Categorizing Cables
I came to a realization today, which I posted in another thread, that cables are like women: you have to try alot out to find one that works really well in your system. Like women, though, I've found that you can group cables by certain qualities to help you learn what to look for and hone in on which one is right for you.
So as a resource for all of us who swap out cables looking for the best match, I'd like to use this thread as means of categorizing cables by their sonic characteristics: warm, neutral, bright, detailed, full, etc. and by price range. The ranges could be, say, "budget cables" (under $250 per meter pair for IC's or 6' pair for speaker cables); "mid-priced cables" ($250-$500); "high-priced cables" ($500-$1k); and "audio jewelry" (>$1k). Although no one can recommend a "best cable" for a system, we can certainly help create a list of cables to try based on the sonic characteristic the person is looking for to help him narrow his search.
I don't have much experience in the area, but here's what I've tried:
Warm cables:
QED Qnex2 (budget cable): warm with some rolling off on top
Monster cable (budget): complete crap; stock cable was better than this
LAT International SS-100D speaker cable (budget): Warm and full; very comparable to Kimber 4PR in my system.
Kimber 4PR speaker cable (budget): Shades on the warm side of neutral with good pace in my system. Good all-around cable doing nothing exceptional but nothing really wrong, either.
Detailed cables:
Silver Audio Jetstream (mid-priced): Very detailed and a touch bright.
Silver Audio Silver Bullet 6.0 (budget): Not as detailed as the Jetstream, but more neutral as well.
Howard
So as a resource for all of us who swap out cables looking for the best match, I'd like to use this thread as means of categorizing cables by their sonic characteristics: warm, neutral, bright, detailed, full, etc. and by price range. The ranges could be, say, "budget cables" (under $250 per meter pair for IC's or 6' pair for speaker cables); "mid-priced cables" ($250-$500); "high-priced cables" ($500-$1k); and "audio jewelry" (>$1k). Although no one can recommend a "best cable" for a system, we can certainly help create a list of cables to try based on the sonic characteristic the person is looking for to help him narrow his search.
I don't have much experience in the area, but here's what I've tried:
Warm cables:
QED Qnex2 (budget cable): warm with some rolling off on top
Monster cable (budget): complete crap; stock cable was better than this
LAT International SS-100D speaker cable (budget): Warm and full; very comparable to Kimber 4PR in my system.
Kimber 4PR speaker cable (budget): Shades on the warm side of neutral with good pace in my system. Good all-around cable doing nothing exceptional but nothing really wrong, either.
Detailed cables:
Silver Audio Jetstream (mid-priced): Very detailed and a touch bright.
Silver Audio Silver Bullet 6.0 (budget): Not as detailed as the Jetstream, but more neutral as well.
Howard
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