"World's Best Cables" vs Audioquest interconnects

Not clicking on a link to who knows what - so what does the little man in your head tell you to do

They should burn them in for you.

Cables don’t burn in. Audio components do.

Cables cannot transform a good system into an amazing one...unless you’re using the cables as a tone control. And of course, if your perceptions are in line with what you want to hear. Then you will be happy.

Cables shouldn’t really have a "sound" including speaker cables and interconnects.

However, using low AWG power cables can improve depth and clarity.

Monoprice makes some good ones. Rated at up to 1625w or more.

Be careful in navigating the snake oil out there. Also, a cable cannot create distortion. (Audioquest cables claim to solve this nonexistent problem)

That's a real Amazon link.  Cheap cables.  Big marketing claims.  

Cables are about matching your system sound to what the cables do. You liked your AQs because they matched the direction your system needed. There are not good cables and bad cables. There are cables that work with your system and cables that take it in the wrong direction.

Whatever it is, different cables make my system sound different. Make that DRASTICALLY different. It's probably down to the so-called synergy.

boy you don't know much do you? all cables need to be burnt in for a couple hundred hours whether their speaker cables or interconnects or digital cable. how long have you been doing this? LOL LOL

monoprice cables are not very good you want the best cables by OCC single Crystal copper that has been proven now for 50 years to be the best cable for audio and there's some companies that rip you off for it and there's some companies that charge fairly for it.

Uh, the OCC process was not even discovered until 1986.

In 1986 the Ohno Continuous Casting (OCC) process was introduced. The world patent "UP-OCC" (Ultra Pure Copper by Ohno Continuous Casting Process) was developed by professor Ohno of Chiba Institute of Technology in Japan.

The OFC conductors and XLPE insulation in the Mogami cables is fine. The 22awg stranded conductor size is adequate for ICs, although some like a bit larger size, which may provide a denser, more robust (i.e., less thin) sound. You can purchase that cable bulk for around $1/foot. However, professional lineage cables like those are designed for ruggedness, flexibility, and “good” sound but not necessarily SOTA sound. In this case, the gold over brass connectors could be improved on. WBC previously offered KLEI connectors (for more money) which, IMO, would probably result in a sonic upgrade based on the copper base metal and minimalist design. Your AQ cables may have solid conductors and, if they are older, I am not surprised if they sound a bit warmer.

Your audio cables shouldn't change the sound of your system. Instead, they should simply allow your system to perform normally.

Cable resistance is the most important thing. Then comes compacitance and inductance. If a cable measures well on an audio analyzer, it will be equally transparent to a different cable with the same or similar measurements. If the differences between measurements are beyond the threshold of human hearing, you will hear no difference.

Audiophiles often hear differences in cables due to volume matching issues and confirmation bias. The power of suggestion is very strong. It's like trying a restaurant that your friends and family suggested. Since they like it so much, you're going to try and appreciate the food and drinks more.

Cables are very inexpensive to produce. Companies selling it for thousands of dollars are taking advantage of audiophile gullibility.

If you want to be full proof, just keep your interconnects as short as possible and your speaker cables below the maximum length based on impedance and AWG.

Cables are like a bridge for the audio signal and electrons to cross. Make sure that bridge is not too long, and you should be fine.

And besides, I have never heard of an audio component company or speaker company being able to guarantee maximum system performance with a particular brand of exotic speaker cable. If this was truly the case, then why don't they tell you?

Afterall, a manufacturer who wants maximum profits for their audio components and speakers would want their gear to perform well! So if word gets out, more people buy = more money for them! 

Get my drift??! 

And no, cables do not need to be burned in. Save 100 hours of electricity or more!

There is nothing mechanical about a cable.

A new car requires burn in, a new amplifier, CD player,

Or DAC also does. But not cables. Cable temperature only rises while in use; so at room temperature they return to original factory temp - which is close to room temperature plus whatever the cable insulation jacket adds or subtracts. The process of cable burn in would have to be a structural change in the conductor that wasn’t already present when the speaker cables or interconnects were made. No magical fairy dust can cause this to happen...unless of course your cables oxidize after being exposed to too much air over a sustained period of time. I guess one could call that: cable burn out! :)

And there are companies who make cables and burn them in for you! 

Meaning it simply sits in the warehouse for a few extra days and in that time they can fulfill more orders, while delaying delivery of your cables.

