at the Element CTS.
Anyone familiar with Kubala Sosna Emotion series ?

Hi thieliste,

Which ones did you prefer of the ones you have auditioned?

No experience with Kubala Sosna but everything I have read is very positive.

Best to you theiliste,
Dave

KS cabling is a sonic match for Thiel speakers.

dlcockrum for Thiel speakers i would forget about Esprit and Absolue Creation, too bright to Thiels.
But i would consider Legato audio, very smooth and liquid.
I met Patrick of Legato in Paris at the high end show, a very nice person.
http://legato-audio.com/

jafant did you audition some Kubala Sosna ?

thieliste,

Like many Americans, I do not have multi-lingual skills. I admire that you do and converse so fluently.

The upper models of the Legato cables and power cords look intriguing. Is the "modulation" box a type of active shielding (a’ la Synergistic), a frequency tuning device (a’ la Transparent), or something completely different?  

Best to you thieliste,
Dave

Re: Kubala Sosna, I found this review and the ranking by Robert Levi circa 2009 quite interesting:

http://www.kubala-sosna.com/news/reviews/rev_elat_pfo2009.pdf

Are you guys seriously considering spending $4-6k/meter for cables?

Here is a link to a review of the Pass pre/amp combo. Notice that he uses SR cabling:

http://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/pass-labs-x350-8-stereo-amplifier-xp-30-preamp...

"Well worth the time and effort when seeking out the dream team for your listening room."

jafant, don’t let this keep you up at night scheming to rob the US Treasury. Nothing but IOU's. lol

Best to you both,
Dave

Thanks for your kind words dlcockrum.
The box you are referring to on the power cord is a magnetic filter.

A distributor recommended me Taralabs cables for Thiel speakers.

Tara Labs are great cables, thieliste. Are you able to audition Purist Audio Design cables nearby?  PAD's top cables/cords would be my pick overall if I could afford them. As PAD's retired-NASA engineer owner Jim Aud says, "Engineering, not marketing".

Best to you thieliste,
Dave
 

I owned Taralabs The One and did not prefer them with either my CS 6 or 3.6.   I found a them bit lean. I was using TL .8 IC's in addition to several others and got the same results.   

thieliste-

I have not had a KS demo yet. I have read about other Thiel owners using KS cable systems in good effect.  Happy Listening!

dlcockrum absolutely i do know Purist Audio Design, i met Jim Aud in Paris in 2014, he makes some very nice products.

Take your time- thieliste.

I know I am taking my time, doing it right!

Back on this old thread, any new findinds on great cable match for Thiel CS 3.7 owners ?Do any of you guys tried this Canadien brand :http://gutwire.com/?page_id=225
Please share your experience with all the brands you have used for Thiel speakers.

No experience wIth gutwire, but I have been using Audience AU24 SE cable between my Ayre VX5/20 and Thiel CS2.4s.  Very open and uncolored.  Planning on upgrading to the AU24 SX version in the future.  

@drrsutliff

Thanks i will consider Audience cables.

Hi thieliste,

I chose Tweek Geek Dark Energy speaker cables to pair with my 5i’s. Three runs of Duelund 16 gauge wire per leg (+ and -) terminated with Wireworld Rhodium spades and Sonic Tonic inserted in the connectors.

https://www.tweekgeek.com/dark-energy-speaker-cables/

Very, very good pairing with my Thiels and reasonably priced.

Dave

Dave thanks for the info.Did you ever compare silver cables to copper cables with your Thiels ?I have been told many times that silver cables on my CS 3.7s would be way to bright and forward.

The SR Precision Reference speaker cables I had used silver conductors and I never thought them to sound bright, only very open, delicate & extended on top. Same for Purist.

My latest discovery is Verastarr power cords and interconnects which use pure silver foils vs wire and are the most honest, open, and extended cables I have yet heard, with ultra-realistic, razor quick transient attack, yet impart no glare, brightness, sheen, or sibilance to the sound in my system. Bass is the most realistic of anything I have tried. I plan to try their speaker cables in the near future. Recommend you call Mike Powell at Verastarr. Great guy to work with and very creative/knowledgeable.

i obviously have not tried (not even nearly) every silver cable out there, but based on the experience I do have, I think silver cables get a bad rap on this excessive brightness issue. I suspect that many so-called “silver” cables are actually silver coated copper, which I have found to display an unpleasant upper treble region as well as other undesireable influences on the sound.

As you know, the 5i’s have the metal dome tweeters and are very sensitive to/unforgiving of any brightness upstream. I have definitely heard such from the wrong preamp, amp, and especially inferior digital gear over the years. And, yes, also with many cables, including pure copper in some instances. Stay with SR, Purist, Verastarr, and other manufacturers that extensively design and voice their cables using pure silver and I think you will be rewarded with a degree of air, open-ness and detail beyond copper without the bite that some lesser “silver” cables can have.

Dave

Interesting Dave.  I have tried a lot of speaker cables with my 3.6 and CS 6 Thiels but never silver.  I have tried a silver/copper mix with Kimber 3035 and did not feel like they were a good match.  I may try Verastarr one day but...

My latest preference has been MIT EVO 2’s.  I have both IC and SC.  I have always preferred MIT IC’s over their speaker cables but find these far and away the best MIT SC’s I have had in my system.

Just totally open and transparent, dynamic and clear as a bell.  BTW, where do you use the PC’s?

Hi pops,

Agree that silver/copper is not a good match for Thiels.

A good friend let me try his Verastarr pure silver power cords and ICs in my system. I used the Statement PC on my DAC, the Signature II HC (dual foil) PCs on my preamp and amp, and the regular Signature II on my Aurender. ICs were the Signature II series. Each was placed into my system one at a time, starting with the DAC, then the preamp, then the amp, then the Aurender. The Statement on the DAC vs my current SR Element CTS Digital PC gave the most improvement and each PC incrementally added to the improvement, but when all were in (including the ICs), everything clicked and the result was a naturally holographic, extremely deep and wide soundstage with excellent tonal balance, detail retrieval, and faster/crisper transient response, providing uncanny realism.

The Statement II and Signature II lines have been recently replaced by the Statement III and Signature III models which use a thicker and wider silver foil in the Statement III PCs for furher improved current flow and newly-developed improvements in the ground plane implementation to further lower the noise floor.

Dave

Thanks Dave.  So many options with PC’s but that is my next move when I make one.  I am currently using Wywires on my amps and phono stage and stock on my CJ preamp which comes with a pretty nice cord.  Kubala Sosna Fascination on digital.

Wywires have been the most consistent for me adding nothing except a lower noise floor.

IMO Synergistic Research are some of the best cables for Thiel speakers.I would like to compare them to Audience cables.