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Dont laugh

I have a respectable system and have been using several different balanced IC's in the $500+ range, but I was getting a small bit of noise, so I borrowed a 10 foot Stagg mic cable from the local guitar store, just to see if the the issue was in the cable or in my equipment. With the mic cable the noise went completely away. But I could not believe the improvement in sound. The highs more natural and the low and mid bass more weighty and articulate. So I ordered Stagg's one meter mic cable XMC1XX which they list as their audiophile grade with Neutrik connectors at a cost of $30 a piece. I put them in and crossed my fingers. What I heard was wonderful. I listened at high volume for three hours last night with no fatigue, yet all the detail and sparkle was there. Best I can tell from the diagram on the package the IC uses OFCopper, surrounded by air tubes, wrapped in a copper shielding. Give them a try against your best and see what you think. By coincidence this week Jim Smith of Get Better Sound mentioned using mic cable that he liked better than a $10,000 IC that he had.
gammajo

Showing 2 responses by almarg

almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
02-26-12: Grannyring
Well based on these comments I made a set of Mogami 2534 xlr cables. I compared these to two other cables in my system. One that costs $1100 new and the other $400 new. I paid about $40 to build the Mogami cables.

Don't laugh, but the Mogami sounds best thus far. The other two cables are very well respected and I have had great luck with them single ended in the past. I keep going back and forth as I can't believe this is the case, but it is!
I for one am not surprised.

Although in fairness it should be pointed out that comparing RCA cables to XLR cables is apples vs. oranges. In changing cable types you are also changing the interface circuits that are being used in the components, as well as the design principles upon which the operation of the interface is based. And based upon technical considerations as well as many experiences that have been reported here and elsewhere, balanced interfaces will in general (although certainly not always) tend be less sensitive to cable differences than unbalanced interfaces.

Best regards,
-- Al
almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
My apologies, Grannyring. I had misinterpreted the statement that "the other two cables are very well respected and I have had great luck with them single ended in the past," in part because I was aware from our other discussions that the change from RCA to XLR + transformer was very recent.

Thanks for the clarification, and also for mentioning the similarity of the capacitances of the two cables (that being an important variable with the Jensen input transformers, as you realize).

Best regards,
-- Al
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