interconnect choice

It depends on what you are trying to achieve. Regardless, I suspect you can do better than those choices. I had the Harmonic Tech and felt it was bettered by the Mac Reference, Acoustic Revive Reference and Line single-core ICs and several others I have tried. Again depends on what you want from your set but at this point if I had to start again I’d start with a pair of these and spend the savings on something else.

Buy used cables if you're not impatient…my all "solid core" balanced and unbalanced (like myself) wire pile is all high endish AQ stuff bought for a LOT less than new and all of it sounds great…silver digital, Type 8 speaker wire, etc. 

I’m actually a big fan of the hollow oval conductor approach of Analysis Plus having been the proud owner of their copper oval interconnects which in fact turned out to be directional. I also had one of the Analysis Plus Pro Oval Power Cords which has to be one of the unsung bargains of HiFidom, coming in at less than 100 bucks for a three foot cord terminated with Wattgate connectors. Cannot beat them with a stick.

I just rearranged my room and I had to place my amp close to the speakers so I am stating from scratch. A friend loaned me MIT MI 330 series two for the meantime. They sound ok but I have no basis for comparison. It was also suggested that I consider the Wireworld Equinox 7. I have been told the HT is kind of dark and lifeless sounding. Bith the WW and HT are older cables and the WW is the newest of the 3 I am considering (if that means anything).

Use balanced interconnect cables. Cheap balanced will outperform expensive single-ended for the lengths you're requesting.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/microphone-cables/mogami-gold-neglex-quad-microphone-cable-for-studio...

czarivey....that's true if the equipment is designed for balanced operation...not just single ended with XLR connections.

Stringreen, OP components are fully balanced and will certainly benefit from XLR cables.
 

czarivey  " ...OP components are fully balanced and will certainly benefit from XLR cables."

According to the Modwright website, the OP's preamp is not fully balanced, but single-ended. That means Stringreen is correct - it might sound better with balanced connects, or not.

Clear Day Cables sound great on ModWright gear. I'd ask Dan what he thinks of using a balanced cable between your two pieces as noted above the LS100 is not a balanced preamp but it still might make sense... Dan will be honest with you regardless. WyWires is another one that works great on MW and Dan uses them. 

Clear Days single is $165 and the balance is $390 I recall. Paul usually sends them at no charge up front to make sure they work in your system and trust the person on the other end will either pay for them or send them back. I just got another balanced cable from Paul last week and I'm floored how well they perform. Great cable regardless of the price.

I have Clear Day as well....works better than anything I've tried (lots)  Ayre to Vandersteen

If you talk to Dan ask him about the Daedalus DiDs he promotes. I picked up a set for my LS36.5 and couldn't be more impressed. One of the best tweaks I've ever done. If you don't like them Dan will refund your purchase no questions asked. 

my pre is not balanced. he uses wywires. i use them between my dac and pre

If you're already using WyWires, I stick with those. 

If you're already using WyWires, I stick with those.

+1.
Although it depends on what you prefer to hear. I went from Harmonic Tech Magic Link (older version, not the current III's), which is upgrade from the Truths, to WyWire. I preferred the WyWires overall - they sounded more natural to me, especially high freqs. and things like cymbals (still shimmered with excellent decay, but had wood on metal sound vs. HT's metal on metal sound when cymbals were struck with drum sticks) and Miles' muted trumpet (HT's produced ear-piercing sound vs. WyWires' more natural, deeper, textural sound). I found the HT's floated an image above/between the speakers like no other cable, but natural tone was more important to me so I preferred the WyWires.

OK so I a bone head. My pre does have balanced out. So that is settled, I prefer to go XLR. Also FYI my WyWires are only 1M so thats why I can't use them anymore. Also what are the Daedalus DiDs

How long of a set of ICs do you need? Your LS100 does have XLR out but it's not a balanced signal, just a XLR jack passing a single output signal. It still might make sense for you to go balance to the input on your KWA100SE. I'd call Dan and ask him. If you do call ask him about the Daedalus DiDs... isolation devices.

Dan sells the DiDs and being a ModWright owner he will give you a nice discount. I use them under my LS36.5 per Dans recommendation. Totally blown away by the transformation on the pre. Doesn't sound like the same preamp; more open, cleaner and unbelievable texture. Listening to upright bass I hear fingers touching and leaving the strings besides just the note. It's drastic what they do and not one of those tweaks that you have to focus hard to hear the difference... night and day difference. Call Dan and ask him his thoughts. He's pretty excited by them and I understand why. I'll be buying more. Alex at WyWires sells the DiDs too.

