Who else is using old cables/interconnects, and is happy?

@justmetoo Lol Michelle your pitiful Mark Levinson/Burmester system is so "not sufficient high end" indeed! :-p

Happy here....
I have a few in rotation but as discussed below by @noromance, I generally go back to solid core.  Harmonic Technology did it well with multiple, individually insulated (with foamed PE), OCC, solid core wires of different sizes.  I also sometimes use heavy gauge NOS Western Electric KS-13385 wire, as well as some newer Duelund DCA12GA wire doubled, twisted, and bi-wired for a total of 6 awg to each speaker per pole.  Fortunately, due to using monoblocks, my run is also short - typically 1M.

Many years ago I read an article written by McIntosh which stated you could use a lamp cord for speaker wire and not notice any real audible difference.  I have used cheap wire, medium priced speaker wire, and tested expensive speaker wire.  The look of better wire is appealing, but I couldn’t notice any real sound difference.  Speakers were Wilson and Paradigm.  Now I am using wire that cost 150.00 for two 10 ft runs.  Sounds great.  Will never spend any more on wire.

A representative inside of McIntosh factory once told me that the engineers there maintained that there was no noticeable difference in various interconnects and speaker wire. At the time I had the Mac 1000t pre and 2102 amp.
 An audio reviewer who was a personal friend demonstrated otherwise in his system. That's when I first started to think that McIntosh was not transparent enough in its presentation to reveal differences. After trying other manufacturers products, I came to realize that the  comforting smooth sound of McIntosh came from a scrim over the presentation that obscures much micro detail. Well, I sold the Mac system and from that day forward have heard the difference in virtually all of the ICs I have owned since.

I'm skeptical though that cables matter much

Well @tk21, with so many cable companies selling direct these days with generous trial periods it’s certainly not too hard to find out if you’re right, so why not try?  You might be surprised.   

I still have my original speaker cables and they seem to be working great attached to my Apogee Duaetta Signatures. They are biwired by Temporal Continuum speaker wires   and guys  both of them are 29 years old.

Imthorek

I have stuck with my Kimber KCAG silver interconnects since the late 90's. Same goes for my double runs of Dynaudio OCOS speaker cables. So close to 25 years of use and I look forward to another 25 years. Really happy with my cables.

I see a lot of people in this thread who are using older cables and happy with their performance, but no one who can explain whether cable performance degrades with age, or whether current cable technology performs audibly better for a comparable investment and is worth upgrading to get.  Can anyone answer those questions? Thanks!

I have upgrade my power solution with Shunyata cables, speaker cables are Audio Quest, interconnects from TT to phono pre are Monster Cables I have had for over 25 years but are in excellent condition.  Interconnects from my Nakamichi Cassette Deck are also Monster Cables.  My cables from my Whest Two.2  to my Arcam AVR 850 are Whest interconnects.   

My cables snd connects by and large are at least 40 years old. They are - now that I think of it - the oldest parts in my system. 

I have made all my cables except for one interconnect which is about 14 years old, the Van den Hul Orchid interconnect. I later swapped out the RCA connectors for top of the range Furutech and noticed a small but important improvement.

Outside diameter is 2.9mm with 2 braids, one for screen and one for signal return. The centre conductor is very thin solid core. I keep it because of it's sound and as a sanity check for my own cable concoctions.

A friend convinced me to let him try the Orchid. I had a hard time getting it back and he is a Nordost fanboy.

Just had an interesting experience w/elderly cables. It didn’t go well:

• I pulled 2 pairs of 5 ft long Monster Cable M1 speaker cables (late-’80s vintage) out of storage
• I decided to biwire my ATC SCM 12 Pro passive monitors w/them. I’d been meaning to try it, but only had one run/pair of AQ Type 4 cables, so had been stalling.
• To make this work, I had to get 8 spade-lug-to-banana adapters. I affixed them very tightly on 1/2 the spade lugs (which my particular amp/speaker set up requires)
• With a lot of pain & struggling (those old spade lugs just don’t want to work w/WBTs!), got it done. Let the cables cook for ~100 hrs.

