Looking for really fine cables at really low price

Hi Rob,
Understood,LOL!
I could relate to Jet's comment regarding his wife's preference between the two cables. That's a real life scenario that I certainly understand. Obviously Jet respects the opinion of his wife or he wouldn't have bothered.

Charles,
I hope you did not mistake my post for a "one size fits all" or something is "the best." Nor was I attempting to impune Volleyguy1 in any manner; just having a small amount of fun (ribbing). No one has to like what I like. I understand that as a given. It is self-evident this is "subjective" hobby with few, if no "absolutes." Sorry if you took this little repartee in the wrong way. I believe if we were live, my tone, body language, you would know I was just joshing around. I suppose us older folks do not know how to indicate that at all times with "smiley faces" and such😇😅. Best, Rob.

P.S. My wife still likes the Silnote (their expensive interconnect) better.

The others will like/love the wire with more burn in folks. They have not heard it yet...period. The wire needs 100 hours to settle in. This wire IS as universal as it gets and all will at least like to love it WITH THE PROPER RUN IN TIME.

If you don't, then you have purchased the wrong wire or like to spend money :) Kind of a joke, well kind of.....

"Not one size fits all"
The truth Jet. Your wife I suspect has very good ears. Subjectivity is exactly what it is, no matter how good a product is there will always be different impressions. This is why I reject the idea that something is "the best" in absolute terms. Volleyguy "may" ultimately not agree with the vast majority on this thread. Doesn't invalidate what most have reported, Just means it didn't work for him. He's always been a straight shooter IMO. With more wire burn in time he could love it, you never know.
Charles,

Jetrexpro,
I understand too, what you are saying; but to get an even horse/wire race what is the price difference between the Kondo and WE as interconnect? Now how much ninth degree better does the Kondo sound to your wife? You like the WE better, correct? So like Day's colleague vote between Sablon (over $1,000) and WE ($80), it was a split decision, 2 votes for Sablon, 2 votes for WE, Day, tiebreaker for WE. So, the difference comes down to what presentation do you like better? The winner is your pocket if you like WE or Belden better. Me, I vote for WE16ga/Belden 8402. They beat all I have tried thus far and I don't feel the need to change. This combo is the best I have heard in my systems with my "Timbral Listening Bias". Best, Rob

Last night my wife had her first listen to the WE 16ga interconnects. I let her blindly hear the WE and then the Kondo and she preferd Kondo. I understand what she was hearing which is the lovely gentle, beautiful deeply textured and balanced presentation of Kondo IC's but I still prefer the WE IC's since I hear almost all of the Kondo's attributes but also to my ears a more musically involving presentation. What I like about WE IC's is the way it handles the Mids all the way through to the Bass. Clear and full and fully expressed.
Its good to have that reality check that we all hear and experience music differently. Not one size fits all - Jet

Mikirob - Volleyguy1 should be able to post his reaction via his preferences, his ears in his system; without being subtly, or not so subtly attacked.

Rhetorical question - Why would you care what he thought?

Volleyguy1,
I wrote you this little ditty over on the "Capacitor and Mundorf" thread in case you missed it:
Volleyguy1,
You should likely stick to silver $1,800 dollar or higher priced cables. You obviously appreciate silver and marketing bucks of various cable manufacturers. This is NOS WE wire. No one to market it. When this is gone it is gone. My next line is tongue in cheek with smiley faces: when you get your hearing corrected I'll sell you some of this wire at Cable Company advertised price for Shun Mook cables using this same WE16ga at over $3,000. Small warning, being NOS that price could go higher. Best, Rob

Hey, as they say, YMMV; I'm in sonic Heaven, zero stuff you folks report. Volleyguy1: You are the first guy to report this wire was "awful" when first hooked up that I know of. Gee, I guess the score on this wire now is about 900 to 3. Don't bother to purchase the Arizona Caps. You won't like them. Best, Rob

Crimson audio cables from Austin Texas

Fabulous - very engaging, resolving and tonally balanced

Do an audiogon search

Creston and his son Creston are great

Thin not garden hoses less strain on the components
they replaced some very good cables in my system

You have the option to try before you buy

http://www.austinhifi.com/crimsoncables.html

Sounds awful when first hooked up.

Very nasally. (mid rangey sound)

But it does sound very different!

I have a friend who laughs at the notion of hearing a difference in any wire. If he can not hear a difference he needs his ears checked.

Now is it better? Piling on the hours to see.

I thinking got the last of the Red wire on the spool just black left.

I ordered red and black.

Cosmo, not stalking you, but if you are a dealer for a product please state in your post. It is fine to like what you sell, and genuinely bring it to our attention, but please disclose your affiliation if there is one.

Daggnabit...

I should've gotten there earlier. Although I got the used 6'8" wire pairs, when I tried to order off the spool in order to double run, I couldn't seem to muster up enough quantity to get the job done.

"3 left", I assume means "3 feet left." That's not much.