Back to your needed cable. How long of a pair are you needing? I use Clear Day Cables and one would think Paul pays me to go on and on about his cables. He doesn't but I'm open to some commissions for all the people I have steered to Paul... just kidding. Like many I used to make my own cables and some were pretty good but it's a lot of work and I can't build them for what Paul sells his for. I honestly don't know he does it. He's obviously buying material less than most of us can, but go online and see how much the ends cost he uses and what silver wire cost per foot and you'll see he not making much off of us. I think he just loves making great cables and not too driven by money because he could charge more easily.

Dan and Paul are just two of many great manufactures out there that make this crazy hobby fun. Both great guys that love to talk to their customers and are extremely honest. There's a reason people go on and on about them here.

Good Luck

Try the Kimber interconnects lower or middle end of there line, Also Purist makes some of the best cables even there less expensive line is very well made . Try at the Cable Company

adg101, Yes I have a email into Dan. I love his stuff. He is a great person to deal with as well. Hard to believe the DIDs make that much difference. True that the LS100 is only am XLR connector and not true balance but I guess I should go XLR as long as both pieces have the mates. I need 5m (16-17ft?).

Morrow Audio has excellent IC's at several price ranges.  Also, Grover Huffman makes some excellent IC's that are beautifully constructed.  I am one who thinks the "law of diminishing returns" is applicable to audio cables, so if you decide to buy a pricey pair, make sure you get a money-back guaranty if you don't fancy them.  

+1 on the Morrow. The best interconnects I've owned. I tried quite a few others and am very happy now.

I second passet02, Purist Audio Design makes excellent sounding cables.

Hmm  decisions: Synergistic Research Resolution Reference Interconnects or Cardas Neutral reference?

MIT....everything else is just wire!

Just realized I posted this on the wrong discussion yesterday...

That's a long interconnect you need. Will be pricey. If you are a little handy I'd suggest contacting Michael Percy Audio and buy what you need of his insulated Wonder Wire $2.25 a foot, and do the three braid like Kimber KCAG. Buy some Neutrik XLRs. Michaels a great guy to deal with. I've made many cables out of this wire and it's hard to beat. Put in a great movie and start braiding two 15ft pairs. Don't try to braid it all from one direction; braid it half way then start back up at the other end. Don't do the braid too tight or too loose... study the Kimber's. If you want to dress it up wrap it in TechFlex. Don't use a shield and you'll have a very open sounding cable. The braid will cancel any EMI or RFI you'll pick up with such a long cable. Just need a little soldering skills or find a friend and a meter to get the 3 pins wired correctly. Add more cable then you need as the braid will end up shorter than you think. Michael Percy can probably tell you what you'll need. It's work but well worth it. Just take your time.

Ok, here's where everyone starts the tweaking bashing. The cable is directional; Percy will tell you the same and I have used it and have experimented with it. So keep all the single stands running the same direction. Make sense?

The Wonder wire is a solid conductor so it is a little stiff but not bad. It will not be as flexible as a Kimber KCAG or sound as good but it’s awfully close. I have compared the two against each other. The kimber KCAG is a great cable, but that cable would be $15k I would guess for what you need.

Meant a Kimber KCAG 15ft long would be around $5K. This homebrew cable will be around $300 plus your labor. I would recommend finishing it with techflex to pretect the insulation on the conductors. That might be another $20 and comes in many colors besides black.

If the cable is balanced with XLR's, Kimber's Silver Streak is as good as KCAG. The SS uses silver for both positive and negative legs, and copper for ground. The single-end/RCA version, on the other hand, has silver as the positive leg only, copper for both the negative and ground legs.

Correct how Kimber wires the KCAG and SS up. The digital cable has two on the positive and one on the ground; it's reverse of the analog cable. I've listened to both the KCAG and SS and the KCAG is still better. The SS is close but there is a difference. My Father has a KCAG I've lived with for sometime and that really is a great cable. Those that call it a bright cable really have a bright system to begin with; it's not the cable. Yes it's a very revealing cable so you better have nice equipment if you're going to run with it. 

jimbones-

I would not buy (knowingly) any cables/cords made in china, for openers.
There are very good to excellent cable systems made in the USA, EU and Japan.

What other gear is in your system?

I am using Modwright gear, Burson Conductor DAC and VPI/Benz Micro vinyl setup. Last night I compared a 1m Wywires vs a Harmonic Technology Truth 2 and the Wywires was so much better. Priced out a 6m pair of Wywires and gulp, $2600.  Another option (that I never heard) is a Transparent audio Balanced Music Link Super. Can anyone comment on this cable? 

