Which Cable Makes the Biggest Impact?


To all the audiophiles that have tried different power cables, interconnects, and speaker cables, which do you believe makes the biggest impact in your system in order of ranking? If you don't believe that cables/interconnects/pc's make any difference at all, and is all marketing hype and snake oil, you can vote accordingly, but my ONLY request is that you've tried different cables first!

Ok..My ranking:
1. Power cables - most important
2. Interconnects
3. Speaker cable
calgarian5355

Showing 2 responses by calgarian5355

Thanks for everyone's comments. I was hoping that this thread would not turn into one of those battles about how the last six feet of a power cord to a component can possibly make a difference. I'm sure everyone is tired of those threads. Frankly, I don't care about the technical aspects of how a power cable is supposed to make such a big difference, but in my system it does!

I've been at this audio hobby for over 30 years. During that time period, I have had three Ah-ha moments as Tvad suggested; these are those times when you discover something in your system that takes your listening experience to the next level of performance. I was never a believer in interconnects, power cords, or speaker cables. I always upgraded components first. Sure, my system sounded better; with each progressive upgrade in components, I got better sound....tighter bass....cleaner sounding treble...more coherent midrange. I thought my system was sounding pretty darn good. I didn't think that my system could be improved much more without revamping it entirely (and winning the lottery to pay for it!). I was wrong.

My first Ah-ha moment! Upgrading from a Denon transport/Meridian DAC to an Arcam CD92.

My second Ah-ha was buying my first power cord for my Arcam CD92. This one simple step of buying my first used power cord (a Harmonic Technology Pro AC11 for $120) made my speakers disappear.

My third and most recent ah-ha: Upgrading my last power cord to the Purist Audio Dominus Ferrox for the analogue portion of my power conditioner. Wow! More of everything...period!

I agree that one may not hear the improvements that cables can bring about if their components are not at a certain level of performance. All I can say is that if you have not tried an upgraded power cord before, try it. Circuit City to true Hi Fi might be a stretch, but you can move forward one big step in my opinion!

calgarian

I thought I would update this original post and add in the digital cable:

1.  Power Cords (in order of importance: Source, preamp, then amp)

2. Interconnects

3. Digital cables (almost a tie with interconnects)

4.  Speaker cables.....