The other day I fired up the ATCs. Frankly, it sounded like shit--not very similar to my usual system of AQ Type 4 cables + 2 pairs of no-name 4" 12 gauge jumpers for the ATCs. Suddenly there’s a broad glare in the upper mids & lower treble; also some grain in the treble. The bass (which is otherwise epic for a 2-way in these ATCs + JLAudio sub) suddenly goes less deep with less impact.

I suppose the 8 adapters could be at fault. But I tend to think that those old Monster Cables just aren’t as good as up-to-date Audioquest type 4s.

Just swapped them back to original cabling this morning, and that great sound is back.

I have a bunch of 30 yr+Lindsay Guyer's and a pair of Kimber Select KS 1020 for my mains and I'm very happy!

With only a couple of exceptions, I’m still using Radio Shack interconnects and plain 14 ga. zip cord for speakers.  I’ve had a couple of occasions where one of my systems would develop a persistent hum and I’d have to do some chasing to locate it to eliminate.  Re-routing, replacement of interconnect with new, or replacement with XLR have always solved problem.  Obviously, I’m not a believer in the faux “science” that is pervasive in that segment of the audio equipment world.

Like inna6,071, I am still using Purist fluid cables from 25 years ago for my main speakers .... borrowed a few others to try and if anything they downgraded the sound.  Have  the entire main and secondary system on Monster Reference M1000 cables from 30 years ago, and haven't heard enough of a change with others to spend the money.  The only problem with the Monster's is physical .... some of their RCA connectors have required rewiring.

Just about everyone makes fun of expensive cables.  And yes cable prices can be ridiculous !  Cables and HT equipment are known for having the steepest depreciation curves in the audio sector.  Last year's $2k HT receiver is this year's $500 brick with outdated connections and features.  Cables ototh do not change much year to year.  Sure manufacturers try to come up with new ways to sell the same basic concepts, but really not much changes.  These facts make USED cables one of the true bargains in audio !  There is always a cornucopia of available choices, at all price points.  Prices are fairly stable after the first big depreciation hit, meaning one can buy and sell without losing too much cash (if any).   One can easily find outstanding, "expensive" cables that match your system and preferences, for a fraction of original price !  Go to Stereophile and other mag rec lists from 10yrs ago, note the recommended cables, then start bargain shopping !

Same acoustic zen hollowgram II for years lol...

Hi,
Some of my IC on RCA where made by me some time ago using Belden 8402 and some switchcraft plugs, and sider with 4% silver. For
me they are ver musical and I enjoy what they bring to the table.

Cardas "Golden Reference" interconnects for sources.
Audioquest "Oak" speaker cables (pain in the but to deal with) 9 gauge. But man do they sound great!
Cerious Technologies "Graphene Extreme" power cords throuout.
Anthem STR amp
Ayre C-5XE MP CD player 
Oppo BDP-105  Universal  player
Nakamichi DR-3 cassette deck
ATC SCM 40 Studio Monitors 
Everything plugged into a PS Audio Perfect Wave Power Plant.
This combo works very well with My system 😎🍻 

I find it hard to believe ANY cable is worth more than a couple hundred bucks a set depending on the run.  $1-$4k?  Unbelievable!
 I have some 25 year old heavy monster cable and my system sings!

Most of my interconnects are at least 30 years old. These include Purist Aqeous, Tara Labs Analogue Standard, Cardas Twinlink and Audioquest Emerald hyperlitz. I no longer need 4 sets of ICs, but I still use the Purist and the Tara. The Purist were bought when the company was just starting out, and Jim Aud came and gave a presentation at a small shop nearby in Massachusetts. These are the original ones with the clear jackets, and 30 years later they have not lost any fluid and still sound fantastic. The Tara were marketed as specific for phono, and I have some new Cardas Iridium Phono on the way for comparison. The rca plating is wearing off on the Tara, otherwise I may not even have looked into replacing them. 

Forgot to add to my post above, bought speaker cables and interconnects used at 1/3  or less than the price of new.
Bonus is - they're already broken in!

This thread is so funny 😂. It’s like a race, a competition, which one spent the least on cables. Bonus points for age of cables. Double bonus, for rusty cables. Keep it going, there will be a prize, whoever wins will get .... a pair of nice cables 😂😂

^^ Only if they are second or third hand and broken in!

