whats the very best sounding cables for realistic money
hi, can you all please tell me if there are a really special sounding cable out there for realistic money, ie power cables 300/400gbp, signal cables 1m 400/500gbp and speaker cables for around 600/700gbp, i know its still alot of money but there must be a manufacturer out there thats not pulling our trousers down, or spending time and money on R&D to solve problems that do not need addressing ie over the top shielding or some other marketing nonsense, the company i am showing interest in are Anti cables ??????????
Hey there, many folks in this thread have already discussed the various reasons behind the importance of each type of cable. I’ll just throw in my 2 cents with a recommendation for the cable brand I’m presently using and slowly switching to throughout my system, Snake River Audio. The following is a review I posted elsewhere on Audiogon for the Snake River digital cable. Sorry it’s a bit long. Really excellent stuff, and a great small company to deal with; they often have cables in their used section, for half price, that have only been to one audio show and back, which would fit your price requirements nicely.
Since I wrote the review, I have swapped out all of my power cables for Snake River ones, they replaced Cardas Golden Reference. My only other advice, besides buying just about anything Snake River, is to buy cables used. The 50% discount is not only better on the front end but makes it much less painful to sell if you decide to swap something.
Boomslang Digital Cable Review The first time I was exposed to how much of a profound difference wire can make when well utilized in an audio system was in the early 1980’s. I traded up from the tinned lead hook-up wire that came with my speakers to some big, fat, stranded Monster cable with good connectors. Well, how about that I thought, more bass, better vocals... pretty much better everything - and all because of changing out those lousy speaker cables. I thought to myself, I wonder if changing my RCA cables would make a difference too, and lo-and-behold it did! I was hooked on the easy tweak of cable rolling.
Fast forward more than 30 years and it’s no surprise that I’ve changed cables more than a few times, particularly since my system has evolved significantly since then. Heck, I’ve even gone so far as to swap out the wiring inside of speakers and inside preamps. And guess what? It all makes a discernible difference - everything sounds like something. While not every change I have made has been for the better, most have yielded beneficial results and advanced my system’s capabilities. Companies such as Kimber, Tara and particularly Cardas have all spent time in my systems. Sometimes decades! So, yes, I tube roll, fuse swap and cable roll when I think I can better my current position and squeeze a little more out of my system.
Sorry it took me a while to get to the point, but this next part is what this review is really about... Recently, the good folks at The Cable Company loaned me three top shelf digital cables of differing designs. All three were high purity silver and handily outperformed my 12 year old copper digital cable, which had been a well reviewed Class A component in it’s day and had provided years of pleasurable listening. My cable wasn’t bad, per se, it was just that the newer designs and materials were so much better! The leader of the pack, and by a good margin, was a strikingly good looking flat cable by a small company out of Idaho, Snake River Audio ( http://snakeriveraudio.com ). All of Snake River Audio’s cables are named after various types of snakes and the cable in question was named Boomslang, after a particularly venomous tree snake. The Boomslang employs a thick multi-conductor cable that is flat but thicker than a conventional ribbon cable, presumably due to shielding. The RCA connectors were a locking design by WBT and the conductors were all high purity silver; moreover, the Boomslang was several hundred dollars cheaper than its competitors and longer, at 1.37 meters. Physical specifications aside, the cable simply sounds amazing! The Boomslangs are just musical, dare I say more analog sounding, providing a more natural leading and trailing edge to sounds and allowing for better delineation and clarity throughout. This accuracy and speed allows the listener to hear more of the micro dynamics that make a musical presentation sound more natural. Best of all, the Boomslangs do what they do without being overly bright. I fear I’m not doing adequate justice in describing how good these cables really are and what a difference they have made to my already finely tuned system. Mike Oldfield once quoted the old adage that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture" and this sure feels like that.
So, the Boomslang cables are outstanding! But, that got me thinking of how the other cables by Snake River Audio might sound in my system... Sound familiar? Unfortunately, a review of the other cables will have to wait for another time and a new fiscal year. I would like to close this review with advising anyone considering dealing with Snake River Audio that Jonny Wilson, the owner, is one of the most accommodating folks you will ever work with. His products are superb, handcrafted to a meticulous tolerance and he offers a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. I can unequivocally recommend Jonny and his fine products!