Rob, you have ordered the correct wire.

Rhanson379,
That is tinned copper in black. The red is almost certainly the same. Tajacobs has a generous return policy. It is likely you should go for it. As she stated, "limited quantities left." Best, Rob

Jet -- Yes, indeed. This should be interesting, especially given the price.

So, I picked up the two pairs of 6' 8" 16g "tinned 25 tinny strands" seen HERE, one pair for each speaker on a single-strand run. Seems cool, and I don't have to wait the 100 hours for burn in.

What's frustrating is that at these prices, I'd like to try out a double-run similar to Grannyring's experimentation, but I can't discern if the spooled cable is what I'm looking for, and tajacobs has not yet returned an answer.

I do have some 'evidence' that might be helpful:

This spool of red says "probably from the 90s", and I'm okay with that, as earlier stock is probably gone now. But, the description does not suggest that it's tinned, which seems to be a big contribution to the results others have had. My thought is to get 4 lengths of this, two for each speakers' positive posts.

But, on the black wire listed, the picture shows an end that looks, to me, like a tinned wire, so I'm thinking that both of these are what I'm looking for. If so, another 4 lengths for the other speaker posts.

Only difference I can see is one is from the 80s, one from the 90s. (I think they'd only struggle with the 70s, and most of us old folks have done.)

Think this would work out?

Rob

I bought 50ft of 22ga solid core wire from Tajacobs.

Jetrexpro, that is the same wire I would like to try but I need to finish the Belden ICs yet. When you finish your ICs with the 22awg solid wire, let us know what you think. Am I the only one here building balanced (XLR) cables?

I tried the solid core for speaker cables and not as good.

Grannyring, I am not surprised the stranded sounds better as speaker cable but I would be surprised if it sounded better as interconnect cables. Did you try the solid core wire in interconnects? If so, what gauge did you use?

Rhanson739, Some banana female terminals like my Audio Notes can be unscrewed and bare wire can be secured. At least you have the wire!

Jet --

Thanks for the link. I popped on 2 pairs. They had me at "soaked in" and it looks as though 6' 8" will just about work, although I'll have to clip those terminals off.

Next issue is that my Maggies only take bananas, so I won't be able to go in with bare wire, as far as I know. I'm sure I'll work something out.

Rob

Mikirob --

Problem is, I think I'm looking at the stranded tinned, but it doesn't say so specifically. I have a message in, but so far, no reply. It would be nice if the listing was more specific... don't want to buy the wrong thing.

If you are a Monte Carlo high roller I suppose at $900 a meter these cables could be listed under the heading of: "Looking for Really Fine Cables at a Really Low Price." Further LOL!!! Bet they don't sound better; but they look really nice, like a hot James Bond piece of jewlry from Monte Carlo. Best, Rob.

You may be amazed with High Diamond, but seriously not as amazed as with the WE16ga, laugh out loud! Best, Rob

Rhanson379,
As of this morning Tajacobs still has the stranded tinned copper 16ga in both the red and black; and it it appears she has this still on spools. You need to go into her site under "see all items" and you will find it. Good hunting, Rob.

Rhanson739 - 6ft 8inch. Here's the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/68-Western-Electric-speaker-wire-16-ga-PAIR-red-red-black-soaked-in-RARE-/351474579429?hash=item51d58477e5

Sadly, I don't think 6' will work for my needs. I'll double check, though.

Rhanson739 - Looks like tajacobs and several 6ft stranded 16ga speaker cables left. If you can live with 6ft long speaker cables Grab it now!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_ssn=tajacobs&_sop=12&_osacat=0&_ipg=50&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1312.R2.TR9.TRC1.A0.H0.Xwe.TRS2&_nkw=western+electric+speaker+wire&_sacat=0

I am building the IC's based on the proven wire:) I tried the solid core for speaker cables and not as good. Loss of the musicality we all love. Perhaps more aphile top end extension, but at sonic cost!

And thanks, Jet.

~
Thank you, Rob. I'll contact her.

Rob

Rhanson739, That is Correct. The seller is tajacobs. I don't know how much of that stranded 16ga is left. The stranded 16ga wire I have was made in the 70's and 80's. Looks like you ran across some from the 90's. If its from tajacobs it should be legit. Get as much as you can.

Mitch2, I bought 50ft of 22ga solid core wire from Tajacobs.

Rhanson739,
Yes that is the the correct one I believe. She also has red. She has a box for questions, ask her if it is the stranded tinned copper. She doesn't list the specifics in her description as she did before. Best, Rob

For example, I see this:

Stranded black 16g

Is that correct?

Because of the length of this thread, I held off reading it for quite a while. Now I regret that.

Could someone please provide a link to the *exact* WE16 that Tajacobs is selling on eBay (if there's any left.)

There are a lot of products on her page, and I'd like to ensure that I pick up the right one.

Thanks!

you should go for HiDiamond.
High-End fine cables at affordable price. You will amazed.