If you have the money, do some research (very hit & miss) and then try some new cables. Morrow Audio makes some very nice sounding cables, and many of their lines are competitively priced. 

The key with system changes like this is to replace all of the cables in your signal path (or at least your most important signal path) and then just listen to music over time. Don't try hard to hear any immediate differences. If you do, fine, but you'll still want to live with them for a least a month-- over time you'll develop an opinion of what, if any, changes you're hearing-- after listening to lots of music, hopefully all of the kinds you normally listen to (and are familiar with).

Sometimes the change IS better, but probably, most often, you're not hearing "better" you are hearing "different". You decide if those differences are better, or are just subtle trade-offs that don't matter much to you. Unless the cables you're replacing are damaged, or are complete crap, you should expect some differences. Beyond that, it's up to you to decide if those differences add up to a real improvement that you feel is worth it. Or not. 

What is for certain true is that, above a certain level of build and materials, more money does not equal more quality. Period. Fact. It depends upon your ears and your particular system AND your room.

Haven’t found anything affordable to better my 20 year old BEL “the wire” speaker cables...
if I could find some cheap BEL interconnects I would pick them up as well.....

sdv0983, I used to have original Purist Aqueous. They were excellent when introduced. Colossus original, introduced later, was so much better, incomparable. I didn't try current Poseidon fluid or Aqueous Contego.

Monster Sigma are not too bad in some set ups but the rest I don't think so. They pass some signal, sure, but they can't really do singing.

I went through a system revision beginning two years ago. I bought a Purist Audio Design (PAD) Colossus silver balanced cable in the early nineties to connect my Wadia CD player directly to my Krell amp. It was a crazy move to spend 1200 on a single 1 meter cable in the 90s, but it was the only one that I tried from the cable company library that reveled the detail I wanted. Fast forward thirty years and I had three new cables checked out from the cable company and compared them to the old PAD. The synergistic Research won that shootout, but my wife and I were amazed how competitive the old cable was! There are great used items out there, you need to give them a listen.

I forgot to mention my star cable, an ancient bright purple Madrigal digital cable. Cheap to buy but good luck finding one. I have heard many but nothing has bettered it yet and not really trying anymore.

I got this from a friend with a Wadia/Mark Levinson system who went all out analogue.

Still using some old cables from 20+ years ago. I was a “part time” dealer for acoustic zen, harmonic tech back then.. Mainly so I could buy my cables at a reasonable price. I have added some Canare 4S11 for speaker wire as I needed a shorter length, I also broke down and bought a Shunyata USB cable to see if there is a difference in sound from using a cheaper stock computer cable. I saw a used .5 meter USB cable going for $4K on Agon.
I THOUGHT about getting it to see if there was actually a sonic difference..  but came to my senses and bought a new First Watt SIT3 amp instead for less..  I think I made a good choice..  IMO.

I could literally open a cable retail outlet if I still had all the cables I have bought and sold - still have a lot of them with a few exceptions - the uber expensive ones.

For a good while I have been using Kimber KCAG, Purist Venustas IC, and Kimber 8TC.   Had them all 10+ years in and out of the system.  Best balance I have found. 

PC's are Wywires and Kubala Sosna Fascination.

The 8TC has to be the bargain of all time IME.  I have had these 25 years at least.  They always end up back in the system at some point.

I did spring for a Shunyata Denali SV2 power distributor and Sigma XC PC in 2020 and it did make a huge leap in enjoyment of my system.

I still have all but one of my original Transparent cables. All reference level but about 25 years old.  

I did trade up to a new Synergistic primary interconnect from my original designer reference to take advantage of their trade up program.  Made a definite difference .

However, the prohibitive cost of upgrading my Transparent speaker cables and long interconnect to my basement where my mono amps reside is stopping me from making any more cable upgrades.

At this point, my age related hearing loss is my systems limiting factor.
I upgraded my whole system easily yesterday. Bought new hearing aids.
Only $2700. for a big pop.  Cheap fix in the high end audio world.

@pops 
Good point about the power distribution/conditioning. Money better spent than on cables, IME. I still play around with cables, I have plenty still to play with. I recently bought some shunyata cables just to try something different  and more modern. Might as well, can’t dance..

