James…wait for the Cardas to come back. See how you like them and go from there.
I’ll be 100% honest - I am not a fan of benchmark sound. It’s not bad by any means. It just never draws me in. I always think I’m missing a tube component somewhere in the chain.
As far as cables are concerned….I had Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper with the benchmark 3 hgc in my system and thought it was a good combination. I would also recommend checking out AZ Matrix Ref II. I would not recommend AZ Silver Ref between DAC 3 and amp. It might be a bit much.
What I’m thinking though, since you have Kimber speaker cables, why not try Kimber XLRs. The silver/copper hybrid are really good cables. Seek out a used pair of Kimber KS1126.
Nordost Norse line is worth looking into as well.
All boils down to synergy.
Cable upgrades
Happy Holidays to all!
I’m reconfiguring my system and am interested in upgrading my interconnects and possibly my speaker cables, and I was wondering if you could make some recommendations.
I was running Audio Sensibility Impact SE XLR between my Benchmark DAC3 HGC (as a DAC/pre) and my Benchmark AHB2 power amp. The amp is running bi-wired Kimber Cable 8TC (I think that’s the model #) to a pair of ATC SCM40 tower speakers. In this setup the bass is tight and the mids are clean - overall I’m quite happy - but sometimes I feel, for my ears, I’d love a bit more openness / brightness in the higher end.
My questions are: would improved XLR interconnects help to open up the top end a bit, without being harsh, and perhaps increase the dimensionality of the soundstage? Or would I be better off starting with upgrading the speaker cables? I’ve been looking at the Cardas Parsec level of cable, and could perhaps stretch to the Clear line, pending your recommendations.
Also, one other question: pending the possible move to 2 AHB2s (in mono-block configuration), do both XLR interconnects have to be the same length? If not, would it cause any timing issues between, say, a 2' XLR and a 6'?
I’d appreciate any guidance. Many thanks in advance.
Best, JAMES
Showing 30 responses by audphile1
@jimboman since you already got the power cord…in my experience placing the best power cord on the amplifier makes a pretty big difference. Between the AQ and Cardas, I’d try the AQ on DAC and Cardas on amp. Worth a shot. |
Yes Cardas are warm and bassy. If the cables were not in use for few months, I’d say it’s possible that they need more time. But it’s unlikely that the lower bass will all of a sudden show up. I thought they were new. |
Sorry for your troubles James. But I still thinking it’s worth sending the cables to cardas. If you get them authenticated you can sell them. If they’re counterfeit they will be destroyed and you can relay the communication from cardas to the seller. You can decide on the next steps then. Worth the $25 fee. |
James…if those XLRs are new, my recommendation would be to give them a minimum of 200hrs of signal/play time. If you ran them for a week 24/7, they’re not done cooking yet. Keep them in and give em 40-50hrs more. If they don’t work for you then, move on. I think you may have potentially rushes to judge them. |
@jimboman what is the source for the Benchmark DAC 3? I was running the DAC3 HGC with a Lumin U1 Mini and I don’t recall needing more top end sparkle. I’d be careful there as you can easily tip the scale with that dac. But if you’re looking for a cable recommendation, look into Kimber copper/silver hybrid XLRs on a used market. They should open the top end up. But again careful what you wish for. |
James…I think you would really like a nice tube preamp between the dac 3 and the amp. The biggest change would be more organic sound, improved soundstage and layering, better tone. Then put a good balanced cable between the preamp and the amp and you’ll get what you’re looking for. Just my opinion. Or try a more resolving cable between the dac and the amp now just to see what happens. With that combination I would recommend Acoustic Zen Matrix Ref II or Absolute Copper, or the Kimber KS1126 for a bit more top end sparkle but I’m afraid it might be too much of a good thing there. |
@jimboman that is a step in the right direction. I applaud your initial approach to just fall on a sword but in this case I’m glad we were able to convince you. |
@ghdprentice do you go off a price for a minimum run? Personally I base the ratio on a cost of min length run. |
@ghdprentice oh of course. Agreed. Trying out Nordost Heimdall 2 on my Aurender N200 now. Lower than the 10% point of reference. Not an endgame by any means as well but a very pleasant surprise and a sneak peak into what Nordost power cords can do on a streamer. |
James…I used Furutech FPS-032n power cable on the Aurender N200. I also tried AQ Tornado. For USB I’m using AQ Diamond and for the Ethernet, Purist Audio. Nordost Heimdall 2 is completely different than the AQ Tornado. Nordost and Audioquest in general sound completely different. I ended up liking the Tornado on Bricasti M3 DAC, Heimdall 2 on N200 and Nordost Frey 2 power cable on Pass XP-22 preamp. Best top to bottom balance so far with low noise floor. My interconnects are Nordost Tyr 2 XLRs so there’s a bit of synergy going on there. |
@pennfootball71 not sure SR is a match with Benchmark. My experience with SR cables is they’re slightly hot up top. That’s most likely going to be too much of a good thing in the OP’s system. |
James…I would stay away from AZ Silver Ref II in that system unless you want to thin it all out. I’ve gone through the entire AZ cable line with different configurations of Silver and Copper. In my experience the Silver Ref II work best between source and preamp, with Matrix Ref II or Absolute Copper between preamp and amp. That allows for some of the not so great attributes of silver ref to be balanced out by the copper downstream. The most recent use case in my system was the Silver Ref II between the Sutherland 20/20 phono amp and my preamp, with Absolute Copper between preamp and amp. Great combo. |
@mclinnguy yup - two sets of absolute copper was my configuration before I switched to Nordost Tyr 2. I also had every AZ power cord - el Nino, Tsunami, Krakatoa, Gargantua. |
That’s a blanket statement. There are too many variables that can render this incorrect. |
@magnuman ok you got it buddy. I won’t be starting a pointless argument with you. |
👍 |
James that’s awesome! Yeah definitely get acquainted with the Cardas cables first. @magnuman is this how you talk to people in person as well? |