Who out there wants to, or has, validated an amazing cable find?
I own a very decent audio system and have slowly been moving up over the last several decades weeding out less-natural sounding equipment and focusing on best sound for my money (what I can afford). My current gear is a collect of Quad, Pass, Klyne, VPI, soekris and a fairly large collection of Kimber, audio quest, Furutech, Cardas, Straightwire, DH Labs cables built up over time.
I have come across lots of high-priced gear that isn't faithful to the music. My reference has always been unamplified voice and instruments and attend such concerts regularly though they are hard to find (but still easy if you live near a major city).
It always a pleasure to come across gear that is low priced and exceeds higher priced gear when it comes to faithful reproduction of music holding to the live unamplifed sound standard.
So.....
I have recently purchased some ATAUDIO cables from Aliexpress that have left me stunned due to low price and performance. Recommended by another audiophile who seemed credible and owned good equipment so decided to give them a try.
A $26 1 meter ATAUDIO copper interconnect cables is running neck and neck my Cardas Clear interconnects and beaten my Cardas clear Cygnus interconnect cables when it comes to clarity, lack of edge and sibilance, warm open holographic sound reproduction.
Would someone here with a good resolving audio system give one of the ATAUDIO cables a try? The price is noise for us who have invested in decent (high-end) audio system.
ATAUDIO power cords and Interconnects have proved amazing. About to try their speaker cables. I would not recommend their silver cables. I tried them and while they sound more robust and full than their copper cables the silver cables have the a high frequency edge similar to other silver cables I have heard.
Just looking for couple of regular posters here to give the ATAUDIO cables a try.
Can't resist passing along an audio bargain.
If you don't believe in cables making differences please don't post here and go do something else as you have already found your happiness.
Lots of views here. I am a firmly midfi guy so take everything I say from that perspective. I use an assortment of wires from Audioquest, Shunyata, DH Labs (good value) The Chord Company, Nanotec (outstanding value), Furutech and some from China - various makers. I am not going to claim that Chinese cables that cost $50 rival $10,000 wires but some sound pretty good and are holding a place in my current system. You must be selective.
I currently assemble most of my power cables. I started out buying Furutech parts at full retail and had some success and some disappointments. I have found some Chinese sourced bulk power cables and connectors that are great, but you have to buy and try to determine which ones from which venders are effective, and which just look pretty.
I use an ATAUDIO interconnect for my subwoofer and like how that sounds.
I have an Audiomeca power cable that is supposedly OCC copper that looks lovely, comes in a nice box, cost a little over a hundred bucks and rivals the sound of power cables I have and have tried costing $500-$800. I am currently using it to power my Swagman Labs SE linear power supply for my analog front end with great satisfaction.
I bought a Xangsane “7N OCC silver plated power cable” for under $100 on a lark and it sounds terrific. My son is currently using it in his Naim/Rega/ATC/REL system side by side with quality Audioquest, Naim, DHLabs and Isotek power cables. Not saying it is an Audioquest Hurricane killer, just saying it is a good value if you can overlook the hideous lime green color and component lifting stiffness.
I bought a Chinese replica of a $3,000 Furutech power cable for $100 and got what I paid for. Looks great, sounds just OK.
I bought some “Valhalla” speaker jumpers from China that are supposedly silver plated OCC to replace the stock metal plates on some Wharfedale Diamond 12.0s in a second system, and WOW, are they good. They cost $45 and are worth every penny. Compared to some other jumpers I’ve tried made from bulk wire and other store bought versions, these phony knock offs are hands down better. It takes a long time to burn them in, but they make the little Wharfedales sound like much more expensive speakers.
Lastly, out of curiosity I bought some $45 interconnects from China that look very much like $19,000 top of the line wires from a certain US vender. I put them in my system and gave them every chance to impress me, and ultimately they didn’t. They weren’t completely awful, but my Nanotec wires with Furutech rhodium plugs sound way better. Those Chinese wires are now gracing my spare cable box.
Like most of us, I started with average components and cheap cables. After getting a few nicer components, I tried more expensive cables. More expensive meant Blue Jeans, cheap good deals on random cables, etc. These did improve things and made me feel better about my cables. When I moved up the chain again in components, I took members advice and sought help from The Cable Company. I tried many, and landed on Audience AU24SX. I quickly acquired a full loom as they are easily available used / demos. So I thought I was done. Well, when I moved up the component ladder one more time, my dealer said hey, let me try different speaker cables to compare. Wow. I can not unhear these improvements. Fuller, richer, better bass, and still very resolving. So I sold all of my Audience (easy) and now have a full loom of Kubala Sosna, and like @pennfootball71, now have all Realization in my main system. They are the real deal.
This is not being arrogant, they just sound better to me and to me they are worth it.
