With the bryston and B and W combo, I have found that
a pair of Straightwire Rhapsodys sound great! They are under budget as well. The wireworld eclipse II may be a nice choice with the silver spades.. they can be had for less than 500. Definately both will not be harsh. Great bass, vocals are not too forward and mids are separated and controlled.
Best of luck,
Joe
Custom Audio LLC |
I say go with Zu cables...there are a few pairs on sale here, the wax are the better pairs, and the julians are ok.
but the Varial are too pricy.
check it out.
good luck |
I liked my DH Labs Q-10 and T-14 external bi-wire set up when I was running M803 SII's using an Aragon 4004MkII amp, which is somewhat similar to your system. You did not state the length of cable you need for your $500. I am currently selling an 18 feet long pair of the DH Labs. Other usual suspects in your range include Kimber 4TC double run (or 8TC), Analyis Plus Oval 9, and some of the Audioquest cables, as well as others. I have not heard all of these, but found the DH Labs much better than AQ Type 4, and pretty good when compared to my Acarian Systems Black Orpheus. Of course the shorter your run, the better cable you can afford for your $500. Good luck with your search. |
You should try the older Audioquest Midnight speaker cables since it will cure your harshness problem. Also it will make the presentation more musical. |
here are a couple if suggestions. you really should look at your interconnects first ( they are the first to see and effect the signal )
speaker cables are important but i would start with the interconnects first.
try one pair cardas quadlink or cross between your cd & pre and maybe a pair of transperent musiclink plus or super (very smooth and coherant)between the pre to amp. the cardas is very warm and full bodied with excellent bass. I have reacently sold my balanced musiclinks pluses because my system was a little too laidback. dont be afraid to mix and match your interconnects, i tried all cardas, xlo, tara and transpearent. the best result i got was the cardas between pre to amp and xlo beteen cd to pre. the transpearant musiclink plus was very close to the cardas but i preferred the warmth of the cardas. the xlo was very revealing.
for speaker cable i would try some used xlo type 5 or 6 depending on budget.believe it or not i have read very good things on the monster 2.2 or 2.4s (biwire). i am not a monster company person but from what i have read( audio review)and people that i have corresponded with, they appear to be a good cable ( again check audio review)
note on biwiring: if a someone says it doesnt make a differnce, believe me it does. take some home and listen for yourself.
however, it should be a true bi-wire. either 2 pairs of cable or a shotgun design ( 2 pairs of cables that share a common termination at the amp end). some maunfactures take it a step further and even seperate the positive and negative cable ( i am selling a pair of tara master generation 1 here on audiogon if you want to see a picture). i am not trying to sell them to you,please note i would strongly suggest upgrading your interconnects before your speaker cables.
i hope that helps out.
best regards,
mike |
I would recommend Discovery Signature speaker cable. I have some for sale that I used in a $50k reference system until I recently changed to Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Oval 8 (the only reasonably priced cable that bettered the Signature). |
Those are some great ideas. Thanks so much.
As far as the ICs, Mitch, I plan on upgrading those soon after speaker cables.
I see some AQ Bedrock bi-wires for sale here for resonable. Do you think those would improve over my Transparent wave 100s?
I may scrounge up a bit more money for some used AQ Calderas....I have heard good things about these cables.
Again thanks so much for the info. |
Mikesinger hit the nail on the head. If you are having HF harshness, the IC's will most likely solve this, not the speaker cables. |
Thanks all. any comments on audioquest caldera (used) or bedrocks (new). I am also considering transparent MW plus, but transparent isnt easily found in bi-wire configs.
I am using/tried a few ICs, monstercable refernce 2s, monstercable m850, PBJs, and transparent musiclink 100s and 200s.....the upper-mid glare is no better with any of them.
I think i am gonna try a cardas IC or two, but after i have replaced my speaker cables first.
I wonder, mike and audioengr, do you think that changing my ICs would do more for me than upgrading from the Transparent MW 100 speaker cable?
I really wanted to by-wire. |
I don't know anything about the Transparent MW 100 cables but I do have LAT International's best bi-wire ss-1000 d cables for sale here. Maybe do a little research and see if these are something you might be interested in. I know, I know, it's a sales pitch. But because you mentioned for under $500 I thought I'd offer a different brand for you to look into. |
If you gave me that system and five hundred extra dollars, I would upgrade those speakers. For my
money, B & W have a tendancy to sound "bumped"
in the upper mid. Sounds great in the showroom,
but less so at home. B & W CDM 9 NT's are not a
bad speaker, but on your way up the chain, I doubt
you'll be satisfied with them. IMO, trying to use wire
and cable to push those speakers to where you
want them is pounding a square peg into a round
hole. Save the wire and cable money and put it into your speakers.
Just my opinion. |
Here's a great place to get speaker wire and patch
cables...
"http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=40" |
Try Stealth audio cables. PGS is very soft lay back sound. Your problem is definitely not on the speaker wires. I have Transparent music wave super. It's very smooth and warm sounding cable. |
I use BetterCables biwire and they are excellent. Check the reviews. |
Thanks again for all the info.
8-12 feet will do, so not a really long run.
The dh labs q-10 looks really interesting, but alas I have no dealer close by.
After speaker cables I intend to buy a Tranparent musiclink SUPER to replace a musiclink 100, also I am very close to convincing myself to try an inexpesive Cardas IC just to check it out, again no dealer nearby.
I have also considered buying another speaker cable (same length and non bi-wire) to run shotgun with my existing cables (transparent wave 100).
Any thoughts on this?
I am somewhat inclined to believe that using the same cable, at least brand, for highs and lows is best. Your thoughts and experience are appreciated on this topic. |
Don't bother with transparant MW Super interconnect. Just to clearify, I have the MW Supwer SPEAKER CABLE not interconnect because the interconnect is dark and muddy to my system. |
