2. speakers
  3. 189237-86238

Speakers, speaker cables or I’m getting old…

I began listening to my gear as it filtered in from various spots in the US. I bought cheap cables, as I waited for my cabling to arrive. I have a set of Heritage Specials, ran from a Pass X150.8. I noticed right out of the gate at what I would call “moderate” volumes there’s a frequency that “smears.” I’ve never heard this in any of my setups, have just read others reference it. Now, what I’ve noticed is as my gear has arrived and as the chain improved, it reduced, but is not gone and I’m unable to listen at louder volumes due to it.

The one item that’s yet to arrive are the speaker cables, currently on there is what was available at the moment, something very thin and cheap.

My prior setup was Harbeth’s off PL, and am very familiar with that sound. I’ve ran PS Audio BHK Mono’s off a set off Dyn Confidence and loved that too. I tend to believe it’s not the speakers. But rather the cheap speaker cables…Or, I’ve aged 3 years since I’ve had a 2ch setup, and my hearing has changed and I’m just more sensitive to certain frequencies. For the record, I’ve always been rather sensitive to an upper mid/higher freq sound, it pierces my brain. B&W + Mac comes to mind…ran that once as well.

The other oddity is that older recordings, or older remasters like Tom Petty Wildflowers and the off shoot releases from it sound amazing. Dave Matthews sounds amazing, Radiohead, Willie Bobo, so there’s a bunch that doesn’t generate that smear or sheen. I’m using qobuz. Really, anything metal related, Tool, Lamb of God, Metallica is a little harsh to listen to and moderate volumes.

Thoughts?

toddcowles
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
1,927 posts
 

My experiece has been that s the system gets better, the louder I can go without the harshness. This includes speaker cables, IC, and AC cables. A system is no better than its weakest link. Everything has impact IMO. Another plus is that recording that were unlistenable became more listenable. There's still good, better, best but few unlistenable. But I'm working on it.

 

overthemoon
417 posts
 

I have had some similar experience as it relates to speaker cables and with Metallica, Tool and such on Qobuz.

  • Speaker cables:  I owned a pair of Rocket 33s, Blue Jean Cables and borrowed a friends Kimber Kable 12TCs.  The Blue Jean Cables didn't have the clarity and separation in the low frequencies of the others and for some music the Kimbers were harsh and reminded me of why I don't have B&W speakers.  Ultimately I went to Kimber Bifocals and the sound singificantly improved to my ears.
  • Qobuz:  When I upgraded from Bluesound node I tried the trial for Tidal and Qobuz.  I created a playlist and one day while grilling, a friend and I listened and randomly switched the streaming services.  I noticed two things - I appreciated the sonics of Tidal for some specific recordings such as Metallica, Tool, Boston, etc.  I also noted a few songs I wanted to hear were on Tidal.  

My last comment is as I've upgraded my system I have noted the playing db - and as my system improved the 'spaces of silence' between the notes are more drastic.  I used to listen at 85 db frequently because I thought it sounded better and I enjoyed the feeling of loudness.  No I notice 85 db doesn't seem as loud and I can have a conversation without raising my voice and sometimes I end up listening to music in th mid 60s and 70 db range. 

I initially thought this was driven by the increase in signal strength of a balanced cable.  I know think its the improved signal quality to the amp and the improved control on the speakers resulting in less noise between notes.  And I still could be wrong 😐

 

rolox
180 posts
 

You're just experiencing something very important that cable deniers seem happily unaware of -which says a lot about their ears and / or systems-: the wrong cable can seriously bottleneck even the best system.

Yes, speaker cables can sound thin and bright and smeared. Nothing new here.

Mind you, I've been struggling in vain against a rather artificial / bright upper midrange for a while, blaming in turns my DIY speakers imperfect crossover or my room's imperfect acoustics, only to accidentally solve the issue by replacing the silver plated copper power cord on my preamp with a full copper one.

coralkong's avatar
coralkong
650 posts
 

The audio chain is only as strong as its' weakest link.

While I wouldn't say cables are a tone control, they certainly have a bearing on the overall projected sound.

If you have nice gear, crappy cables can stand out like a sore thumb.

mofojo
2,289 posts
 

Could be the speakers for that kind of music. I had some Dynaudio Contour 20s and they didn’t like rock/metal much. New cables may help a little but I wouldn’t expect a full transformation.
I just sold Acoustic Zen Hologram 2. They didn’t play the greatest with my new Cornwall 4. I put on some old Straightwire Laser 8 cables I had laying around and there was just more slam, snare snap, life to the music. That’s when the AZ went up for sale. That said they played very well with other speakers. That said while noticeable it was not night and day by any means.  

More to discover