I’ve tried Audience, VooDoo, DH Labs, and Zu Cable among others but have stuck with Acoustic Zen for many years. They offer a very natural and balanced sound with great detail, tone, and imaging/soundstage, and especially if you buy used you get a lot of performance for the $$$ although they’re still a lot less expensive compared to many others even new. My advice is to read reviews and buy used to try out whatever cables you’re interested in if at all possible, or there are direct sellers like Triode Wire Labs, Zavfino, Audio Envy, Ice Age, Pine Tree, etc. who offer generous risk-free trial periods and are another good way to go. Hope this helps, and best of luck.
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@soix I've had Cardas Quadlink (CD to amp) and monster powerline 2 speaker cables for a long time and thought it's time for a change for something better. I borrowed Cardas Prosec and Shunyata Gamma from The Cable Company. Don't really know what I expected but I think they were better but not by much. And how well do I remember what each cable sounded like? Anyway, thanks for your input. |
I’ve sold a couple pairs of Acoustic Zen Satori speaker cables to people who were using Mogami and they were both thrilled at the level of improvement, so it’s certainly worth at least trying more expensive cables. |
Don’t know what your speakers and amps are. Consider Iconoclast Speaker Cables. They were a major sound quality upgrade at a reasonable price for high-end. We won’t be on the upgrade treadmill. (Previous cables were AQ Rocket. Had them about 12 years.) Also, their people are real nice to deal with. Had lots of concerns as I checked out different brands. Their website has a lot of info. After understanding my system and concerns, Bob sent 2 different cables to listen to. This was one purchase my wife agreed was one of my best upgrades. Good Luck. |
You should try Kubala-Sosna. I ended up going with their top-of-the line Realization series. Power bables, speaker and digital. Beat out the best Synergistic, Nordost, Audioquest, Siltech, Crystal and Bibacord. Incredible focus, soundstage, dynamics and transparency. I can’t stop listening to my rig. And they’ve got several series at different price points. |
@bzawa I admittedly don't have as extensive experience with cables as some here. I will say this though: IMHO there IS a difference. After several decades with Monster Powerline II and Monster Reference interconnects, I decided to dip my toe into some new cables. After a bit of surfing around, reading reviews etc. I chose these folks: https://www.morrowaudio.com/ What I liked about them is the ability to have the cables built and configured as you want them. (They also have a trade-in program) Before I rewired my system, I had a good long listening session with familiar material so I'd have fresh memories to work from. After I rewired things, I was gobsmacked at the difference. It was not subtle! I was skeptical about their 'break in period' (Really? For wire?) But again, I was surprised at the further improvement over time. To be sure, I swapped back to my old cables to make sure it wasn't confirmation bias at play and was amazed again: There really is a difference. I'm not going to go into the differences I heard on my specific system as if you think about it, your system will behave differently than mine. What I am trying to do is to encourage you to give new cables a try. The suggestion of buying used is a good one: You can likely get very good cables for way less than new. And if you don't like them, or you can't discern any change, you can always sell them on. Give it a try. I don't think you'll be sorry! Happy listening. |
@soix well I have tried these very expensive stuff from acquaintances and friends and I had to do it blind just to remove the visual bias stimuli and nopes didn't hear anything so for me specifically overly expensive cables are wasted on me. Also I'm most likely getting an all Active setup soon from the Genelec the One Series so speaker cables will be wasted on me regardless
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Just bought some Veritas top of their line cables and they are fantastic cables. Much better SQ than my Audioquest Coffee USB and Audio Envy IC’s which I thought were pretty good cables. I am just amazed at how much better my system sounds with reference quality cables. Now I fully understand how much impact very high quality cables can improve SQ. Took me awhile to get here. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/veritas-cables-a-new-brand-that-i-found |
I can second the recommendation for Veritas Cables. I've tried so many brands over the years, many of which I loved. Some were very high end and costly, others not as much. But after all those brands I can't think of another which offered quite the same blend of value and performance that Veritas does. I've compared several different times with different categories (interconnects, USB, power) and although I can sometimes find another brand that gives similar levels of performance, it has always been a far more expensive cable. At this point I've replaced pretty much everything but my speaker cables with Veritas products. Those will probably be next before the year is over. |
@kofibaffour Well good for you — you get to save some nice $$$ to spend on something else. Just goes to show how important it is to be able to try cables in your system first or buy used to limit risk. |
Like @soix I have had very good luck with Acoustic Zen for speaker and interconnects. Important note, for any cables, allow a minimum of three days in the system before you come to any conclusions about a cable. I have found that the AZ’s take at least that long to show their true character. |
