Speaker Cable Blending

Opus One. A beautiful Napa Valley vineyard in the tradition of making some of the finest wine this world can offer. One notable selection from this vineyard, Overture, is a classic Bordeaux blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and others which represents yet another variant. At times lower cost, Overture compares favorably to some better known Bordeaux across the pond.

What does this have to do with Speaker cables?

Witness the countless speaker cables available on the market. Sometimes we need an extensive spreadsheet to catalog everything from just one manufacturer. Each designer/manufacture lay claim to their sonic superiority/priority/attributes of their products. So many different layouts, configurations, and conductors are on the market: stranded, braided, shielded, unshielded, parallel, twisted, helix, rectangular core, solid core, hollow core, ribbon core, aluminum, copper, silver, gold, exotic alloys, etc.

STOP... For those who don’t hear any difference between wires, please excuse me. It has to do with dementia after my 35 plus years in this hobby. I’m hearing things.

A few high profile cable manufactures had great success mixing conductor and configurations in their design. A closer examination of these cables revels some interesting combinations. ASI LiveLine uses solid core copper for hot and silver for return. Synergistic CTS uses copper, tungsten, and silver. Snake River Cottonmouth uses copper, silver, and gold. This list goes on and on.

As I sat before my antiquated system with a glass of Overture in hand, the thought of Bordeaux blend and conductor blend triggered my curiosity. In front of me is a pair of classic Discovery 123 speaker cables leftover from my Alon V days. Through my current yet equally antiquated speakers, it sounded reasonably detail, full bodied, glowing mids with good stage and layering. What I felt a bit lacking was transparency, air, and image specificity. Yes I can alway crank up a half dB more treble with the RPP-1 and give it more sparkle, but that doesn’t really translate to more air. And talking about transparency. This is something inherited, not made. So I unplug myself from my listening chair and went searching through my equipment closet for solutions.

An old pair of Wireworld Rhapsody, from my center channel of HT past, idling quietly on the bottom cabinet. If memory serves, this cable was great for vocals that rendered dialogue in the most intelligible manner. Bass was tight yet extended; yes Center was full range. With Rhapsody, it was a little lacking in bloom and hardens up a little in the mids. But instead of substituting the 123 with Rhapsody, I parallel them both while paying careful attention to cable polarity. (Warning... Shorting a high power amp is hazardous to ones amp.)

After pouring myself a second glass, I crank up the music, plugged myself back in the chair, and found a new appreciation for my system. Track after track, the system now gain a new sense of breath, finer linearization of stage depth, and smoother 3 dimensional image. Perhaps due to heavier combined gauge, the system sounded more dynamic and fast. Everything seems to flow more freely and more at ease. There were more sense of air yet smooth without any trace of grain or hardness. This system was treasured for its wide, deep, and out of the room soundstage. Now, sound coming from extreme boarders are more real and clear as a bell. Some recordings are down right spooky with spontaneous sound from way above my head level or far off stage. It’s at times disconcerting when hearing thing that defy my accepted norm. After pouring myself a third glass, I put up another recording and ventured into sonic blitz. Oh what a beautiful world........

Just thought I share this with my fellow audiophiles and interested to hear if any of you tried this. 

Humbly Yours
Mosler666

PS: Unfortunately I didn’t have any Overture. That was dementia after three glasses of Cola...