All of what I'm telling you is not rocket science OP, but I speak the truth. The folks who disagree with me are clearly Harvard educated, advanced electrical engineers, and have IQs that surpass the folks at NASA. That's why they know so much lol

How insulting “ you don’t know much”.. There is no burn in for cable, that is crap !! And that thinking is…. Stupid. Sales BS and nothing more. If in doubt get a registered written guarantee of return then waste your time trying. Asking questions in earnest on any form is cool, listening to idiots isn’t cool. The infamous cable debate has been around forever it seems. Ask questions do research get guarantees listen and satisfy yourself. Enjoy the music.

Cheers

To all, 

Actually read everything I wrote on this discussion without being skeptical.

Use your common sense. Use your brains.

And you will realize that I'm right.

The know it all has spoken!

How can it not be true?

Sounds like this thread has entered a time shift back to the 1970's...

ozzy

My ducc Furutech cables with ncf fittings were absolutely terrible for many many hours so I have to believe in cable burn in whole heartedly.  I think it took a year  

Yeah. You're not going to last long here. I've seen several of your type come and go through the years.

Perhaps when you grow up and mature a bit, you can re-join the forum with yet another username..

I think most electrical engineers would tell you that there’s no such thing as cables “breaking in” but many would also say there’s no difference between any of them sound wise which we know isn’t true. I think any even decent cable should sound pretty good immediately & then mildly change over a period of time. At least this has been My experience  & if I had to quantify it, maybe I heard a 10% change. This was recently true again with a bi wired set of some Triode Wire Labs speaker wire I put in my system. Very nice product btw for not crazy $. 

This is only semi-related to this topic, but I've compared "World's Best Cables" guitar cables to stock offerings from Mogami and another similar priced brand (house brand for Guitar Center and Musician's Friend) and they don't sound as good. I don't know if it's attachment to connectors, solder, shielding, or something else, but built from the same spec Mogami cable, the Mogami retail cable sounded better than the "World's Best Cable" Mogami cable. I personally won't be purchasing any "World's Best Cables" in the future for any purpose.

If cable burn in is real...

Then one of you tell me precisely what changes in the cable to make it burn in.

Don't be a coward and ignore this question. There is no getting around it.

jackhifiguy

49 posts

05-02-2022 at 07:23am 

To all, 

Actually read everything I wrote on this discussion without being skeptical.

Use your common sense. Use your brains.

And you will realize that I'm right.

That's funny!!

@ditusa 

Best you can do?

Answer the question....

What changes in the cable to make it burn in?

Burn in the new cables for a week or two and try them out. Sound will change, maybe not for the better, but will change.

I can tell you that some cables [not all brands] definately need burn-in and can sound horrible while doing so.  Audioquest sounds great right out of the box.  My Analysis Plus balanced interconnects took about 200 hours before they behaved.

Havocman, how long you been using the wrong their. Ass. 

@havocman 

Answer the question, please.

I use World's Best Cables (WBC) for most things. You never specified what cable was purchased? They use several different pro audio brands for the cable and different brands for connectors. 

Anyway, all cables don't sound the same and WBC has many different styles. The cost is low enough that you could try another model to see if it is to your liking. 

My guess is that you have listened to your AQ cables for so long that any change would disturb or shock you. Leave it in for a week or two and see if you acclimate and find the new attributes interesting or not.

Good luck.

I went with Synergistic Research.  Jason Ressler at The Cable Company, is the most knowledgeable person I have ever talked to.  He needs to conduct Zoom Meeting to teach.  He knows speakers, amps, streamers, interconnects.  People at retail stores know a fraction of what he knows.

I have Audio Quest and Silver Streak cables and connectors, with which I am happy.  Once I am happy with the sound, I keep what is working.  Why run the risk of degrading what you are liking?  Especially when, at 70, I am dealing with high frequency hearing loss and tinnitus.  It would take a dramatic improvement for me to be able to tell a difference!

Why would two cables that measure very similarly have to be level matched when comparing the two, if cables don't make any difference you shouldn't have to level match.

Do all cables sound the same?  Uh no

Do measurements tell the whole story?  Nah

Are most cables a variation on a theme or at worst, new age snake oil?  Most, some more than others

Are there manufacturers who have been around since the beginning of the High End audio cable markets inception?  Why yes there are…specifically MIT and Transparent.  They were music lovers who wanted to improve the way audio signals were propagated from one component to another.  They used science and experimentation to improve signal transfer and increase their enjoyment of reproduced sound.  These cables do sound different, but most of all, they deliver cables that can allow anyones system to sound more realistic, more dynamic and full of life with superior low level detail, a richer more textured midrange and deeper, more well controlled and defined bottom end.

So is wire just wire?  Kinda, unless your using cables that are purposely designed to enhance the transmission of the delicate audio signal you might as well use coat hangers.