For years I used Radio Shack Mega Cable partly because it was as good as what Monster was peddling at the time and it was cheap. Also, Radio Shack provided a wide selection of quality termination options that were easy to use, reliable and also inexpensive. At a time when I decided to become more discriminating about cabling and did a lot of research and found that Kimber Kable was the only manufacturer the published electrical specifications that were verifiable by independent testing (Audioholics). The 2009 review of 8PR is still available online if you query it. That’s what I bought with the S-BAN connectors. They were a 100% reliable over 14 years and did not alter the sound in any way that was perceptible to me and did not interact negatively with any type of amp or typology I used them with. Several years ago, I started thinking about an upgrade and for a long time I researched products from all the major manufactures and only one, Atlas Cable of England was the only one other than Kimber that published verifiable electrical specifications for their cables. I did attempt to acquire pair configured to my needs but the US distributer had such questionable business practices and for the $$$ I was spending I decided to cancel the order. After a long requesting technical data via manufacture’s web portals and not getting any responses I resorted to Kimber’s. They answered all the questions I had and gave a $400 trade-in allowance on my 8PR which was $20 more than I paid in 2009 (along with photo evidence as to the condition of the pair which was exactly as new. They had a pair of 12TC with S-BAN as with the 8PR, assembled and shipped by that evening. In the 90s I started getting interested in interconnects and I consulted with the Audio Lab in the Garage at Havard Square whom I’ve had a long relationship with and he recommended AudioQuest. I started with the Blue then the Turquoise then used several pairs of Topaz exclusively for at least the next 20 years. Eventually, again after considerable thought I became quite interest in the Chord Clearway and the Rega Couple 2. Finally, I settled on the couple 2 which was manufactured with Klotz cable and an elegantly designed locking connector along with meticulous workmanship and like Kimber just the facts and no hype. When it came time to acquire an additional IC for a new component I immediately look to Rega and purchased the Couple 3 since they had discontinued the 2. I’ve also used a number of their Reference Mains Power Leads and because they only sell them in 3-meter lengths, I purchased 2 6-foot VooDoo Mojo Digital power cords to reach other components in my rack. I’ll also give these a thumbs up. |
I can second the recommendation of Morrow cables. I replaced Cardas Hexlink speaker cables and van den Hul Thunderlink preamp to amp interconnects with their SP6 speaker cable and MA4 interconnects. Heard more transparency, mainly. My system is in the Virtual Systems section. If your electronics are excellent and your hearing OK, I would expect you to hear a significant difference with such an upgrade. |
@squared80 Classic ASR crap... |
@texasblues1959 not sure the coat-hanger was ASR crap actually just something curious people embarked on with results. Hell, there is a new video by a more mainstream website who isn't having anything to gain. If you have time, read this article - Best audiophile cables: Fact and fiction explained - SoundGuys |
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lol I have real gear and do pragmatic stuff like room treatment, DSP bass management and correct subwoofer implementation. I have demoed a lot of these supposed revelatory cables and didn't hear anything so drastic compared to others so I guess I will be fine with BlueJeans, GearIt and Mogami stuff since just moving my speakers in room change the sound more drastically than any cable has ever done. If you wanna dabble that is fine but I just sent a cool article to read. No bashing to be found in there. @texasblues1959 nothing malicious here at all |
https://www.audiogon.com/systems/10635#&gid=1&pid=41 I arrived at an inflection point about 3 years ago when I realized my hardware was very good but I could not seem to get the sound to equate to their level. So sure, I've been into 2 channel for 50 years, but it was only with the advent of the Wilson Alexia's and the ARC preamp where I felt that cabling was holding me back. So I ventured out on a quest to try as many top brands as I could to see what would raise the sound quality and still make me happy. I've owned many more brands than that list but wasn't tracking before 2018 with any seriousness (driven by IRS rules so all receipts are filed). There are a ton of crap cables out there and there are some very good cable brands. I mean the exceptional brands (and within them there are misfits as well). I did not try everything out there and deliberately did not try, for instance, Nordost, because the consistent theme is the brightness users comment on, so I passed on those. I fell in love with Kubala Sosna Elations. If I could afford them I would have a complete set of those. But I would pass on the Emotions (too "dark" to me in their line-up). The upper tier Synergistic are very open and airy and never tiring. And almost all my power cables are Synergistic and my present speaker cables are Synergistic. I am commenting on most recent experiences more fresh in my memory. Upper level Cardas are very musical and solid. I moved on from them because to me they always had some