Speaker Cable Suggestion

Thank you for your reponse.

I'm primarily looking for a smoother highs and better mid section. The highs and mids are currently grainy and metallic. The mid section is lacking and a bit muffled. I know the kimber 4pr are aiding the metallic sound because it was introduced when I installed it in my older system. I also wish the soundstage was better but that may just be my equipment. The amp is only a week old. I hope that makes sense.

I'm not sure how to budget this wisely. I not looking to spend more than $500. I've seen used nordost red dawn speaker cable for about $400 on here, but I've never heard them. I agree with idea of changing the interconnect. I'm going to do this one at time so I understand the effect each change is adding or removing to the sound quality.

Audphile1,

That's an interesting point on the interconnect. I do recollect that when I installed the Monster M950i Interconnects some years ago it was an upgrade to some older $40 monster cables. At 4x the cost, I did'nt notice a major difference.

These are newer components though so I probably do need to put some more thought on a better interconnect match.

As for the speaker cables, I'm looking for standard 8ft and hopefully spend no more than $500.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Glenn,

Thanks for the response.

The equipment is housed in an entertainment center that is for the most part solid wood. I think it took four movers to bring it in the living room. With the thick carpeting, all my books, leather sofa and curtains, I'm assuming the room is acoustically friendly. The B&Ws are on there designated stands and spiked into the carpet.

Since I only have the CD player and turntable preamp connected, its hard to mess this up.

Given three votes so far to focus on interconnects, that is exactly what I'm going to do.

Thanks again.

It's interesting you mentioned power cords. I just ordered a signal magic power cord. Maybe not as good as the Audience you mentioned, but given the return policy and number of positive reviews, I thought it would not hurt to try it out. Reading articles/forums I know upgrading PCs is a touchy subject. I'm glad you had success with the upgraded PC. It gives me more confidence that I'm heading down the right path.

Just an update...

I finally purchased the Musical Fidelity 3.5 CD Player, Acoustic Zen Matrix interconnect and soon to arrive, AZ Satori speaker cables. Roughly a two week period between purchases.

The harshness and electronic haze I discussed in my earlier posts has diminished greatly. In my opinion, the largest impact since my first post was a decent burn in period of the Musical Fidelity 3.5 Amp, which was new at the time, and the replacement of the NAD CD player. The MF CD player also needed a decent burn in period but at 100 hrs, the quality of sound got better. This was easy to do by simply letting the player run in repeat mode and just hear the comparison, day to day after I came home from work. The Matrix interconnect definetly changed the character of the sound for the better compared the monster cable that I was using.

I still have to incorporate the AZ speaker cables and will probably replace the power cords at some point, but I'm trying to do this a step at a time so I understand what each upgrade is adding and removing.

I want to thank everyone that provided suggestions.