After owning several cables and listening to several more through a trial service, I eventually figured out that there is not any cable that makes a lasting improvement to my listening enjoyment. Trying them out is about as much fun as taking the same hearing test over and over except it takes hours or days instead of minutes. My advice, buy good basic copper cables that are reasonably priced regardless of the rest of your system. 

morestereostuff, I agree. I use reasonably priced cables from Silnote, Cullen and Morrow. For me, chasing cable nirvana is a waste of time and money. Just my opinion, I know everything matters.

Interconnects - I am still using my Blue Jeans cables I bought 15 years ago, they are the ones I use the most often since I have so many of them.  I also have a pair of Peterson Silver and two pair of Peterson Black cables - the original ones from the early 1980's - I use occasionally but at the moment they are not in any of the systems.   I think Peterson was the original wire guy who started the entire audio cable industry.  Before him, folks just used whatever wire was came the box and wasn't broken!   I also have some unique cables that resulted from some cable engineering work I did for a two cable companies, some of them are in the big system.   I also have two pair of very long, 50 feet, Monster Cable Interconnects that I use for Subs when I need a long run.   I also have a pair of Cardas White Interconnects that are 20 feet long.   I think those are the most frustrating pair I own.   They are always either 5 feet short of what I need or 10 feet too long.   About a year ago, I rearranged the stereo room furniture so I could make up that 5 feet!  They are currently in the big system.
Speaker Cables - I have always made my own, optimizing the parameters for the speakers in question.  I do have a very old pair I made, back around 1977 I think, that I use for a comparative reference for new designs.   It is usually not in any system though.

iopscrl has it right.  Every single one of my cables over forty years has been bought used and, as a result, I've been able to afford lots of Monster's top cables spread over three complete systems for less than the price of one new set.

Yes. 
 Audioquest. 
 I think topaz and quartz? Rca cables.
they still work great! Not the very best, but they have been with me for , must be 27 years ive owned them.  A great company, with one of audios perfect warranties. 
  

Interconnects: Music Metre Signature, Canto. Chimera Labs Advantage. Stealth Cross Wrapped Silver. Audiodyne Multipath. Harmonic Tech Truth-Link. MIT Matrix HD38.

Still using Audioquest Clear speaker cables, emerald and lapis interconnects. 

I'm still using "old" cables by Acoustic Zen and FMS.  They sounded great 20-30 years ago and still do today :)

I have some XLR interconnects which came with my Mark Levinson 27 and 28 purchase. The seller had bought the MLs second hand, for all I know the cables came with the MLs, and reportedly were supplied by ML or their dealer; anyway, they are old, yet well made. Not my first choice (they are not too bendy), but they work just as well as others.

Interconnects; bottom of the line Audioquest , about ten years old. Sound excellent.

speaker wire; Rocketfish 16 guage oxygen free stranded copper, ten years old. Sound excellent.

read once the reason changing wires sometimes improves the sound is because when you change wires it cleans the mating surfaces of the connections and "re-tightens" the connection. The rest is placebo.
Nothing to do with the wire.

Still using Audience au 24 speaker cables and interconnects, TG Audio (Bob Crump) speaker wire and a silver power cord, Tara Labs The One power cables. JPS Labs Superconductor digital cable, power cords and interconnects, Acoustic Zen silver ref 2's, XLO signature interconnects and power cables.

I've not felt the need to buy more and don't even know why, I guess they do there job and sound good. I'll spray them down with detox it every year or so.

Once I started making my own IC's from DH Labs pure silver, shielded I never ever looked back at boutique IC's again.


https://www.partsconnexion.com/DHLABS-57225.html

I am using very old cables from way back in January 2021. Extremely happy with them. I wouldn’t exchange them with anything made in March 2021 😂😂

Mine are so old they're called patch cords and zip cords.

I've been happily using Audio Quest - Granite speaker cables and Audio Quest King Cobra interconnects for `15 years.

Still using several Empirical Design power cords and ICs in my system after a dozen years. In fact, system move left me needing a power cord recently and could not imagine anything better for the money so called Karl and picked up another ED-316 for my Herron VTPH-2a. Great cables and great service!