Been doing this audiophile thing for a long time. Regardless of price, I like having all my cabling made by the same manufacturer. I consider that more important than price. Do your research, read the reviews, paying attention to the quality of construction. Shielding and quality connectors are important for interconnects. As for price, my personal experience has shown that a $400 set of interconnects will not sound $340 better than a $60 set of cables. Let your budget dictate how much you spend and you won’t suffer from buyer’s remorse. Companies like Blue Jeans Cable make pretty decent cables with competitive pricing.
Cables 101, new student, first question
I have a simple question if I can get it worded correctly. For simplicity, let's say my system has four interconnects in a "stream," all from the same manufacturer, some from the top of the line and some from the bottom. Example: Wireworld's Eclipse 8 line, four different versions, the least expensive starting at $325 and the most expensive starting at $1700. In general, will the system's sound be defined by the weakest (cable) link in the chain, in which case all the more expensive cables are a waste of money? Or will a mix of cables that includes some really high-end ones sound better than a consistent run of the cheaper stuff?
To put this a different way, if I'm buying a couple new interconnects (again, for simplicity's sake from the same maker), might buying better ones improve the sound or will I not hear a difference until I've replaced them all? (Here's the stream analogy: if I put a dam upstream, the flow in the entire river will be reduced.)
To put this a different way, if I'm buying a couple new interconnects (again, for simplicity's sake from the same maker), might buying better ones improve the sound or will I not hear a difference until I've replaced them all? (Here's the stream analogy: if I put a dam upstream, the flow in the entire river will be reduced.)