??? Full Loom vs Mix ???

I don’t have a ton of experience in cables so take it with a grain of salt.

But I feel mix is better for the most part. I believe each company, certain cables perform better than others. A company that makes fantastic power cables don’t necessarily make fantastic speaker cables or RCA or USB.

But here’s something significant to think about, your amplifier might synergize really well with power cable from X company, but your speakers might not perform well with the speaker cable from the same company.

So TLDR, I think loom can be quite tricky.

A mix has worked well for me I've gotten close to a full loom a few times and always backed off. My Jorma/Kondo/Auditorium23/Audio Note UK mashup works really well together. However it is all about finding synergy.

In over 25 years, I've never used a full loom of cables in any of my audio systems.  Currently, I'm using 3 different brands of cables in my audio system with excellent results.     

Mix for sure a few good reasons stated above.

I used a full loom and it was too much of a good thing.  I now go mixed.

Because aural memory is short, and fraught with personal bias issues, unless you can make cable comparisons in your own system, over a reasonably long period of time, you are mostly just pissing in the wind. Of course, cable manufacturers are going to tell you that you are missing out on the “magic” unless you have a “full loom” of their cables.  IME, that is just marketing baloney.  Try different configurations of known, well-constructed cables and use what sounds good to you in your system.  You can read a lot on these forums but IME, 10% of system cost is a good “ballpark” goal.  Go much higher, and a component upgrade will probably be a better value.  Also, for the best value, try and buy used. Once they leave the store, cables are worth about 50-60% of their original cost.

I use a full loom of WyWires Platinum Juice II Series Power cords and a mixture of signal csbles. 

• My experience: Mix or full loom? It depends entirely on the bespoke audio performance characteristics of your current (emphasis added); audio system .

In a prior system, I started with an ad hoc cables mix driven primarily by the alchemy of availability, budget, and reviews. That predicated a lengthy continuing and never complete trek searching for an ethereal end point. Kind of yeah….fine but still a head scratcher.

After a lengthy experimentation with many contenders and pretenders, I upgraded from a mix mosaic to a full loom of NORDOST FREY. In my system BACK THEN (a fine but important distinction…) there was an immediate and pleasing audio performance improvement that was clear and unambiguous .. Fine .,,, for a while.

When I changed to new HARBETH speakers and moved the entire rig to a new room, the all NORDOST array was now anything but optimal : brittle, harsh, more bright and edgy …. fill in your own description. Go figger ..So the new cables search was restarted again.

After auditions and guidance provided by my both local dealers and discussions with CARDAS CABLES itself, I took a bold leap of faith and upgraded to an all CARDAS CLEAR array. For me in my system: yep …. an immediate audio improvement and system synergy uptick that was not subtle, and the ”edginess” and like warts were thankfully eliminated.

TAKEAWAY:It is quite simple:

- it depends entirely on your bespoke system and bespoke listening arena ….full stop.
- There is no silver bullet one size fits all magic solution .

- Mix or full loom array .,,,, you-wont have a clue until you actually do your direct hands on experimentation and audition.

- This is an experimentation journey and no easy destination. For like reasons, it’s also a misguided fallacy to automatically assume that a full array / loom approach is an assurance to the Yellow Brick Road to Audio OZ.

I have a few different mfg cables but I have been leaning toward DH Labs. I think they offer a good cable for the money.  

I have a pair of AQ Water (pre to amp ) that I picked up because they were only $200 on CL , a pair of Nordost Blue Heaven ( Phono stage)  ,  

My DAC uses DH Labs  Mirage USB , D750 digital ,  Air Matrix Cryo.   They usually have a monthly 20% off sale on a category.