It beats experimenting with expensive wire :~)
I have some connectors I need to use anyway.

I see that tajacobs has several spools of solid core 22ga WE wire pretty cheap. I am tired of all this experimenting:) jet

I agree Jetrexpro.
For you guys making ICs, have you considered trying some of the WE tinned solid core wire in cotton using something in the 22-24awg range with either one or two conductors...or a braid. 22-24 awg solid core wire has proven pretty good for ICs over the years.
BTW, after doing a little digging, I found there are more than a couple of folks making cables out of the WE wire. Mojo Audio apparently had good luck with PCs. TWL and J&K Audio (at more competitive prices) offer ICs, SCs and PCs. There is also Shun Mook Audio in CA, and several in Asia where this wire seems to be well-regarded.

Mitch 2- I had some well reputed silver speaker cables here for a while and they had beautiful air and upper mids that created a wonderfully detailed presentation but when I put back in my WE16ga speaker cables there was no doubt that I preferred the WE speaker cable. As you say the lower mids and bass are deep rich but clean. They lay a great foundation. I find their total presentation completely satisfying.

Grannyring, this will be an interesting alternative to the Belden and no harm no foul which ever you prefer since they are so inexpensive. I am listening right now and the energy and musicality is something else. They will need many hours to come around. At 125 they still had a veiled mono toned sound. Finally on Friday night at about 150 hours they opened up and wow did they ever open up. The mids and lower mids are clean clear and fully expressed like no other cable I have heard in my system. Bass is deep rich and clean. We'll see about the highs and if that little bit of brittleness is an issue. Regards-jet

Quad runs of WE16 and WE14 continue to break-in and hit their stride over here. They are a bargain and very likable because they are musical and commit no fatal flaws. I find them "mellow" in the HF but natural, even if they are not as "pristinely clear" sounding or quite as extended as the best OCC wires I have here. They continue to add a bit of warmth/body from the upper midrange through the bass, which adds to their musicality and which I find to be a good thing. Bass with these wires is full and powerful, with just the right amount of bloom. The bass on Alice in Chains Unplugged is sounding perfect.

Next I am going to throw even more wire at another pair of cables and make a bi-wire set from the WE 10 awg that I purchased as twisted pairs. I plan to use a twisted-quad run for the LF (i.e., 7 awg) and a twisted pair for the MF/HF.

This may be the same WE 10 awg wire that TWL is using to make their American Series speaker cables, based on their literature indicating they use 210, 30 awg wires, which is 7 awg and would result from two 10 awg wires, assuming they are running quads of the 10 awg wire. If you order bi-wire cables, they use separate 7awg runs to both the LF and the MF/HF...that is a lot of wire!

One reason I think using more wire sounds good in my system is that I am running a very high current amplifier compared to Yazaki-san and his crew, Jeff Day and the folks at Shun Mook Audio, who are using the WE16 wire in twisted pairs between lower powered amps and high efficiency speakers. I am not surprised I like more wire since my system throws a lot more current to the speakers...different strokes.

I will build a set just like the Belden using the WE wire and report back. I will use the 3502aau Switchcraft connectors, tinned copper shielding braid connected at both ends. I will twist the wires. I want to replicate the Belden cable using WE wire.

Maxima95, I used very low mass (very small) no name RCA plugs I had lying around. No twist.
At this point I don't have any recommendations for RCA Plugs. Sound continues to change even today. I am hearing a bit of tinniness in the high end....Slightly brittle - this was not present last night.

Echo the superb listening choice. I'm going to put it on now, relax on this rainy southern Georgia morning. Perfect!

Yes sir Charles it doesn't get much better!! Last night we listened to classical and jazz as I wanted as much input from Phduncanson as possible. I listen to quite a lot of rock music too but last night I wanted the comparing to be done with acoustic instruments.

Thank you Rob this has been my pleasure. My WE interconnects have around 160 hours so over the coming weeks I'll be able to see if these obversations hold true over long term listening. I'm hopeful and think they will. If there is synergy between Belden/WE combo there should be even more synergy WE/WE combo. I'll know in a few weeks.

Hi Jet,
Johnny Hartman/John Coltrane ? oh yeah! I've owned that classic recording for many years and still listen to it regularly. Just beautiful music and what a good choice for emotional connectivity. It must sound terrific through your system.
Charles,

Jetrexpro, Grannyring,
This information is music to my ears. I want to thank both of you and some others for your brave DIY experiments regarding the WE16ga/Belden, pushing the boundaries of what is known, or can be expected from these excellent wires.

Grannyring, you jumped first with a leap of faith, Jetrexpro not far behind and trailblazing with his own experiment. The two of you especially are to be commended for helping to bring "real sound" at an affordable price to the Agon community. Best, Rob

Jetrexpro-

Which RCA's did you use? An obvious candidate might be the Switchcraft Gold.

Did you use a simple loose twist?

Thanks for trying this out - and apparently succeeding.