But, having a vacation cabin with an audio system, I try to be value conscious in that system. For me, Zavfino hits the mark. Their Aradia copper cables are very nice and a great deal in my opinion. I do not like silver in my system as too bright and flashy. So I understand value conscious shoppers, but also hear the quality as does our Penn fan. I believe in synergy of cable type and brand. It just all comes together.
I have also made nice cables. In my family room my speaker cable runs are very long. This is my second system. so I did not want to go crazy. I landed on Furutech FS Alpha 36 from VH Audio. I got all the heat shrink I needed, Furutech gold plated spades, and made beautiful long speaker cables. I can solder and I bought a heat gun for the shrink. I installed these on the high / mid speaker binding posts, and left my generic thick copper cables on the bass posts. This change was transformational in this system, and was unapproachable with nice commercial cables (runs were 25 feet each). My interconnects and power cables in that system are Elation, so the speaker cables were the bottleneck. Huge improvement and a fun project.
So there are better cables at all price points, you just have to find them, and for me they are not made in China. I hope I spelled etc correctly!.
I do not have "an amazing cable find" but I want to confirm that previously reported Chinese Valhalla 2 flat speaker cables iare a great find. These have moved my listening to another level for $205 (2.5 meters). The vendor is RMDigital. You can find more information on the Chinese cable threads.
System is Tidal>optical rendu>Pontus>Doge 10 or Coda Csib> QAcoustics Concept 500 speakers. Room is somewhat acoustically treated.
I have never owned any of the stratospherically priced cables, however in my search over the last several years, I found that Audio-Envy cables were the best sounding in my system from a $$$-to-performance perspective. Recently, I had the opportunity to try Iconoclast cables as they have a 30-day money back guarantee. While they are definitely more expensive than the Audio-Envy, the Iconoclast speaker cables have made a notable improvement in micro-detail in the mid and treble ranges and improvements in the depth and width of the sound stage. I would highly recommend you try both the Audio-Envy speaker cables and the Iconoclast speaker cables as they both have a return policy. Yes... They are priced quite differently but both cables are really good sounding with Iconoclast edging out the Audio-Envy enough for me to spring for those. The Iconoclasts are ultrasonically-welded to the connectors. And there is a really good reason proven scientifically that they are woven in the way they are. Also, should you try either, please give them at least 50 - 75 hours of break-in or more. They both smooth out with break-in. One final comment, the law of diminishing returns (also balanced with level of discretionary income) is different for each of us. In my opinion, $-for-$, Audio-Envy is the one to beat. At least in my system !
For me the exercise is to end up with some really nice cables, but also the assembly process, and ultimately to learn from the experience. The cable I'm starting out with is all highly reputable: Furutech, Neotech, Acoustic Revive, SAEC, Oyaide, RAMM, DHLabs, etc....from reputable US sources, but some purchased and shipped from Japan buy an Expat friend.
Copper is OCC, PCOCC, DUCC, Triple-C, Furutech nano, Oyaide 102 SSC; some silver plated, but mostly copper.
The same with connectors: RAMM, Oyaide, Furutech, IeGO, SonarQuest, Viborg. It should be fun, and maybe next year I can share some findings.
@vthokie83there have been many who have done that, by all means part of this hobby is diy'ing and tinkering, so have fun with it. And who knows, maybe you will end up creating something special in the end that you can sell as a side business. I think @ozzyhas some experience with this buying bulk silver cable etc., maybe he can chime in.
I have spent a ton of time over the last 3 months studying cable purity, construction, and geometry. A lot of companies (some Japanese, some US, a few Chinese), are striving to make the very best possible cable and connectors. I personally cannot afford a $2,000 to $10,000 cable, and one would not make sense in my system.
What I have decided to do is buy very very high quality bulk cable and connectors, and build my own cables. I've spent several month accumulating the components, and will start construction in a couple of weeks. I can't afford a $2,000 Neotech power cable, but I can afford 2 meters of their bulk cable, split it in half, and put some IeGO connectors on it. We'll see how this experiment works out in the end.
I am well read in audio, and I’m familiar with the many unusual schemes that have been used to improve cable performance, but you need to realize that just because something sounds wonderful and exotic doesn’t mean that its actual performance is superior. Sometimes it will be, and other times it is not much more than romantic ad copy.
Synergistic literally melts the silver on the cable from super high voltages to smooth out the silver to have a perfect surface, Audioquest rubs the cable between 2 massive plates at high pressures to smooth out imperfections, DH labs draws the cable through a jig to smooth out the silver.
These things are perplexing to me bc at the end of such production strategies, the cables all get rolled into packaging of some sort or another.
What happens to molecularly perfect cylindrical metal surfaces when cables are coiled / uncoiled?
