- Help appreciated. I’m currently using 21 year old Tara labs cables. These were purchased in 1998 for Magnepan 2.7 qrs. I’m now running .7 Maggie’s. Same power amp ADCOM 5500 and ADCOM pre. I’m interested to know if transparent cables will make any difference? I love the clarity of the Tara labs and really don’t want to spend $$ if not necessary. I’ve been so happy with my power amp and have not found anything I like better with the Maggie’s - although I’m sure there are some out there as well. It’s been a sweet match for a long time. I guess the real question is - if I replace the cables should I also expect to replace the amps to see any improvement? The sound is quite beautiful now - should I leave well enough alone? The old slippery slope when I start replacing components. 😂
Speaker wire... Diy?
I am new to this, so please bare with me. I always thought 12 gauge speaker wire, bare on each end, was best. But there is Kimber, Nord, etc, that seem to be incrementally better! Can I buy the components and put together my own $17000 speaker wires? If so, where can they be purchased, and which are good enough to be used? Which terminations are best for sound? Which wire? Length? Guage?
189 responses Add your response
|
geoffkait, Have you ever wondered why defibrillators are calibrated/adjusted in Joules and not in Volts or Amperes? Hint: Volts and Amperes are variable. (Volts usually go up to 1000 or so, Amperes up to 40s or so). Otherwise, you get half a point for Volts vs. Amperes statement. It would have been full point if you had elaborated on it with actual numbers. Sound advice: Do not touch electrical parts of Quad speakers (or any other Quad product for that matter). Also, no matter how tickled you may want to be, do not grab 100+ kV power line. |
pindac On a side note ESL 57’s were not the speaker in use on the day of the comparisons. I am myself a owner of 57’s, and like the the suggestion of investigating how to remove the attached electronics and make them function as standalone off board contained devices. As for the stripping of the Grills and the Dust covers, and then putting the 57’s or any Quad ESL into daily use,it might just be worth offering a description of what this could mean for oneself, or another person or pet, if they were to make contact with a unprotected Quad Fully Charged Stator. >>>>>>I never had any issues with naked Quads, myself. Obviously care should be taken. It’s not for everyone. By the way, how much charge is on a Fully Charged Stator? |
For me the OP now has a description of how a certain line up of cables performed in a system, that a proportion of the attendees at the demonstration were familiar with. All Attendees had a familiarity with a particular Cable Brand, and the outcome of certain cables being a group wide unanimous agreement has a validity and is relevant to a Speaker Cable Discussion, especially when the request from the OP is referring to finding a way to reduce the cost on outlaying $17000 on cables. I agree that there are going to be different viewpoints on how devices in the System and the preparations for the each cables audition may have had what one perceives as limiting factors on how a particular cable presents overall SQ. The fact is certain very expensive cables sounded as limited in their SQ as the earlier used Cheaper Cables in the line up, and the owners of these expensive cables were aware of the close comparisons, and were not in disagreement. I feel that on the day of the auditions, the descriptions offered by individuals were very closely explaining the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the cables, as I was in agreement with most of the terms being used. On a side note ESL 57's were not the speaker in use on the day of the comparisons. I am myself a owner of 57's, and like the the suggestion of investigating how to remove the attached electronics and make them function as standalone off board contained devices. As for the stripping of the Grills and the Dust covers, and then putting the 57's or any Quad ESL into daily use,it might just be worth offering a description of what this could mean for oneself, or another person or pet, if they were to make contact with a unprotected Quad Fully Charged Stator. |
Quad 57s can be rather pedestrian 🚶♂️sounding in certain respects unless they are placed on stands, the heavy rattle-trap metal grills are removed and the plastic dust covers are removed. Oh, and replace the power cords and remove the entire electronics package and put it on springs. Much more open, resolved, extended and dynamic with much better low end. |
Been their and done that many many times. Transparent has won me back with their Gen 5 stuff recently. I’ve used most everything mentioned here and across the board really. Love to experiment! I hear what other cables do well or not so well, but my priorities are to be sitting in front of a fully dynamic, expressive soundstage with realistic weight, warmth and unexaggerated detail. |
@dave_b All speakers are colored and far from neutral. I have a pile of Transparents, some of which I used for more than 15 years, currently 'resting' as they did not complement my monoblocks. Transparent makes great cables, but I refuse to drink their, or any other manufacturer's, Kool-Aid and reserve the right to use something different to ameliorate exacerbated flaws. |
