Wireworld Eclipse and Audio Envy SP12.
What speaker cable made a major difference in the sound quality of your speakers??
I am curious what speaker cables made a big "jaw dropping difference" in the sound quality of your current speakers. What most impressed you about the difference; that is, overall musicality, tighter, deeper bass, midrange clarity and soundstage depth, etc.etc.
Keep the price of the speaker cables chosen or auditioned at between $800- $1000 or from $1000-$1500. Was the cable bought new or used??
Thank you, SJ
140 responses Add your response
@ehtoo You were way ahead in 2017. I have Actinote Sinfonia speaker cables and they are indeed "my done" cables. |
Crystal Clear Audio Cables for sure! They beat the Wireworld Platinum line hands down. Especially their Magnum Opus tier: http://crystalclearaudio.com/products/magnum-opus/ |
Yes, there is opportunity to preserve the sound quality and integrity along the path from source to amplifier. That said, the greatest opportunity is on the trip from the amplifier to the loudspeakers, simply on a power loss level. With low level signals, especially that of a moving coil phono cartridge, the greatest ROI occurs at a relatively lower end of the price spectrum. |
I bought into “good” quality cables some 30 years ago, with Monster “Standard” #12AWG. If I include the cost of Monster banana connectors, I reckon the original investment was south of $300 for a pair of 8 foot cables. Equivalent price today would still be less than $1000, and I’ve got nothing to complain about. For what it’s worth, best cable ROI in sound reproduction is in “good” speaker cables, because that’s where the greatest amount of signal loss can occur, especially if lighter gauge cables are used. |
Try Cabledyne. As much as I love the sound of Tempo Electric, the Cabledyne Silver Synergy SCs have the tightest focus regarding imaging I've heard in my system. Their a natural pairing with my new Kinki integrated and are very well made. They weren't as open or went as deep when I first replaced them but it took just a couple of days before they bettered the Tempo SCs in all respects. I think it's the shielding that helps them excel in their focusing and delivery. The best part is, they're a bargain for the price ($275/2.5 meters) and are designed by a former employee from Belden Wire & Cable. A sleeper product in this sea of overpriced cables. All the best, Nonoise |
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@jgoomba5 The TWL Speaker cables really are amazing performers. My favorite TWL cable out of the entire loom. The interconnects sound similar to the speaker cables so if you're in need of interconnects and like the TWL speaker cables, you know what to do :P @sunnyjim I upgraded from the Tellurium Q Black speaker cables to the TWL American Speaker Cables and I could not be happier. Dramatic improvement in my setup. Granted, it is one step up the price bracket as well but I was expecting to feel the law of diminishing returns kick in. Not at all. Worth every penny. As luck would have it, a friend was using the Tellurium Q Ultra Black speaker cables. Brought my TWL Speaker cables over to his place to do a comparison and both of us handily gave TWL the win. The TQ Ultra Black speaker cables tend to lend a darker sound signature but the TWL has better depth, way more micro detail retrieval, a much more natural tonality and a more balanced presentation throughout the frequency spectrum. |
Some speakers (most, actually) present complex impedances and are not purely resistive loads (Maggies are nearly purely resistive). For the former, different speaker cables can make a difference in the sound (and maybe even the SQ). These cables need NOT be expensive, so use a co. that allows you to try many different ones and return them after a trial. It is very, very difficult to determine what you need even if you know the impedance vs. freq. plot of your speaker (Stereophile often presents these). Some co.s (Kimber) publish the inductance per foot or per meter which can help narrow your selections. Gold plated connections can reduce corrosion. So can polymeric conductive solutions (one old one was called "Tweek" - ha!). Break and remake the connections every few years to get rid of corrosion. Silver doesn't increase SQ (for the record I do have silver cables - they cost me nearly $20). I also have an old set of Kimber cable used on Vandies, then Maggies, then other Maggies. The best thing you can do is to run monoblocks with very short speaker cables and long balanced interconnects to the amps. BUT, this is expensive because you are buying 2 costly transformers. Each driver would have its own amplifier (designed for the driver's characteristics) in an ideal world. That costs even more, but as Class D gets better and cheaper we will see a lot more of that. Bottom Line: Unlike power cables or interconnects, speaker cables (and the cable to the wall wart for your DAC) can alter the sound. Don't waste money on expensive woo-woo, just use a cable rental co. until you are satisfied. If you cannot be satisfied, then talk to Mick Jagger. |
