Wow...lots of options. This cable adventure is quite a journey. Jollygreenaudiophile2....try cables free from you or who?
Higher end value cables
Need some advice folks. I have a pretty good audio system which is, I think, worthy of good cables. Honestly, the blue jeans cables look great for their price, but my reading indicates that bjc is terrific for mid to lower fi gear. So, love the prices of the bjc, but one step up in price and quality might be just the ticket. I have 11 components total, so I cannot afford hundreds of dollars per cable! Advice so needed...thanks a bunch and happy holidays
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I’m awaiting a pair of IC’s and Nirvana speaker cables from Jason at Virtue. He is a pleasure to deal with and is very responsive to emails- excellent communication. I think he does what he does as a labor of love, as trite as that might sound, as a service to those fellow audiophiles who don’t have F-You kind of crazy money to spend on cables, and I’m eager to try his stuff in my all-tube system. I have no other affiliation. More later when I’ve listened. |
..."but my reading indicates that bjc is terrific for mid to lower fi gear." The reading is the problem. Belden 5t00up 10awg equals super hi-fi exotic cables with less resistance, capacitance and inductance (therefore the most transparent, minimal insertion loss at all frequencies) and A LOT LESS anti-physics compounds. |
I second gcp's suggestion. Virtue Nirvana are BIG bang for the buck, and then some. You'll also find Jason a completely stand-up guy who is truly dedicated to providing his customers with excellent cables, at real world prices. His craftsmanship is also exemplary. No affiliation except as a very happy customer. Right now I'm burning in a pair of the Nirvana speaker cables and am loving it. Once they have another 80 or so hours on 'em, in go a pair of his IC's from preamp to my mono tube amps. |
@easola01: Yep. See my post above. Right out of the box they immediately sounded a lot better than my BJC Belden. Smoother, deeper and wider soundstage, and more detail at low listening volume. There's an immediate 'ease" to the music which surprised the heck out of me. That's not to say that it's at all "euphonic." I'd say it's warmer than cold but not veiled. I’ve also used Grover’s Empress, older MIT garden hose, Anti-cables, Western Electric 16awg cult wire (very hard to find now) Audio Art, a few different flavors from Supra, and some others, which I’ve forgotten. So far, even not fully broken in, Jason’s cables deliver big time. Maybe it’s just fortunate synergy with the rest of my gear, but dang, I’m happy. Another plus is that they are very pleasing to my eye as well as my ear. I’m very eager to hear what his IC’s sound like paired with the speaker cable. |
Have another related question. I have done a fair bit of reading regarding cables of various types. From what I have gathered, there isn't as much a difference in digital cables as there is in analog. Advice to me has been that you can see a big difference in SQ by putting some upgrade money into analog rca coax ic's, not so much in digital coax ic's. At least, not as dramatic or as important as the analog. Now, for my inquiry. Speaker cables. There are a lot of articles on the internet that tell us that speaker cable is speaker cable. That you won't hear a difference in the wire between boutique expensive speaker wire and home depot wire. I have also been told from people I trust that you won't hear a difference until you get up into some crazy money wire, like $2000 or more. I have read reviews on this virtue audio nirvana speaker wire, and it is positive. Has anyone had experience comparing the nirvana with other wire? PS...have you? I have simple tributaries 12awg on a spool. Was thinking about putting some banana plugs on this wire and being done with it, but if the nirvana cable will give me an audio improvement then maybe I will go that way. |
@easola01: All I can say is, that in my system, which has world class tube preamp and mono amps, Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M and Magnepan .7 speakers, I can definitely hear differences between the speaker cables I’ve tried. Most recently, as I mentioned above, I have replaced the Blue Jeans 12AWG Belden with the Virtue Nirvanas and prefer the Virtues. You can likely get good results from 12AWG magnet wire but it’s s PITA to use, especially in a run much longer than say 5 or 6 feet. I’ve been there. I've got no horse in this race. I'm pretty sure Jason offers money-back trial period. You've got nothing to lose except a few bux in postage. As others have mentioned, there's also the Cable guys you could talk to. Clear Day in Arizona makes some fine silver cables which are well-priced- the owner Paul is a great guy. YMMV |
Go to Audioquest’s website and download their price list. It will obviously give you retail pricing but more importantly it indicates differences between cables as you go up the line.Always good sounding you can see what fits your budget. Also the low end of Transparent has always been very musical although it’s been a long time since I’ve heard any. Good luck. |
Something I have learned. Apparently we are being duped in the audio world on cables, especially from popular corporate brands. Cable companies tell us made with copper, but it doesn't mean it is 100% copper. Fillers are in order here. It's like, our burgers are made of 100% beef...yeah, the beef you use is 100% beef, but what about the rest? I have decided to go with virtue audio cable...Jason Terpstra. His cables are 100% copper, shielded. Here is a guy who does this for the love of it, as his excellent cables are insanely affordable. I will be posting my impressions at a later date. |
Update RE: Virtue Audio cables. My Nirvana speaker cables are now broken in- well over 100 hours. I am extremely pleased. My Nirvana interconnects have about 50 hours on them and have become noticeably better. At first, they sounded a bit "veiled" compared to the Grover Huffman ICs I had been using, which were of course already well broken in. Gradually, Jason’s IC’s began to open up, more detail, more "air" and became more "musical". I think the synergy between the Nirvana speaker cable and the interconnects is a key factor. I found that his IC’s needed relatively more time to break in than his speaker cables- that’s my system of course. As always, YMMV At this point, I’m loving what I am hearing. I suspect that another 20 or 30 hours on the IC’s will yield even further improvement. One last comment. Jason provides terrific customer service and what he does is clearly a labor of love- great products at affordable prices for folks who appreciate great value and return on their hard-earned money. No hype, no "magic", no snake oil. |
You should try any OCC single-crystal cables. Ofc wire has Crystal fractures in it. 300 per foot. OCC has none in 700 ft. When the electrons flow through the wire in ofc they have to jump the little fractures which causes minor harmonics to shear off. And what you get is cables that sound bright or harsh or dull and lifeless. |
Virtue audio cables is here http://www.stereomojo.com/Virtue%20Audio%20Nirvana%20Cables%20Review/VIRTUEAUDIOCABLESREVIEW.htm I know Jason who builds the cables. He built all my interconnects and my power cords. Did a great job and very high quality for the price. Equal to cords 5 times the price |