The Quad’s are a particularly prickly speaker to match with gear and or room, let alone cables. They are colored and far from neutral. They are also not inherently very dynamic nor capable of realistic dynamics. They are very revealing and smooth and tend to be coveted by those who prefer detail over a realistic balance. No wonder cables that emphasize clarity over natural tone and dynamics would be favored. Transparent delivers a full range, weighty and dynamic sound with unforced detail. Something the Quad speakers find difficult to handle. |
I do not mean this as any kind of personal attack but these days I’m very disinclined to accept any cable comparison results. I say this because of a whole raft of reasons including, but not limited to, cables under test are not broken in sufficiently to draw valid conclusions, the test system may very well be insufficiently resolving for the task (or have errors), the mere removing of a cable disrupts the delicate electrical-mechanical interface of the connector which takes many hours to reestablish itself, there is no consideration of cryogenics, there is no consideration of cable directionality and - finally - I’m not sure i agree that CD is the proper format for cable evaluations given the rather generic sound quality, crappy SNR, resolution and poor dynamic range of the format, generally speaking. |
ddjr, if you look at transparent cables you will notice a box on the cable, Rectangler in shape. I call it a network box. Just Google transparent cables, u will see it. My entire system is transparent cables except for 2 cables. Only because at the time I purchased 2 rca to balanced the store did not have those 2 cables in transparent. Eventually they will be transparent. |
I have taken part in a Speaker Cable Comparison recently in the UK. It took place at the home of a individual where at least half the attendees had a familiarity with the system in use, which was a EAR 988, Wadia CDP, Quad 2812. Four of the attendees are Quad Speaker owners The Cables put out for comparisons were presented in the following order. Quad Odyessey, Naim NAC 05, True Signal Silver, Mapleshade Double Helix, Transparent, LFD. The Mapleshades and True signal, were unknown cables to the group apart from the cable owners. I am not personally of the opinion a cable has to match a system, as I have not had the experience of seeing how one cable can perform when placed in a multitude of systems. I am of the opinion that cables when compared in a system side by side will at certain times show differences that can be referred to as a attractor and offers a improvement in SQ. In the case of the above cables, the cables that totally took on the role of offering a improved SQ, that was a unanimous agreement by all seven listeners was the Mapleshade and True Signal Silver. Following the session, certain members requested a loan of either of the two cables to take home and experience them in their own systems. Interestingly the owners of the most well known brands and possibly most expensive cables were expressing their thoughts on how low down the list of they were at producing a attractive impression to the SQ. |
You got lucky. There are a few threads discussing counterfeit cables with people reporting how they sound. Responses are all over the place. As you probably know, there is no shortage of cable threads here with any topic you can, and cannot, imagine. Good luck getting something out of them, though. They are personality competitions, for the most part. Your thread is, actually, polite and restrained one, but if you are looking for every post being on topic you envisioned, you are on the wrong website. It just does not happen and it would be strange if it did. Multiply that by, at least, 100, if the thread is about cables. You are new to this, so bear with us. |
ddjr, Not to change the topic, but just so you can have a reference of sorts about cables you already have. I hope they are not cheap for a reason. https://www.kimber.com/counterfeits |
| Post removed |
| Post removed |
I could not read all of this, because it's the same old beating each other up. But I have used a few different cables nordost and others. I have Transparent cables, I believe they are entry level with network box. They are better than the others I have listened to. With that being said, I have never listened to any DIY cables. But I do believe that one could be successful in making cables. And when it comes to DIY, it's about the adventure. That in itself is worth the time and trouble. Transparent does make nice cables. |
| Post removed |
| Post removed |
| Post removed |
"Is a violinist making music if no one is there to hear it?" Unless it is a deaf violinist, there is someone there to hear it so she/he is making music. Assuming she/he did not just start practicing, If she/he did just start, it is probably far from music. Which depends on your perception. Voltage, chemicals, etc. |
"But do you have any opinions on the question that I posed here?" Ooops, sorry, we did not think you were serious. Cable threads inevitably evolve into chat rooms for socializing and have not brought any conclusion yet. "Can I buy the components and put together my own $17000 speaker wires?" It may be possible, but it may cost you as much.
This may be a wrong place to ask. The best would be to call Kimber and Nord, or whoever makes those $17 000 cables, and ask if they would sell you wire and connectors separately so you can assemble them yourself. "...and which are good enough to be used?" You already seem to like Kimber and Nord, why not start with them? For $17 000 cables, you may need to buy exactly that wire to be able to build them yourself. Same goes for connectors. It is next to impossible for any of us, or probably anybody, to answer how to fake an identical copy of the cables you want. Seriously. |