This isn’t a prod. It’s just a query on how chemical effects on cables should be lasting if the cables are not infinitely malleable like the T-1000?
I am sorry if I hurt your feelings Vigo with my experience crawling up from the button where I made nothing to a successful audiophile over the past 20 years.
@roxy54Oh roxy Much to learn you have about proprietary cable geometry we are not dealing with just twisted pair any more. You can give the same ingredients to 4 different bakers and they will bake 4 different cakes differently. It takes 3 days to a week to make some cables as well. A 2 hour to make cable is cheaper than a 7 day to make cable from labor costs.
Also how do they heat treat it? Are they annealed or just cryoed? Do they cryo the connectors as well after they are installed? Are the connectors made in house as well? Are they ultrasonically forged or silver soldered? All sound different!
Synergistic literally melts the silver on the cable from super high voltages to smooth out the silver to have a perfect surface, Audioquest rubs the cable between 2 massive plates at high pressures to smooth out imperfections, DH labs draws the cable through a jig to smooth out the silver.
You’re so transparent. In the first sentence of your thread, you mention what you spend for cables to elevate yourself above others (you think). People who do things like that are always compensating for some inner perceived deficiency.
The fact is, there are cables that cost a small fraction of the ones that you buy that are made of the same very pure copper or silver with great insulation materials and terminations, so who is that is really being fooled?
@thecarpathian I am sorry if I hurt your feelings Vigo with my experience crawling up from the button where I made nothing to a successful audiophile over the past 20 years.
I wouldn't touch these cables with a 10 ft pole, I was on the aliexpress site and it states that they are 8N OCC cable, that's impossible the best silver OCC is only 7N and OCC copper is only 6N, so as usual this Chinese stuff is a bunch of ripoff crap,buyer beware!!!
I’ve been down the journey and I was not a cable believer when I was younger and I tried all the cheap stuff, From China to Mogami and bluejeans cables and worlds best cables, and all that stuff!
I know none of you heard a cable that cost more than 10 grand!
so you have no reference because you have no frame of reference and you mostly listen to components that are not appropriate for those type of cables because they would pull the cheaper boxes to the floor from
While in general more expensive components are better in the audio world I have found that it is quite often not the case and sometimes not consistent across components. So, yep, we do want to be faithful to the music in our selection of more expensive components. And we all have our budgets.
This said is why a bargain cable that sounds quite good and may be great for some budgets in the high-end circles is worth conversing and sharing and why I made this post.
Perhaps suggest you could be our tester for this specific cable. Would like to find out what the reach of this cable is up the high end $$ ladder. The experiment $$ is noise.
Have come across other SQ bargains in the past. Accidental flukes or what? In the mid nineties a Panasonic a-110 dvd player had very good digital sound for that time and we were able to validated across a gang of audiophile friends. A inexpensive Philips 763 dvd player in the mid 2000’s made digital tolerable to listen to 😀. etc.
Quite agree and I would not just go ahead and try any of the other cable brands on pure whim.
But this one I tried because of couple of credible audiophiles mentioned them.
I dm'd with one of them and he had the right cables and experience in his background so thought $26 was worth a shot. I mean its noise compared to what we audiophiles spend.
Your milage may vary and hence seeking for someone to try them and validate.
My former small band of local audiophile buddies have moved on or gone.
Miss those former days of shared listening and swapping components.
You said every word that I was thinking. Just because most of us can’t afford to spend 6-10kvon cables does not mean that we don’t consider them to be a component. If we didn’t, why would we try so many different types and discuss them so much?
A good friend who texts me daily uses ect instead of etc and it drives me crazy!
@pennfootball71 +1 Dismiss the naysayers. Until the vast majority consider cables a component and not an afterthought or tone control ect. ignorance will exist in the audio community.
When I started working in theater sound I was exposed to Mogami speaker cables. Over the next 20 years I dissed them as being basic. After several stints with a variety of flat cables I've come back to Mogami as the least subtractive, and most extended of all the cables I used.
Sure I could get more imaging, but always at the cost of musical energy.
My favorite cables I have tried are synergistic research SRX digital cables and Kubala sosna realization level for everything else. Most of my cables start at 6-10k. That is what works best in my system that has more resolution than yours.
Cardas Clear Cignus are dark cables that have nothing to do with price! Combine that with Passlabs and you have dark lord sith level sound reproduction of not good!!!
Most dealers that know what they were doing with system synergy can teach you about cables. I see just a hodgepodge of randoms you tried out yourself and it’s all over the place.
Call the cable company it is all they do is audio cables they can have a real conversation with you about your system and how to get more performance out of it.
Those cheap Chinese cables make low resolution systems sound nice but they will never get you to the level you want. I am suspecting just replacing ALL of them made a bigger difference because now you have the same brand all over! That’s where you want to start a journey but you have a long way to go.
