Which Cables Are of Most Importance?


In a hi-end system, McIntosh, B&W, which cables will give me the most bang for the buck between IC's, speaker, power and HDMI? Which cables are most important and which are least important? Will concentrating my $$ in any one or two cables give me the most bang for the buck?
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Showing 2 responses by musicxyz

Look at cables as the artery to the system; no matter how strong you are or how smart you are without the blood pumping you are dead. The problem is there are very few, possibly less than 10 cables manufacturers that can actually evoke emotion into a system and I can totally understand why some people would believe that cables are only worth 5% of your investment into a system. A really great cable can put you in the recording studio in front of the artist and create a total emotional experience; how do you put a price on that? A great cable is an experience not just another listening session!
I have been blind testing cables with 5 other guys for over 30 years with a scoring system and truthfully there are less than 10 cable manufacturers that make a cable that evokes emotion. In my opinion the best thing you can do is just stay within one reputable cable manufacturer when replacing cables. If the manufacturer makes his cable in a garage than there will be no professional R&D afforded by that person so find a manufacturer that is real. Also remember cables are like car tires; if you use several different makes of tires on 1 car you will never really know how any one of those tires actually performs unless you try the same tire on each corner. In my opinion change all the cables and if you are not emotionally connected to the artist after the change than move on. After testing over 400 different brands I do not know of 1 cable you can change in a system will leaving other average cables in your system that will evoke an emotional experience.