Which cable to change first-intercon. or speaker?

I think the whole philosophy of always putting the "best" anything upstream is questionable if not nonsense. Unfortunately, it's just not this easy or I'd be spinning LPs on a Rockport turntable driving my old Marantz receiver and Pioneer HPM speakers.

What improvements would you like from cable changes? Do you want more resolution and detail, more dynamics, more dimensionality, midrange bloom, etc? I think the particular brand and model of the cables here will be a bigger factor than simply IC vs. speaker cable.

Please share with us the cables you are currently using. I owned ARC electronics for 15 years and can suggest a few ICs for you to try that worked very well. The performance of a few IC's in the $300-400 price range on the used market is quite amazing compared to the much higher models.

I have recently tried a speaker cable at this same price that is so darn close to the speaker cable I have using that I am truly very impressed. I find the point of diminishing returns to happen much sooner with speaker cables though. Your experieneces and trials could be very different here.

You simply need to try out several ICs and speaker cables with the money you are willing to spend, and hear for yourself what works in your system.

If you're interested in some suggestions for auditioning, send me an email.

John

Excuse me Mt10425, but your comment about me was way off base. If you take note of my system, you will see it is very well balanced with a highly resolving front end. The fact that you associate me with a crowd where the focus is all at the tail end of the system simply shows that you know nothing about me and your ignorance about the system I have assembled.

I fully understand the argument, but it really comes down to garbage anywhere/garbage out. And how about common sense in/common sense out? The key is to find a balance throughout the system.

Focusing the upgrade strategy as always from the front end to the back is too simplistic. Recognizing the weakest link at any given time and resolving this will result in a far more balanced and musical setup. I think the post here by Dan_ed reflects much the same thoughts here.

Throwing lots of money anywhere, whether at the front end or down the path guarantees nothing. I have put a lot of effort to try many products in my home and have compared with other local audiophiles in their systems. What I often would have expected the outcome to be was not at all the case.

Some links clearly are easier to get "right" as there are many great products out there to choose from that bring on a high level of musicality. Others such as line stages and ICs to be used between the line stage and amp are quite a different case; I have only found a handful that retain the musicality I seek. And I am more willing to spend a great deal of money for these than I would for example a turntable, CDP or speaker because these latter products are among a group where there are many models whose musicality is obtainable at high value; you don't need to pay a fortune for these as they are already very impressive.

John

Mt10425: Thanks for your clarifications here. I clearly was not too excited to be put in the "iPod/Wilson" camp and now I know that was not your intention.

Concerning the issue of "the importance of system connections", it really comes down to trial and error. For someone new to assempbling such a system, it's a good practice to start at the front end and work to the speakers. But after going through an iteration or two of system change, it becomes more and more evident that a different strategy, one based on experience rather than philosophy, needs to be taken.

John

David, since late last year, I have heard two systems that are much more resolving than my own. One of these is an out-of-state dealer and the other is a local audiophile. Both of these systems render detail that makes one stand up and pay attention.

My system on the other hand conveys a 3-dimensionality and intrumental presence which brings on a much different emotional response. However, for all of this, I pay a small price in a higher noise floor and thus ultimately a loss in detail. To me this is a small price to pay. As with a system at any price point, it comes down to personal preferences.

When I look to "upgrade" my system, my biggest concern is to not lose any of the strengths that it has today. It's not so much an issue of synergy but rather to improve upon what I have and to not give up one thing for another. This is what makes the quest for improvement not so quick and easy..

When system improvements bring on other sonic attributes such as greater dynamic contrasts, more tonal coherency, etc., once one gets used to these refinements as well, they too become very hard to give up when an interest to upgrade comes along. The key is to retain a balance in each of these qualities as opposed to focus too much on one factor.

Besides the higher noise floor of my preamp, another reason why I suspect my system does not compete with the other mentioned two systems' resolution is my cabling. I like the NBS Statement very much as it does a phenomenol job to convey space and decays. But it gives way to other cables in ultra resolution.

There's so much focus on tonality of cables....that people use them as "tone" controls. Cables make a far greater difference in other areas as the system becomes more and more refined.

When swapping the Nordost Vahalla to NBS Statement in a local audiophile's system, I found the sound to immediately be more rich and full; there was clearly more dimension to the instruments. But there was a definite loss in subtle details at the very top that the Nordost conveyed quite impressively. The differences were not subtle and yet with either cable, the system was incredibly musical. Adding a second NBS into the system made things larger than life and also removed too much of the fine details in the music. In this case, one could argue that it is a synergy issue but I think of it more it's a balancing act that results in a matter of personal preference.

One past experience with trying out some cables between the line stage and amp was that I could immediately reduce the quality of the system to a point where the whole presentation was flat, lifeless and one-dimensional; I had no interest to listen at all. Yes, the "wrong" cable in just this one link can very easily destroy the sound of a top-notch system....trial and error indeed.

John