In my friends system the speaker cables was mediocre he dumped it pretty quick maybe its great in lesser resolution systems.Im using Purist and Furutech power cords they were much better than my Stealth V14 and V12 speaker cables. Cables are largely system dependent.Well good luck with the Anti cables as in many cases you get what you pay for at least i can say that with Purist and Furutech.Good luck though.
I was doing similar speaker research as the OP not long ago, and would like to add to something geoffkait said earlier regarding a specific speaker brand using common extension cord as speaker cable at a trade show. Whilst doing the research, I stumbled across this site: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/whitelightning/moonshine.html I am not affiliated with this site nor is this an endorsement of it (they don't sell stuff, so this is no veiled sales pitch). It seemed like a low-risk proposition, so I made up a set of cables for my system - which by no means is a high-level barn burner, but it sounds pretty damned decent to me. I found some white cord that matched the spec (which looks, really, quite nice coming off the speakers and disappearing into the rack) and I did go with bare wire at the speaker terminal. To provide some point of reference, my system consists of:
Denon AVR-X4000 (mid-level A/V receiver) Hafler DH220 w/full Musical Concepts ugrade for front L/R Magenpan MMG fronts Adcom GFA6000 for center/surrounds Paradigm Phantom v2 surrounds, Magnepan MMG-C center Rhythmik FG12 (Audiogon classifieds find) Denon DCD 1500 CD player Akai GX-280D reel-to-reel ADC Sound Shaper SS-325X (for reel) Monoprice 22AWG interconnects across the board
As a self-taught guitar player (40+ years) and low-grade "audiophile", I consider myself to have a relatively "trained" ear. I get "imaging", "soundstage","airy", "bloated", "boomy", etc. And I'll be damned if these low-cost, extension cord speaker cables didn't add to an already good-sounding system. I got expanded soundstage dimension, depth, clarity, tightened mid-bass.......it added a sparkle and sharpness that even my wife and son noticed after about 30 seconds of listening. Would these speaker cables add anything to a high end system? Can't say. But if you've got the bread to burn on thousand-dollar cables, you certainly have it to burn on something such as these DIY-ers that could give you a really, really pleasant surprise. I know I got one, and will be hard-pressed to re-visit the "which speaker cable?" conundrum ever again.
Hi Mains, These are a bit outside the price range you were looking for. Hands down best cable for the money - you might want to check them out for the next time you get an itch. Just throwing in my $0.01 www.tonarm.ch
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.
I’ve compared my shorter (.5 meter) silver SP/DIF cable to a 1 meter version and found the above claim of 1 meter digital cables not working as well to be baseless. This may be in issue in theory, but at least in my attempt at testing it by actually listening to music, it’s simply nonsense. I really tried to test this theory once I heard it existed, switched the cables between a streamer and a CD transport back and forth over days…zero, and I mean zero difference. Maybe my modest DAC has astounding re-clocking abilities or something, but still…
After using the cable services to demo many different speaker and ic cables it became apparent that Straightwire Maestro was the best performing speaker and ic in my system. I think cables are very system specific.
is there realy a need for "special" cables? When the amp must deliver over 200 W you can try it. Remember:. at 5 Amp at 8 Ohm then you need just 1.5 mm2 (200W RMS) Thats all you need. No fancy cables are needed.
The SLIC Eclipse C interconnect (it stands for Super Low
Interference Cable) is made in Britain and costs about £500 for a 1 metre RCA
interconnect. I bought one a few weeks
ago, and with this cable between my SACD player and preamp the sound is better
than I’ve ever heard it previously.  There is much greater clarity, so that I can
hear far more layers of detail such as instrumentation, harmony and
counterpoint.  Instruments have greater character
and colour, and the overall balance sounds accurate and natural.  It replaced a Kimber Select 1021 interconnect.  Of course it won’t suit every system or
everybody’s taste but it’s excellent in mine.  Â
Sorry, for some reason I don't understand this is going to appear with various unwatnted caharcters added to it.
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.
vtvjmtodvmn: thanks for some actual engineering science for a change. I get so tired of the repetitive "hearing perception" BS of, for example, how "natural, transparent and eye-opening my music sounded with the new $2500.00 power cord."
That said, if I could rake in the big bucks by convincing (deceiving) "audiophiles" that the hidden magic to heavenly listening was dependent on my ElectroLux Power Cord..........
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.
Geoff.....Geoff....really? Your usual posts, though I typically disagree with them, are usually polite, well written and of some use. This one above is just an attempt to suggest that vtvmtodvm's opinion, which you quote at length, is elementary, useless and boring. Is this really you?
