whats the very best sounding cables for realistic money

I had some PWB Electronics speaker cables along with TG Audio speaker cables for my bi wired Fultons. The PWB cables are very good and quite exotic but affordable. Dunno if they still sell cables but they might.

So, as a designer of cables for many decades where do you stand on the dodgy subject of is there or is there not such a thing as directionality? If you don't wish to answer I'll understand.

That’s pretty weird since they are award winning cables. You don’t get those awards if the cables don’t sound great. Usually, anyway. Looks like you're the exception that proves the rule.

Thanks for not bad mouthing the good people at Anti Cables. But seriously, how could they be too bright? They’re just solid copper.

 
vtvmtodvm
I always wonder if anybody using esoteric “high end” AC power line cords has paused to consider the household wiring on the other side of their own listening room wall. That wire is ordinary AWG 12 Romex if it's for a 20 ampere circuit breaker, or (more likely) AWG 14 Romex if it’s for a 15 ampere circuit breaker. And what about that other ~ 10 miles of power line cable that extends back to the local power distribution yard? Hey, can your AC power line purity really be improved by adding that last few feet of costly “audiophile grade” power cord?

The short answer is: Who cares? All of the alternating current pulses, however fine or fuzzy, are going to be converted into a smooth stream of direct current. And it's only the purified DC, not any spurious AC, that will operate the ensuing circuitry. A modern solid state linear DC power supply utilizes full wave rectification with heavy filtering. EMI/RFI bypass traps are provided at the supply input, to shunt any high frequency noise to ground. Active components are utilized to enhance DC stability. Zener diodes clamp voltage levels and chop ripple. Precise series regulator stages are implemented where there’s justifiable merit. The consequent output is scrubbed free of extraneous AC artifacts—it’s just plain/pure/flat/steady direct current. And that can be confirmed by viewing the DC waveform on a basic 50 MHz oscilloscope.

While every audio component has it’s own unique DC power supply, every supply normally draws AC fuel from the same tank, so it’s vital to provide a fuel tank big enough to power all engines; see paper headed “Assuring Adequate AC Power”.

AC power line cords serve as pipelines that route the required AC fuel to each DC engine. There’s no benefit served by making that pipe fatter than needed. Every DC engine has a basic design task, and it can’t utilize extra fuel. For AC power line cords, the “fuel” is alternating current, and the capacity is defined by the conductor gauge. The original circuit designer assigns a gauge (AWG) appropriate for the required consumption. If you have good reason to want a longer or shorter cord, or one with an angled female connector, just let the designer’s AWG be your guide. Increase the conductor diameter only if you have to extend the length of the power cord well beyond its original design length. With respect to insulation, the commercial heavy-duty standard for prime AC power line cordage is type SJT, with molded construction. It’s quite excellent.

Be aware that you can buy top quality molded SJT power line cords, AWG 14, 16, or 18, made to any length, at http://www.stayonline.com/molded-cord-configurator.aspx. The price for such custom cord will be low when compared to a “high end” cord, but it will be functionally equivalent, and it will be of the desired length, without excess slop.

Do utilize AC surge protection; it might help in the event of a power line aberration.


>>>>I think I'll save this one for when I have trouble falling asleep.

mains
geoff, are the Anti Cables very good?

mains, you tell me. Best of Show etc., etc.

http://anticables.com/reviews

All things being equal, white cords or cables always sound better than black or any other color. Don't believe me? Just use white electrical tape and apply to whatever cord or cable you're currently using.

Ebm, now I'm positive you have no idea what you're talking about. 

mr_hosehead
189 posts
07-05-2017 9:10pm
It feels like I’ve replied with the following maybe once or twice a year for the past decade. This approach should fit your budget and is usually good for a laugh. And you can always look this up and see for yourself...

Way, way back when I’d stumbled onto some references to speakers being displayed by Quad at a HiFi show near London and the real kicker to the whole thing was that the Quad guy had gone down the road to the local Home Depot equivalent, bought some orange outdoor extension cord (I think that article said it was Black & Decker wire), and Quad was displaying their speakers at that show with the extension cord being used as their speaker wire. Apparently no one noticed for days...

>>>>>That’s not really that weird since the Quad power supply requires a power cord as opposed to a speaker cable. So it’s not as if the extension cords are speaker wires per se. When I had Quads I replaced the stock speaker cords with homemade cords made out of Kimber Cable speaker cable. But to your point that nobody noticed, I agree. Crowds move through the rooms at HiFi shows like cattle through a slaughterhouse. They are too exhausted to notice much.

The Analysis Plus Pro Power Oval power cord with Wattgate plug for less than a hundred bucks for one meter length is not chopped liver.

Mains, there is no answer to your question. If there was everybody would be doing it. This whole subject of best bang for the buck or what's the best for the money, whatever, has been going on for 40 years. It's pretty much been reduced to the level of a troll. With no end in sight. If you had 40000gbp cables you should be the one telling us. Hel-loo! Pretty soon, at the rate you’re going, you’ll be just like me. No cables. Nada. Zippo. Nothing sounds better than no cables at all.

One man’s realistic money is another man’s outrageous money. It also all depends on what problems you’re talking about that don’t need addressing. Everyone wants to get 90% of the Full Monty on a working man’s salary. That’s always been true and always will be. Honda used to advertise that technology used in their race cars trickled down to their Civic and Prelude. Yeah, right.