Sadly, cable "break in" is real. You don't have to understand WHY to know that the phenomenon is real. I use 50 conductor flat computer cables (remember the old hard drive cables ? - only with 50 silver plated copper wires) for speaker cables. They "break in" in about two hours. In the first half hour, the sound changes radically; it is a wonder to hear. At first, it seems that the two speakers they feed are connected out of phase. I was sure I had done something wrong. I shut down the system and checked out my connections. They were fine. I turned everything back on and continued listening. An amazing swirl of audio shifts occurred for quite a while. The worst was over in 30 minutes or so and in the next 90 minutes the sound got smoother and smoother. A friend is using a set of these cables on his Martin-Logan electrostats (McIntosh power amps) and says they are the best he's  heard. I use TV coax for some interconnects and 300 ohm twinlead for some other low impedance interconnects and the "between components" cables don't change much in time. A certain company claims that their wires need 600 hours of "break in." Long enough that the "you can send them back for a full refund" period is over. USB cables have proven to be critical and I don't try to make them. The best I've found are Zavfino's from Canada (when used between a laptop and PreBox S2 Digital). DACs seem to be very fussy about their cables and what works well for one may not suit a different DAC. Happy Listening!

You do not have to "suffer listening" during the break-in period.  Since the cables are connected ahead of the power amp, the amplifier does not have to be turned on.  You will have to suffer changing or restarting the records.  If you have a tuner or cd player that can do repeat play that could do for the pre to power amp cables.  You will have set the volume level to your normal setting or maybe slightly above.

I understand that you replace both phono in and pre out at the same time.  After the break-in, I suggest replacing just one set with your Audioquest cables.  Possibly choose the best combination for your likings.

However, my experience with breaking-in cables.  They are very subtle.  I don't think Hideous to Glorious will be realized,  

Works Best Cables makes several different interconnects, I've never liked that cabe  you have. Try the Gotham GAC 4/1 interconnect with the locking RCAs for about $80. Might change your mind. Their digital Coax is also very good. Dont like their speaker cables. 

I use both Audioquest and World's Best cables interconnects between my components. I use them interchangeably, capriciously, depending on what length I have to hand. Do my choices impact my listening? Not at all. Did I need to break in the newest of these cables. No. Are there far more important elements to consider in my audio chain. Yes.

Cable burn in and electronics burn in is very real if one has decent audio system and actually spends time listening for nuances.

it can take several days worth of playing music to achieve the first level of noticeable break in. Things will continue to improve over the next several weeks. 

Trust your ears! Your system, your money, your happiness. What all of us think should not make a difference.

Cables make a HUGE difference.  For a while when my amp was about 8 feet from my preamp, the sound with a 6 foot cable was nearly inaudible but with a 9 foot cable it was fantastic.

WBC makes excellent cables.  I have been using their XLR interconnects for about an hour so far, and everything sounds just as it should.

I’ve never bought audiophile cables on Amazon….

Keep listening to them. If after a few months you're not happy with them, sell them. They were cheap, right?

BTW-- there is NO BEST cable and price does not equal sound quality beyond anything properly constructed using quality wire, connectors, etc. People want to believe all the phony pseudoscience claptrap-- it's BS, and it's still a free country right? Your system plays a role in how cables will behave-- and your room is at least as important. In fact, is the room sounds bad you won't fix that with any cable regardless of how much you spend-- but you might get a nice placebo effect which could make all that moot anyway as you'll be happy!

This topic will never be "resolved." Endless opinions, "research", (YouTube posts), and user experiences... lend to a bottomless pit. I've owned Audioquest, World's Best (I have World's Best on my headphone amp / DAC balanced set up) but my current favorite are Blue Jeans Cables. One feature I like most -- besides a very reasonable price from Blue Jeans -- is that they terminate with "Ultrasonic Welding". Even the several thousand dollar Audioquest speaker cables are merely set-screwed into the wire. At the end of the day, your "A-B" testing will tell you what you like. 

I have both Audioquest and Worlds best cables. They both sound great but WBC has better sound stage on my system Both sound great but a bit different. WBC delivers great performance for me.

With welding you are introducing another metal into the signal chain. This is likely why the big budget cable you reference is using a set screw...a more purist approach.

BJC interestingly enough, now has a line of cables that sell for a few thousand dollars a pair....using Cardas solder. If you can’t beat them, join them I guess. ;-) https://www.iconoclastcable.com/

WBC uses many brands of cables and connectors so your experience would only be relevant to the wire and connector combo that you tried...which I don’t believe you have disclosed.