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Big name company or smaller company?

I am looking to replace my cables and it seems here on Audiogon a lot of smaller cable companies like Zen and Coincident (and many more) are recommended. I currently have MIT Terminator 2 and was not sure if I should stick with auditioning the better MIT's, or Cardas', etc. If I buy from a smaller company I could be stuck and have no resale value to fall back on. Do these smaller companies offer that much more value? Don't the larger companies have more resources, etc...? I notice most of the people with "better" systems use big name cables, including reviewers. Of course I would like to get the most for my money. ???
joekras0a46
sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
I assume by cables you mean interconnects, not speaker cables. If so, the two interconnects I'd recommend for best VALUE (price vs. performance) are the Kimber Silver Streak, and either the Silver Solution or Silver Lace by HomeGrownAudio. I own both, and think both are excellent buys. You can buy the HomeGrownAudio interconnects as kits, do the soldering yourself, and save some money if you are on a budget. If you decide to go with the Kimber Silver Streak and are in no hurry to make the purchase, watch for used ones on Audiogon, or check out "UsedCables" (www.usedcables.com).
lak's avatar
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lak
4,613 posts
 
Some companies are small and some what unknown however spend much time and funds with research (as mentioned by Elizabeth). Their products however can be excellent! One such company I use is Silver Audio. (silveraudio.com) I highly recommend you take a look/listen.
pass_12
1 posts
 
I have found that you can get great products at non-inflated prices with the smaller companies. In the past I have used Kimber Select and Cardas and really liked the products. They also cost me $$$$$. I recently baught a pair of ZuCable OxyFuels on auction. They are a small company but the cables sound better than anything I have heard so far at a fraction of the price. Bigger is not always better!
alexc's avatar
alexc
265 posts
 
Small is OK (better value for $$), but make sure it is a reasonably WELL KNOWN small company. Otherwise you WILL suffer on resale! Personally, I'd rather buy big, well known names on the second hand market. Your loss on resale is far more contained in that case.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
There is a person selling cables on eBay; Stu Wein (Screen Name: audioparts@aol.com) His brand is MAS (Music & Sound) His digital cable years ago came included with the original Wadia DAC and was recommended in Stereophile at the time. So were some of his interconnets. I tried some and the performance is very good and very cheap. His Silver Black cables goes for $50 a meter pair and was as good IMO as Name brand cables I have tried in the $150 to $200 range. His Silver Blue are go for about $25 pair and were as good IMO as stuff like Kimber PBJ. I just got a pair of his best cables $80, but have not given them a good listen yet. The build quality is very good. He also has two power cables ($50 and $75) probably worth over twice that.
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