Mains, as you have realized by the dozens of posts, there is no such thing as a 'perfect cable' regardless of cost or that company would soon run out of customers and fold. Even within the top cable manufacturers, it is onward and upward even few years, so lets just remember: nothing in our system is perfect. NOTHING. Not the cable, amp, preamp, tonearm, zip cord. That said, decide how important it is for you to hear Eric Clapton's guitar technique, Beverly Sills' coluraturas, Yma Sumac's off-into-the-wild-blue-yonder high note, or Tina Weymouth's bass (Talking Heads), Ray Brown or Bela Fleck, or Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra or Lady Gaga and find a cable that is a revelation to most the music you own. If you want a full tonal, musical balance: MIT, Transparent, Shunyata, Crystal, (although I don't think Crystal cable does ANYTHING "reasonably priced"). Others will have other cables. I go for for tonal balance (so either "thin" or "technicolor" are out), a see-through midrange with good extension at both ends; all the ambience intact; and a sense of airiness, particularly in the bass regions. Oh, and killer sound staging and imaging. Hence, my suggestions, which can all be bought at the pricing you provided initially. For power cords, I'd go Shunyata - but only the Alpha HC. I had that AND the Sigma and after 10 months, sold the Sigma. Not that it wasn't fantastic, but it was overkill. I gave myself plenty of time to decide that for myself, and then kept the Alpha HC for my PS Audio line conditioner. I will have another and some upper-level Nordost as well, but this does great. Nordost's line is good, but you have to watch for a slight upper bass/lower midrange suckout in the Alpha Series. MIT is the richest without being even remotely euphonic; and Transparent is stately and majestic, perhaps just a little "stiff" at the top (unless, who knows, you have their $40K Opus cable (or whatever it costs these days). Perhaps the other posters can say what their musical diet is, because asking for pricing without knowing what somebody listens to is having incomplete information. Those who listen to Megadeath are not in it for the tonal balance, you best believe that.
Used older replaced models of Cardas, AudioQuest, Kimber, Synergestic Research - and get the lower mid to mid level stuff used and it's still half ok and not expensive. Power cords miss and match as you go and grab a semi ok - sort of decent one here and there or spend a fortune - start like we all did with a couple $100 Synergestic AC Master Couplers and a coupe Cardas this or AudioQuest that and use your best one on the source then pre then amp. Upgrade each one as you go selling the old one as you go so it only cost you the price difference. This will not get you great cable but it's not Cat5 or Homedepot extension cord cable either it's competent - well built - well engineered stuff that should always be worth right about what you pay for it as long as your smart about it. As you upgrade you can get all / most your money back. You might even like some of the older stuff especially if you haven't heard the newer - better stuff. Newbie cable Aphile 101. Then give yourself a treat for this conservative and displined approach and pick up a single set of Darwin interconnects - any version - the most expensive the better but all are good and place it right after your source. It will make your entire system a 1000 better and peel off layers you had no idea that were there but then it will also show you the impact that much improved cables can have so maybe don't do it. You will love the huge bump in performance for semi cheap money so do it but it very well might send you down the rabbit hole of chasing the bump and that gets expensive and usually starts in earnest when a cable knocks your sox off like the Darwin IC will surely do when used Amin these other modest yet competent less expensive cables but the good thing is the next bump will never be as large unless you spend a ton of doe so go for it and overall it's still a very cheap overall cable way to go. Then start getting better pc's from a $100 - $150 a pop to $300 to $350 one a time peice mail and sell your old one, your getting the picture. It's the only way to outfit your rig with semi ok cable that isn't total crap and is as cheap as humanly possible and still getting semi-useable cables. I would take a very good but older one of these brands over some value dirt cheap eBay cable any day. Good luck but there are no short cuts and this gets you a bit of the way there at a time. I mean no offense but anyone that's says cables don't matter are either totally clueless or their system sucks so it doesn't matter anyway. It's either one or the other...
The IC design can also be used for Digital IC’s, but you do not need to use the silver signal conductor - copper will do nicely (after all, it works for computers so why go silver)
Everybody that has heard them are amazed at the level of performance - neutral, dynamic, controlled and spacious, with superb imaging and clarity
Want a second opinion! - ask Agon member @toddverrone
I really think cables are system dependant. That being said, I submit Wireworld cables offer excellent value at all levels. Compared to many other cables I've had in my system, I find Wireworld to be neutral. It doesn't emphasize any part of the audio spectrum.
