I recommend triode wire labs products without hesitation or reservation. I have never heard that their product offerings are geared towards low power amps or high efficiency speakers. I would email or call Triode wire labs and the owner Pete will freely discuss what application might work best with your gear. He is very accessible
Experience with Black Cat and/or Triode lab Wires
I am considering Triode Lab Wire or Black Cat. I’m aware of the unfortunate passing of Chris, so I’m willing to buy used or new. My price range is $400 per meter for (rca/rca) interconnect, and $600 for SC’s. The Triode wires are priced in line with my budget, as are the entry level offerings from Black Cat. I have concern that while the Triode cable have a strong following, perhaps they’re geared toward low power amps and high efficiency speakers. Their company is called Triode after all. My system is a Naim XS integrated with phono and Harbeth C7's. I need Interconnects for Well Tempered Simplex 2 (RCA outputs) and then for step up transformer to phono. Also need speaker cables.
I have a full loom of Triode Wire Labs cables. They replaced a loom of cables that was 4x the price. The TWL cables are the best cables I have ever had in my system. They are very transparent with an incredible midrange, sweet highs that are never fatiguing and combine that with the best bass in a cable I have found. They are really good. I am running them with pass labs electronics so hardly low power tube gear. Give them a shot...Pete has a 30 day return policy so there is no risk and he is a fantastic guy to work with and very helpful. |
I have TWL Freedom ethernet cables. Pete is very easy to deal with, and the cables are excellent, and a very good price. Also have a Black Cat Silverstar 75 ohm coax cable. It's very good. Not sure about the entry level RCAs from Black Cat, but have heard good feedback from those who bought the TWL RCAs.
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Ditto @jerrybj on the Black Cat Silverstar digital cable. Not to muddy the waters, but I'm a fan of Duelund speaker cables and IC's. Pretty low cost and high value in my experience... and both the IC's and speaker cables can be had within your budget new or used. Parts Connexion carries them https://www.partsconnexion.com/duelund-interconnect-cable.html If you can find them used, you can possibly avoid the 150-200 hour break in period for them to settle it. Often times posting a "wanted to buy" ad on Audiogon or Audiomart will generate some offers.
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I went from a full TWL loom to a full Black Cat loom. PM if you’d like more detail. In short, TWL makes a warm, pleasant, “meat on the bones” sound. Downside is, I ultimately heard it (in my system) as bloated, sluggish and low resolution — too much music was missing, and what was there was distractingly filtered…I lost interest in listening. Black Cat is very different. Downside is, the very entry level (Copperwave or tone or whatever) isn’t that good — can sound unrefined and tizzy. You’d need to step up to the mid-range or higher stuff to appreciate the benefits without those downsides — speed, dynamics, transparency into the music, yet natural. Shoutout for Vertere cables as well. Similar virtues as Black Cat, and they have cables in your price range that are excellent. Have fun out there - if you hate something, don’t hang onto too long because somebody on a forum told ya it’s great… |
Thanks you so much for all the suggestions and comments. It was a crazy stretch leading up to Christmas, but alas I have the day off. Last comment is extremely interesting as it coincides with others above, and ads the perspective of actual comparison between the two lines. At one point prior to Chris’s passing, he had a new entry level cable. I’m going to botch the name, but I believe it’s called Keuro Neco. It essentially replaced the Coppertone/Copperzone line. Perhaps I am wrong on that but I know the first part is correct. Maybe the Triode lab will be too warm for what I consider an already warm system. The Naim integrated is a tad warm, and the last generation Compact 7 (ES3)’s are certainly on the warm. I’m so trying to have this 2nd setup as a casual listening, stay off the Merry-Go-Round system. I should mention that I do have a speaker cable right now, which is A23. I have 2 sets, one in my main setup, and an extra set which I have been using in this system when playing digital. I have previously owned A23’s interconnect. and did think it was quite good. An easy step would be to just seek out the interconnect, but it’s a little pricey for what I’m trying to do here. I believe it’s around $900 per meter, and having the Step up, I would need two sets. |
it's been at least 5 or 6 years since I owned the A23's. I used them for a few years with Harbeth M40.1's and a few tube amps. While the build quality of the A23's is quite good and they have an artisan like feel and look to them, I was expecting more of an "ah ha" moment with regards to sound quality. That moment never came... and while the A23's are good, they sounded slightly veiled and less lifelike than Duelund 12 gauge. The Duelunds just stand out as sounding more natural and lifelike (after a rough break in period in which they sound god-awful). I've been using the Duelund 12 gauge in both of my systems for 5-6 years and recently added a Duelund RCA IC between my Weiss 202 and amp... and soon will be rewiring the internals of my Altec 19's with Duelund 16 gauge. |
Interesting. I use A23 for speaker wire for my Shindo/Altec Valencia 846A setup. I employ a Werner crossover for the Altecs. The A23 runs from my amps to crossover, and from there I tried both Belden 9497 (orange/black) and the Duelund 16AWG. I recall this shootout many moons ago, and I kept the Duelund in there. The 16 AWG was just more organic and natural sounding, although the halloween colored Belden may have had the edge in the bass. I have been meaning to pick up some of the reasonably priced 12 AWG Duelund to try that in place of the 16AWG. I figure the bass will be better and perhaps no down side. I could always run 16 on the horns and 12 on the bass too. I did not love the Duelund 16 on my Harbeths C7’s...easily preferred the A23 there. Back to our top story. I also have a Duelund 16AWG interconnect, but it is unshielded. I disqualified this for the phono application due to no shielding, but perhaps I should explore Duelund interconnect. If it works, my wallet will thank me twice over. |
Tried my unshielded Duelund last night due to the Naim phono being able to handle the 1.0 MV EMT. Not ideal, but plays quite well. The 16AWG Duelund with Switchcraft RCA's is not to be dismissed. It's really quite good. The experience is almost making me want to get a 2.0 MV cart and call it a day. So no step up. |