level of linen cloth over the music and I tired of them. Still good, but not fully open in my system. Much like the misfit Emotions, the Cardas Clear Reflections were way too much midrange and reminded me of the Emotions. They both seemed to be outliers in the suite of cables from low end to high end. Very good cables, but they differ from the cables below and above them. They can fit in the right system, but didn't work for me. The Purist Audio cable line is one of the quietest out there. I was able to get as high as Corvus and they were very good. I could have gone that route. I never was able to get to Dominus at the tippy top. The Corvus is an excellent cable; plays open and airy with solid bass and midrange. I am glad I experienced Siltech but to me they were so neutral they had no personality. Not musical, but if you want neutral, they are all that. At some point during a quest you start questioning your mental stability and methods. And then when you find a cable that just hits it out of the park for you and your set-up you wished you had tried them a year earlier and saved all the buying and selling and shipping hassles. I hit that with Wywires. And I will tell you I had Aalex make me a 12 foot power cable a few years back and I hated it. It did not light my fire so Wywires was not a contender in my mind. After you go around and around and force yourself to be unbiased and investigate further you might as I did, consider trying them again. These forums help me a bunch. Type in the keywords above and search and sort and read everything and connect the dots. Anyways, Wywires Diamond and Platinum have given me what I wanted and I will search for some speaker cables as well down the road. Right now the Synergistic SC's are a good match. The Wywires, to me, have everything. They are so smooth, never tiring, detail without any hint of etch. None. Musical as all get-out and simply play music that is toe tapping. I am totally guilty of listening to my system, still while enjoying the music, but the music I play is often complex and subtle jazz like Manu Katche. He plays the drums like it is his orchestra and every 10 inch splash cymbal, or rap of a tom is his symphony in motion. The Wywires let me catch every nuance of his drum kit without missing any dynamics of the band. Leonard Cohen's (RIP) voice comes through deep and throaty without sacrificing other frequencies that some cables could not replicate. Sooooo, I am not an expert on cables and my opinion is only relevant to my system and journey. I had to do it to satisfy my engineering curiosity. Honorable mentions are Snake River, Stealth, Hijiri, Cerious, and Masterbuilt. I'm not going to comment on the cables I experienced as pretty lousy (to me). Happy listening! |
@stringreen “...they also sound different depending on what they're attached to.” +1 - cables are not dominant factor, unless bad/faulty ones replaced with good ones. |
8 AWG! https://kimber.com/products/12TC
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@faustuss I calculated total conductor gauge, which is 5awg for whole cable.. per leg you are correct w/ 8awg number, -thx! |
@bugredmachine I too can attest to the phenomenal Wywires Diamond interconnects. I also share your thoughts on Cardas in the respect of Clear Reflection being bloated in the mid bass and not Clear enough. I found Clear had what I would call “glare”. I also tried the pro audio cables Belden, Mogami, Canare and Gotham. Lots of great value cables but the Wywires Diamond are beyond these in the areas of transperancy, coherence, timbre and are balanced; not highlighting any frequency. @bugredmachine Can you compare the Wywires power cord vs the Synergistic? I want to try a new power cord on my First Watt SIT4 and was contemplating the Wywires Diamond since I’ve had such a great experience with their interconnects. |
@rrboogie I had a Platinum power cable. It was 13 feet. I recall being disappointed with it. Perhaps I was expecting it to jump up and bite me. So, I sold it off. I was more impressed with the Synergistic power cables and own several now. I found them to add some bass punch but maintain a nice clarity. The whole journey through power cables, which everyone has said make a huge difference, did in fact expose how important they can be. I had been reluctant to spend time on power cables until after I played with IC's. I ended up playing with both at the same time which is inefficient when looking for synergy. Maybe today I would appreciate a Platinum more now that things have settled. My next foray will be Wywires speaker cables. |
I know why you say that. All wires and cables sound different for sure. But is the difference meaningful to audiophiles? Not really to my ears. The differences are small and almost non-meaningful behind thick veils anyway. All audio voices are far back and broken (dry, thin, harsh) anyway. Listen to Wavetouch cables below if you can hear the difference. If WT sounds same as others, your ears maybe in a numb state due to hearing harsh sounds too long. It takes more than few minutes these warm sounds to soften your ears. Cheers. Alex/Wavetouch |
I inventoried all the clothes hangers in my home and found quite a variety of "gauges" which would have to be taken into account if I could figure out impedances relative to copper or silver wire. My foremost problem, though, is that none of these wire hangers unwind far enough to reach my speakers. Another potential drawback would be that coat hangers are not insulated, so they would be fairly effective antennae for attracting ambient EM "noise."
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