Stay with the cheap stuff for mediocre sound.
How Big of a Difference?
Hello all,
I have near completed upgrading my system, but have left my speaker wire the same. My system is as follows- Laptop (Tidal) > Schiit Gumby Multibit > Freya S > Vidar monoblocks > speakers. My usb cable is Supra usb, and I am using xlr connections with amazon basics cables. If I am not mistaken, xlr is already super good at being noise resistance so I shouldn't need to spend more $ on fancy cables at my current level of audio equipment. My speaker wire is traditional 12 gauge wire I spliced from the spool. Nothing fancy. The reason I feel I shouldn't spend money on better speaker wire is because I traded the Supra usb for a super cheap usb and could not hear a difference. On top of that, I used to use single-ended connections using Chord C-line cables, and I could not tell the difference between those and cheap ones. What is everyone else's consensus? Can you guys hear a difference in your system? Thanks for the help.
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I know this if you you don’t try different cables you won’t hear a difference. Getting your cables routed and off the floor with copper cabling and copper terminal ends will improve the SQ and lower the floor noise. First things first. I know what I like. I know what I don’t like. It doesn’t cost a lot. BUT you have to try stuff. NOT spend money, try stuff first. Routing and off the floor first though.. Cable Art... Regards |
It sounds like you are maybe beginning your audio journey. If you look through the threads on this site, you will not find consensus on the effect or value of more expensive, or even different cables. Nobody here can tell you what you hear so the best way to figure it out is to try different cables and listen for yourself. However, if you look at the systems and read the threads, you will find that most here do use some sort of purpose constructed speaker cable and the amount of money spent ranges from not a lot to the price of a car. As posted by @noromance, some here like the sound of solid core OCC copper speaker cables. If you search for Harmonic Technology, their earlier cables consisted of multiple strands of OCC solid core copper wire individually insulated in foamed PE insulation. IME, that represents a tremendous value for the money - especially when buying the older models on the used market. Acoustic Zen cables are similar. Other choices at much lower prices than the used HT or AZ cables can be purchased in bulk including Canare 4S11 Star Quad 14AWG 4-Conductor Speaker Cable, Furez 14 awg available by 2 conductors or by 4 conductors, also available here, which is constructed of multiple gauge stranding 99.997% OFHC C10100 Copper within a rope lay design of high strand count and insulated with foamed PE (a good thing), or even DIY cable you can make yourself constructed of multiple runs of CAT5 cable braided (which would give you individually insulated solid core wire) - here is how you do it. The Supra USB cable you have is supposed to be sort of a high'ish value for low'ish price cable, so hang on to that for awhile until you are done playing with speaker cables. Good luck. |
Your kit may not be resolving enough to highlight the difference between the USB cables. Or, maybe digital signals don’t need a fancy cable as long as it meets the technical requirements of the tech. Speaker wire handles analog "signals" and that does respond to cable quality. I have found solid core OCC wire to sound good. |