Iconoclast TPC are fantastic cables if you’re a soundstage and detail freak. I could easily live with these given careful matching with the rest of the gear.
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I’ve listened to Shunyata Alpha and Sigmas, Audioquest Thunderbirds, Oaks, and Dragons, Nordost Odin 1, Wireworld Silver Eclipse, Tara Labs, High Fidelity, Audience, and a couple more. I own Clarus Crimson speaker cables. The best without considering cost were AQ Dragons. In my opinion the Clarus Crimson offer the best value, coming very close to the AQ Dragons in my system. |
This topic has been discussed many times. You have a pair of $30K mono amps and a pair of $50K speakers, So adding a couple of $2K speaker cables makes your combination more excellent and makes you feel better. The margin of an amp is less than that of a pair of speakers, and so is the margin of cables compared to speakers. It's true for virtually every area from building a house to a car to a menu in a restaurant. |
@jbetanc lol. |
I am 70 years old, and been a stereo enthusiast since age 18. I don't claim to be an audiophile because that means I would have to suspend reality (in some cases) and believe in magic. I envy those audiophiles who do believe in magic as it makes it a lot more fun for them. Like believing in Santa Claus. 16 gauge lamp cord sounds about the same as the more expensive cables I have tried. I don't use lamp cord now, because of other biases we all have in this hobby. I use Blue-Jeans cable. Their Canare 4S11 "star quad" 14 gauge. My system is mainly McIntosh. I have a 400 watt amplifier that drives speakers capable of handling a 1000w. They stand almost 6 feet tall and weigh 170 lbs each. 14 gauge wire is perfectly adequate (as would 16 gauge lamp cord.) |
So many different opinions! I personally love Shunyata Alpha v2's. I went from Cardas Golden Cross to Audience Au24 to MIT Shotgun 3.3 to Morrow Audio SP7 and finally to the Shunyata's. I liked every single pair, honestly, but as my system upgraded and my wallet, these do it for me, although I do wonder how the knockoff Nordost Odin 2's sound . . . I have hear very positive reports on them! |
Back when my ears were "young". The best I heard was a generic "Orange" TrueValue Hardware 12g extension cord with the ends lopped off and terminated into spade connectors with McIntosh tube amps and/or Technics SA-1000 into Inifinty RS-IIs. Granted, back then it was all Lamp-Cord or Bell-Wire anyways. In my 50's now, and although I can still hear up to 15K, I doubt changing cables these days are worth the time/effort/cost. LOL. I stick to BlueJeans and Mogami these days and am totally happy. |
I've tried many cables, including some costly ones, but still using the old Zu Audio wire: Libtec speaker cable and Varial interconnect. There is something about these long discontinued wire that makes it a keeper. Perfect mix of neutrality, transparency and musicality. Also using a Kondo silver interconnect (which is far from neutral) for my old modded RA Opus 21, but they are just a match made in heaven. Also love the old Cardas Golden Power cables and still using it in my system as well as Shunyata Python. |
i’ve been using monster cable for almost 40 years. i’ve heard them in stores next to high end cables and cannot detect a difference. i have noticed an improvement with shielded interconnects between components and preamp and preamp to amp. i've also noticed a difference between terminations between amp amp speakers. gold spade lugs soldered to the cables appear to be the best. |
I’ve tried Blue Jeans, Audio Quest Granite and 1 other inexpensive cable, I cannot recall the name, before upgrading to Audio Sensibility Signature. The Owner said the AS Signature would be the last cable I would ever (want to) buy and I believe he is right. All of the cables I tried were used on the same equipment and the level of clarity using AS was like lifting a veil from the speakers. There are crisper highs and bass depth I had not previously heard. This is not an ad for AS cables. I’m sure the there are other fine cables that will perform as well. I’m 70 years old and have significant hearing loss. But, I can distinctly hear differences in each one of the speaker cables I’ve tried. Anyone who does not believe there is a difference either hasn’t heard different cables or doesn’t have equipment capable of picking up the sonic differences. |
I’ve tried Blue Jeans, Audio Quest Granite and 1 other inexpensive cable, I cannot recall the name, before upgrading to Audio Sensibility Signature. The Owner said the AS Signature would be the last cable I would ever (want to) buy and I believe he is right. All of the cables I tried were used on the same equipment and the level of clarity using AS was like lifting a veil from the speakers. There are crisper highs and bass depth I had not previously heard. This is not an ad for AS cables. I’m sure the there are other fine cables that will perform as well. I’m 70 years old and have significant hearing loss. But, I can distinctly hear differences in each one of the speaker cables I’ve tried. Anyone who does not believe there is a difference either hasn’t heard different cables or doesn’t have equipment capable of picking up the sonic differences. |
Its all about loading... and everything is a compromise. |