The Transparent is an excellent cable and brand. Audition it prior to buying to test system synergy.

Pick your poison, if a proper DBT test is done most people 99% of the people wouldn’t know the difference. I just pick out a decent well made brand that is well shielded and enjoy the music/movie. What I find ironic is that people claim that it make a huge difference but have a very hard time measuring it to prove it. Obviously different metals have difference sound characteristics, copper/nickel/gold/silver could make very very slight differences... What I find completely laughable is the huge sums of money people will spend on cables/interconnects where they will spend little on a better room or for that matter a better stand or better equipment. ;) All depends on a lot of factors if one can hear the differences, or "perceive" to hear a difference. 

correction that was the HT magic 2 cable.

I just purchased a WyWires Silver balanced IC and will have it this week. Will be interesting to see how it compares to my Clear Days. I will compare and report back.

I would recommend staying away from shielded IC’s. Non shielded IC’s are usually more open. Geometry of a cable can cancel out RF and EMI. Clear Days and WyWires have absolutely no shield.

I run Canare mic cable 50+ ft. in a live setting and get no noise. Many cables all over the stage, running parrallel with each other and no issues at all; they are also not shielded. A lot of recording studios use Canare and it’s affordable. I have tried it against my Clear Days and it’s not as good but not bad. If your system is a little bright the Canare will soften it a little.

Morrow Audio cables are amazing! (for my system) I also use Nordost for speaker wire. Dont get me started about cables with network "boxes" on them (YUK!)


Matt M                               You can listen for yourself!  /www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV5DEdI-dqQ

Pretty sure Morrow's also use no shield whatsoever, except on their phono cables and they do it differently from others. Have not heard their cables but have read up on their construction and I have no doubt they sound very nice. Lots of people rave about them.

Nice job Matt!

adg I anxiously await your findings. I am beginning to think in terms on cable construction rather than brand. That should dictate.

Received my WyWires Silver XLR IC and compared it to my Clear Days and here's my opinion on the difference between the two.

The WyWires is definitely smoother and has a little bigger stage with more depth to the backstage. Definitely a little more relaxed but not lifeless. I am running it between my ModWright and Pass amp and it has more roundness to its presentation and knowing what tube amps sound like it's a little like I pulled out the Pass and threw in a nice ARC tube amp. Surprising the bottom end has a little more fullness and maybe digs just a little deeper. 

Back to to the Clear Days. I have two sets of these balanced cables and for the money they are great and the only reason I picked up the WyWires was someone had a used one for sale here and knowing much much Dan Wright likes them I previously purchased the WyWires Silver Juice II PC and love it. So when this WyWires Silver XLR came up I thought why not give it a try. Back to the Clear Days... right? The Clear Days definitely has more detail and its not edgy or bright but it's there and to me sounds more like a live event. If the music is raw with bite the Clear Days passes it on. The bass is very good but not as full or round as the WyWires; it's a little tighter. The stage is nearly as wide but instead off having the depth it's a little more forward but not much. The Pass sounds very good with the Clear Days but it's not fooling anyone it's a tube amp; a very good SS amp, yes. Again it's a great interconnect for the money.

If I was looking at buying a new WyWires Silver XLR I'd probably still do it but not sure it's 3X, 2X or even 1 1/2 times better but I do prefer it and being a huge fan of Paul of Clear Days that's not what I wanted to say. Yes the WyWires retailed for more than twice, almost 3X's as much as the Clear Days so I think that speaks very highly of the Clear Days.

Thanks. I went to his site and the only thing he promotes is his speaker cable. Guess I would have to call him.

I was a firm believer that cables do not make a difference, until recently I discovered otherwise and it just blows my mind.  I have upgraded to tube amp, Focal speakers, Mcintosh DAC/preamp so tried new cables.

Having said that I'd still not pay few hundred or $1k for cables, dinising returns principle.

Was using AQ King Cobra, tried those, AQ Mcenzie, Better cables, and some other in the $300 or so range.  The WireWorld Equinox 7, $200 for 1m pair sounded by far the best in my system.  Very audible differences in almost A/B comparison (swapped cables in less than 1 minute, played same tracks again.)

I will try the Eclipse 7 at $400 as I am told it is a significant step, but that would be as far as I go.

Good luck.

Got my new MIT Magnum 1.5Biwires....so far beyond other cables!!