Here's some interesting reading from a few years back. The author knows a little about audio... Some here, will be familiar with this guy. http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#conditioner I find myself somewhere in the middle of cables make a difference augment. Embarrassed to admit that I've spent a couple of bucks on fancy wire. If you hear it, and can afford it, what the hell? |
To hiici, I have gone that cheap speaker cable route. Actually I bought a pair of speaker cables on e-bay for $65.00 for a 10 ft pair about 3 years ago. i was amazed how well they were made. I liked them at first but after about 50 hours, they began to sound harsh and very bright. I traded them in with a Rega table to The Music Room for something, I can't remember ****** HOWEVER, Has anyone listened to or own a pair of Tellurium Q Black speaker cable. I have seen them mentioned on Audiogon a few times. They sell online for $495.00 for a 3 meter pair. There are a few reviews around: Hi-Fi Pig and Audio Chews. Not exactly main stream journals, but each review honestly claimed the Tellurium may enhanced what you already hearing, nothing spectacular, but both claimed excellent musicality and detail without edge.. Any feedback would be great. Cheers to all. S.J. |
For a period of a couple years I went through high priced Tara labs, MIT, Kimber, Cardas and finally top of the line Marigo, also use for interconnects. I also played around with cheap cable just to see if I could here a difference and although I believe you can probably find a cheap cable that sounds awesome but I gave up after a couple cheap cable attempts. The Marigo warmed up the sound better than any other cable with my system. Kimber were too tinny and MIT too flat. I don't think many people know about Marigo but for my system the best, I believe the components play a large part in how a cable will sound and my NHT 3.3s a little bright on the high end may be the reason Marigo work best for me. Also was using a Plinius SA-250 and Sonic Frontiers pre-amp when i settled on Marigo |
+ 1 @zacho. I recently tried Cerious Technologies graphene extreme SC's based on glowing reviews on the A'gon and elsewhere. Found them to add some weight to low end but lost quite a bit of high end clarity and air, so I returned them. Just received Triode Wire Labs American Speaker Cables and right out of the box they are much improved over
Cerious Technologies - add some nice weight and provide great balance and depth throughout the tonal range. Highly recommended and similar to graphene extremes in price. As always, YMMV |
Thanks to all who responded since my last response and also before. I have been out of the loop for a while and trying to avoid impulse buying or "audio nervosa" To stringreen, I 've seen several recommendations for Clear Day speaker cables on this thread, and actually, as mentioned. above, auditioned about 5 years ago, the single Shotgun cable which I thought was very good. I might see if Paul has a 6 ft pair of the Double ShotGun cable for loan and audition. To lowrider. I never followed up on Grover Huffman's offer of trading up to his newest speaker cable. I might just have him terminate them with banana plugs. the bare wire that the previous owner of the cable used. I love the sound of Harmonic Technology Pro 11+ cable, I currently use, but they are a 12 ft pair and awkward to lay out because of their girth and use with cable risers. The older model of the Huffman cable sounded very good; and, I can always use for backup or bi-wiring. I will probably try the Clear Day Cable and if I think it out performs the HT cable, then I will go with that in a shorter length Cheers., SJ.. . |
This is the first time for me to post, but I thought I would add my 2 cents. I just switched around my high end system from mono amps to a single new Einstein OTL power amp so my speaker cables were too short. I ended up using an old pair of 2k cables but the sound of the system was good but not great. These were highly rated cables 10 years ago. I read this forum and decided to go the DIY route. I purchased 40 ft of 8 gauge soft silver wire from Rio Grande. the teflon sleeves I ordered hadn't arrived yet so I went to the local pet store and bought some silicone aquarium pump tubing to sleeve the wire as an experiment. The results were jaw dropping. Every aspect of the listening experience was greatly improved, in fact amazingly so. Just ordered 40 more feet of 10 gauge silver wire to bi-wire. So far I am just connecting the wire directly to speakers without spades. The total cost of the wire and sleeves will end up being around $1600.00. The thing about these cables is that they are also a play on the price of silver. I am investing in silver and getting the use of spectacular cables. Will update when I have completed the bi-wire with teflon sleeves. Should sound even better. Best, MM |
Neotech Cables for Power, Speaker and Interconnect are outstanding value and one of the industry well kept secret. Alot of Audio Cable companies use them. I purchased a few XLR, Power Cables and Speaker cables from a seller on Ebay who ships from Indonesia. Name: Magickpowers. He has genuine certified Neotech cables at excellent prices and services. If you purchase a series of cables good discounts are given!!! |