About a year and a half ago, I auditioned the Silversmith Fidelium, Townshend F1 Fractal and WyWires Diamond speaker cables in my system over a period of 45 days. At the time, I had been using the Cerious Technologies Graphene Matrix speaker cables for the previous 3 years, so those were my baseline for comparison. I found the Fidelium to offer a very airy, detailed sound with nice high frequency extension and imaging. However, the midrange and bass lacked tonal density and weight in my system. Instruments and voices sounded lighter than they should have. The Townshend FI Fractal cables were almost the exact opposite of the Fideliums. The F1 Fractal had great bass weight and extension with a tonally rich midrange. They had slightly better dynamic expression than the Fidelium as well. But, where the Fidelium shined in the upper frequencies, the F1 Fractals were darker and more closed in on the top. While they imaged as well as the Fidelium, the darker top end didn’t afford them the same airiness in the soundstage. I must mention that the first time I listened to the F1 Fractal after only 48 hours of break in, they were so dark and closed in, I thought there might be some sort of gross electrical mismatch with my amplifiers and/or speakers. It literally sounded like thick blankets were covering my speakers. It took about 350 hours of constant burn in on a second system to get them to their full performance. The difference was greater than any break in I have experienced in any other cables or piece of equipment. It was like two different cables. The Fidelium on the other hand required only 100 hours break in time to achieve full performance and even at that, I would estimate the difference as only 5-10 % compared to the F1 Fractal improvement of 30-40%. At this point, I rated both the Fidelium and the F1 Fractal as a significant improvement over my Graphene Matrix cables, but it was a difficult choice between the two. It almost came down to preferring one cable over the other based on the style of music being played and perhaps even my mood. Both had their strengths, but also weaknesses in my system and to my ears. The WyWires Diamond cables were the last to arrive and other than an initial listen when first received, had been burning in on the second system (I actually used nylon screws and nuts to serially connect all three sets of cables together to burn them in at once) while I evaluated the other two cables that had more time to season. After 200 hours or so of burn in, the Diamond proved to be a very nice balance of the F1 Fractal’s and the Fidelium’s best attributes. The Diamond had all the bass weight and extension of the F1 Fractal as well as their rich, tonally dense midrange. The Diamond also possessed the high-end extension, detail and airiness of the Fidelium. The Diamond had a wider and deeper soundstage than either of the other two cables with image specificity better than the F1 Fractal and on par with the Fidelium. The Diamonds had the edge in dynamics as well. Because there were no shortcomings, I found I could relax and become more emotionally involved in the music with the Diamond than the other cables. As you can tell, I kept the WyWires Diamond cables and returned the Townshend F1 Fractal and Silversmith Fidelium cables. As a result of this evaluation, it was very apparent that sufficient burn in (on some more than others) and long-term listening in your own system are necessary to determine the best fit. I should add, all three companies were very supportive and flexible in allowing me to evaluate their products and were a pleasure to deal with. |
Beldon wire and cable make great Teflon silver plated wire. I had 100’ 18awg 3 conductors with a silver plated shield. You connect the shield a receive ground end and double up wires on the 18 grounds. Do Not connect the shield at both ends proved to increase shield performance. Use excellent connectors and you have great interconnect cables. If you have a large commercial wire reseller in your area they normally have left over from a spool. The spools come 500 and 1000 ft rolls of the stuff and the prices have gone way up and the Teflon is a hassle to strip but worth the effort.
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@prosdds I've never met a single audiophile who believes in magic. But I met a lot of audiophiles who hear the difference that cables make and some who don't hear it. |
Hello @thieliste tell me about the Furutech DSS 4.1's. I have a family room system where the speaker runs are 33 and 25'. I am currently using double runs of 10g generic copper, but would like to upgrade the mid / treble run at least. Still pricey.... |
@fastfreight DSS 4.1 is on the warm side, very organic and full body cable, it's the opposite of bright if that's what you are looking for. |
@grislybutter I'm surprised! You weren't the least bit concerned about what cause your money might be better used for? There's got to be some hungry people somewhere nearby. |
There is no 'winner take all' as it depends on the rest of the system. Case in point: When I first got my EVS 1200 I was using Series 8 WireWorld interconnects, TOL speaker cables. I replaced both the WW XLRs and cables with Ali-X Odin 2 Nordost Knockoffs. While my all SS system sounded much better (@ 1/10 the $$$), it was a bit too sharp, so I ordered Odin Gold speaker cables (at ~ $170/2.5m)! Unfortunately one leg must of had a bad solder joint as it barely sent the music . It took a couple months before they replaced it, which I finally installed 2 days ago: BAM. Even immediately, but of course it needs break in time. HTH |
@dadork exactly |