I don't want to bad-mouth the good people at Anti-Cables. They were friendly and helpful. Some people have reported wonderful results so I bought their Ref 3 SC's with high expectations. I gave them at least 6 weeks (Paul kindly extended the trial period) but the truth is, they sounded painfully harsh in my system. They had to go - Morrow SP4's were a huge improvement.
"..how could they be too bright? They’re just solid copper."
I don't know, and have little interest in the theory. They sounded a bit like fingernails on a blackboard on some tracks. Really unplayable. On simple acoustic tracks, especially instrumentals, much more bearable. Overall, it wasn't a difficult choice to let them go.
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.
Cerious is fine price/quality - River Cable Flexigy8 is to me the best value around for an amazing speaker cable - Coincident Statement Power Cord for power - Best signal and best speakers cables I ever heard out of dozens I tried, including much more expensive ones, is TelluriumQ SD.
Cables are as much hearing dependent as they are system dependent. That's, the better you can hear the more you will be in financial trouble. Great cables are expensive. Some would suggest trying at least mid-level Purist, Ecole and Stage III.
I don’t think Tina Weymouth’s bass playing belongs in Gbmcleod’s post relative to the other players noted, although it may be too late to remove it. Also, I'm in the camp with those who don't think your power cables make much difference, especially if you're using some sort of regulated power supply in the AC chain...all are welcome to this camp…bring a tent.
I'd suggest mid-level AudioQuest cables like the Rocket series, or if you are willing to spend a little more, the Castlerocks are a great option as well...
ok i have finally settled on jps labs aluminata feeding my MS HD E01 BLOCK, then i have jps labs kaptovators feeding all my equipment, no outlay as i have had these power cables some years and find they are at the very high end of performance. For signal cables i use Townshend Audio fractal f1 reference 2x 1m rca with the matching fractal f1 reference isolda speaker cables very new products, the outlay was around 6k but the results are absolutely stunning. In the UK Townshend Audio are major players i use there Seismic Podiums under my Sound labs i must say my system is sounding jaw dropping very open , musical and realistic, please check out Townshend Audio they have been around some 5 decades and there products are sold on audiogon by a very reputable UK dealer with discounts thank you for all your opinions.
I have found JPS LABS Aluminata combined with JPS LABS Kaptovators are still very high end power cables, the designs are quite old but purchased at second hand prices have represented very good sound and value. I decided to go with Townshend f1 fractal reference signal cables they created a completely open 3D holographic sound, i fill they are the most transparent signal cables in the world (my opinion) after DCT some other kind of magic is performed to create this special kind of copper, the designer Max Townshend is this time keeping this new process to himself, all i can say is try them especially in a well balanced system where no added discolorations are needed just the true signal from your components the cables were 40 years in the making you should hear them yourselves, Imperial hifi have demo cables thank you
My speaker cables are 14awg Alpha silver plated copper. I have an old pair of DH labs T14 and they are the same, as terms of sound. I buy it from Mouser Element14 (Newark in the US) or Digikey. Though it depends how many speakers you have, as there would more cheaper wire out there if only getting a small run.
DIY interconnects, i like the switchcraft rca plugs, cheap and good, and Ok industries silver plated copper kynar wire - makes a beauitful detailed cable for the money. Again sourced from Mouser etc.
There is a few diy places nowaways apart from Mouser, who have more range, such as Duelund , Mundorf, Neotech ( I use there 24awg silver) and Eichmann rcas etc.
For the money, my favourite is the switchcraft and ok industries silver plated wire
As a cable designer for 2 decades I can declare all cable designers want the same thing to design a cable that leaves no signature of it's own without distortion. The end result is to render a true musical presentation, in tone, realism, openness, and satisfaction. It's an amazingly difficult goal. In the end we all want to hear the recording as if we are there experiencing it first hand.
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.
Yes there is directionality depending on the design, my cables are directional because of the elements within the cable to stabilize the magnetic wave form. More basic designs like generic cables are not directional unless there is a dedicated shield that would be attached to ground on one side.
Check out 'Blue Jeans' cables. At about 30.00 they are very cheap. These replace MIT 770s, Audioquest Lapis, Monster and more. They are very well balanced and dynamic and transparent!!
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