Having participated in this thread as it has developed, one thing we can glean is that there are several reputable cable crafters making very good sounding products without having to leverage your home to afford them. If you have the disposable income to invest in the high priced spread then have at it and hopefully you will be as satisfied as those of us who made more modest, but satisfying investments in cables. |
Ok, I have to follow up on my original post. I have now installed the Morrow SP-7’s and I have no idea what the other poster was saying about them sounding "phasey". Each system is different however and in my system the SP-7’s are a clear jump in sound quality as compared to the SP-5’s they replaced. What is better? Everything, they are a much more engaging cable than the SP-5’s. My tastes run from rock to jazz and world music and I must admit, these new cables are sweet! I was listening to Neil Young, Live at Massey Hall the other night while my wife was cooking dinner and even she commented that the music sounded great. Of course, she had no idea I had switched out the cables. This is my experience, your results may vary! |
For me, the Straight Wire Pro Special SC speaker cables in bi-wire configuration is a great match for my speakers (vintage Von Schweikert VR-5 HSE), setup and room. I believe they run about $10 a foot nowadays, which isn't bad. I also use Straight Wire Solo interconnects which made a HUGE improvement over the previous interconnects I had used, including the stock interconnects included with the Camak connectors that came with my used vintage Mark Levinson ML-9 amp at Saturday Audio Exchange several years ago. You can view my system here: https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/5523 And you can also view my review of the Straight Wire Pro Special SC speaker cables here: http://ayllonmedia.com/news/straight-wire-pro-special-speaker-cables-strike-the-right-balance Cheers, Juan |
To your point Edward506, I totally agree with you that room and speakers would be much more important than cabling. Not to belabor the point and I truly am like you, I don't care one way or another what people believe, maybe some can't hear and I respect that view as well. I used to believe the same until I listened and I could clearly hear differences, ic, remember the first time it happened to this day. Some make more of a difference than others, some make no difference and some make PROFOUND differences. I have several very expensive cables that I no longer use but still like. They have been replaced by a couple pair of home brewed cables with silver and gold wire that are quite special, the wire wasn't cheap either. Also I have coper ribbons I use for my tt set-up to pre which I prefer over the homebrews in THAT application. Believe me, listening to cables makes you a better listener, but it can take work at times, enjoy! |
While the price point I am going to mention has nothing to do with the question the OP asked, perhaps it can shed some light on cable differences. As a new Audioquest dealer, I had the opportunity to audition their two top of the line speaker cables on my system. The wel signature and the wildwood. The only difference in the cable was some of the Silver strands of the top of the line Wel were replaced with copper in Wildwood. There was still a significant amount of silver in the Wildwood and the winding topology and dialectic active bias was the same. The audition started with the wildwood and it was fantastic, providing details and timing cues I had never heard previously. Upon going to the Wel, there was a significant upgrade beyond what I heard. So my point is that even at the very high of cables, where few compromises have to be made, there are benefits to be had that are not subtle. I did the test for a golden eared installer who found the same, and I read another opinion that stated the same finding among the 2 cables. |
Thanks for the responses. I'll look for that article by Nelson Pass and give it a read. I'm moving now and will be reconnecting my system. As good a time as any to try some different cables after I've treated the room. That can get costly quickly doing trial and error so perhaps I'll begin by tinkering with different metals and go the diy route myself. |
Don't forget or underestimate the connectors. In my present system, and all through it's iterations, Zu Event Mk I gave me the best sound. Getting them at a bit more than half price went a long ways as well. But the best sound I've gotten from them was when I had Zu swap out the spades for the bananas on the amp end. The connection may have not been the best because of the five way binding posts but it was the change of metal that elevated the sound. Simply going from copper to rhodium over a berylium core gave me a couple orders of magnitude more detail, separation, clarity, and focus. Even the bass was better resolved and more defined as well as a better front to back soundstage due to the more pinpoint imaging. It makes me wonder if I had some of my first cables terminated that way, would I have every looked for more. All the best, Nonoise |
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