I also found that highly-shielded ICs sound less transparent than single wires in a neutral dielectric (PTFE, PE, etc.). I am not living in a city apartment, though, where high shielding might be the only way to get clear signal transmission, especially from turntables. Lucky me, I guess.
I found these XLR ICs on ebay, and they made an audible difference over my Mogami Gold ICs: sharper outlines of instruments, more transparent presentation and wider/deeper soundstage: highly recommended! I assume that the higher performance has not only to do with the use of silver wire, but also with the complete absence of PVC insulation, which - at least theoretically (because of the many chlorine atoms with their 6 unpaired and not tightly bound electrons ( not like in Fluorine)) - might have a "muddling" effect on the modulated electromagnetic field around a conductor (that's just my hypothesis). I am using them from my DAC to the preamp and from the pre to the amps. For what they deliver, the price is a steal IMHO.
I was one of the early users of Speltz AntiCables. I can't speak for the ICs or PCs but their original speaker cable beat all others I tried including a couple in the $1000+ range. They are extremely open, transparent, and detailed with good bass. They don't look like much and now have 3 different ranges, but it took a very good sounding $700 cable to beat it several years ago.
IC wise, Darwin Silver, Amadi Maddie Signature, were a couple steps up in SQ over the lower cost ICs out there. They were a big ear opener to me and a few of my audio friends. The Darwins don't look like much but you'll hear deep into the recording and there is no etch to the highs--just exceptional clarity.
PCs--LessLoss Original were the large jump up from lower cost cords along with Dynamic Design Spirit II. Previous low cost champ in SQ was Absolute Audio II cables. Much better than stock PCs for sure. Still use an AA II to run my TT to phono preamp. It has very secure plugs and is a big upgrade over the lamp cord the 50+ year old Lenco 78 comes attached with. The TT has most of Jean Nantais' upgrades and mods, but has a few of Artisan Fidelity's major upgrades included. My system is a high resolving one that I'm gonna stay with for a long time, as long as it keeps working or I can get it repaired if needed. That AA II cord was $69 new about 15 years ago. My good friend tried one and ended up getting two more for his system. It still sounds excellent in a very small room. He's using Triangle Comete speakers and sold much more expensive and larger speakers later that could not touch the Triangles in his room.
The Absolute Audio II PCs and Darwin Silver ICs have been a constant ever since.
To me, AliExpress has made it difficult to determine which companies are making good products, and which are simply knock off (good quality or not).
Some Chinese companies seem to be honest about their cables and connectors, and make excellent products (I'm using Monosaudio bulk cable, and Viborg, SonarQuest, and IeGO connectors on DIY cables right now)
These were not bright, just weak sounding with no projection and lacking bass. I don't think that it's correct to call silver coated cables silver based. All silver and silver coated are two different things.
Yea, I tried one of their other silver coated/plated cables also and found it to be bright. Mentioned that in my post, that I don't recommend their silver cable.
Cables do need time to break in and at least 72 hrs worth of signal passing thru the cable before critical listening.
But for all silver based cables, at least at mortal prices, I have not heard any silver cable that didn't have an edginess to the overall sound signature even after break in.
But uber expensive silver cables like crystal audio, etc I have not yet heard.
I bought these, supposedly their best copper cables some months ago and was very disappointed in the sound. They sounded small and seriously lacked bass. They do look pretty. I should have bought Xangsane because their interconnects are amazingly good and affordable,. They are sitting in my audio accessory closet.
Thanks... Only had these cables for short while and haven’t yet removed the "glue" on one of the connectors to inspect how the cable is connected to the plug and if its a crimp or solder.
As for comparing cables I have noted from experience that if you have not broken a RCA/XLR connection (unplugged and then re-plugged) in some time the connection degrades audibly.
Reseating ones cables (just a little spin/wiggle for RCAs is enough) after a couple weeks will give an audible improvement in SQ (if one has a high resolving audio system). Same for power cables. So when comparing cables do always go back to the original cable. I typically do the swap between cables several times while listening to favorite tracks to confirm what I am hearing.
Will keep an eye on how these age as this cheap experiment continues.
And agree with you on cardas cables having a sound. I find them warm and mellow compared to others that have their own sonic signatures.
I have tried a different ATAudio cable about a year ago. At first I really liked it and left it in my system for a few months. Then I switched back to my Zavfino Fusion XLR cable and realized it was smoother and more musical. Zavfino is not inexpensive but it's not crazy expensive either. I suggest you live with the new ATAudio cable for a month or so and then put your Cardas cable back in and see if the differences are the same as what you initially heard. I owned Cardas Clear cables and good as they are they definitely had a certain sound to them. Probably one of the best cables I ever had in my system were the Nordost Tyr2 interconnects.
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