Worth upgrading my cables?

@designtaylor

When we want to understand cables, we measure them. The inductance, capacitance and resistance of a cable can define what it can do, vs what it can’t. Cables are just a bridge between 2 points...and low resistance is the most important factor.

Human hearing is quoted to be 20 HZ to 20 KHz, or 12 HZ to 28 KHz for people in ideal laboratory conditions. Hearing differences in otherwise good-quality cables at the same lengths is usually small amounts of gain differences (volume not matched, or an inferior conductor, such as CCAW or lamp cord which can be either be too thin-sounding, or with a slight edge of warmth. We don’t want the metallurgy of the cable to influence sound quality. We want the cable to "get out of the way" and allow the electronics to perform.

High purity copper, PCOCC copper, cables from pro audio brands - Belden, Mogami, Canare, or silver/silver-plated cables are just fine.

Some high-end audio cable companies want you to believe there is a hierarchy of "improved performance" when you move up their product line.

If their lower-end/cheaper cables are inferior...why are they producing them in the first place? It’s not like buying a car with different trim options...

I do not trust audio cable companies that make claims of performance-specific improvements: better bass, midrange, treble, imaging, etc. substantial changes like that cannot be determined by cable companies who have never heard your system before.

If you want just a bit more bass to the sound. Add a furutech NCF rhodium connector to the power cord connected to you amplifier/dac. The carbon fibre/stainless one is the best one.[pricey but cheaper than changing cables]. I also have furutech NCF silvers to boost mids and treble. My power cords are Black Cat Silver.

Thanks for all the feedback. Nice to see the full gambit of audiophile responses. My suspicion is that my current wires are about 70-80% as good as the rest of my system and while there is likely room to gain subtle improvement it may not be the best bang for the buck. Really the root of my question is... I'm I holding my current components back by not upgrading my cabling? 

I'm of the school that I'll put my money towards components first while have well constructed cables. I use Mogami wire for just about everything - RCA, XLR, and speakers. For power cables I use Pangea plus home-made cables using high quality  Furutech wire and connectors.

Can I do better?  Dunno but I'm okay with that

You have good wire already.  Depending on what you replace with, you may notice a difference, but you may not prefer it, or there may be no difference at all.  

I would have to say yes, a very very high probability. Given you are happy with your components sound… great. That is where you want to start.

I do, speaker cables first, then amp power cord, then interconnects, then other power cords.

I would recommend either borrow, rent, or check out some high end speaker cables. Brands that I would try… DHLabs (great value for money, I usually do these until I know where I want to go), Cardas (tend to be very musical and warm), Wire World, AudioQuest, and Transparent cover the gamut.

You have to try them and only buy if you hear a difference worth the investment. It is hard to say, “buy this” because your system isn’t the same as anybody else’s. It makes a difference. I have their many Nordost… some have been the best I ever heard, some OK, and one particular in between my streamer and DAC… simply horrible. I personally use Transparent almost exclusively. They are extremely… well, transparent… but for my components… perfect.

All my interconnects… cables and power cords have provided value commiserate with their price. For instance my speaker cables were $5k, connection $32K speakers with a $22K amp… the increase in performance very much worth the cost. It is not atypical that your wires comprise 10 - 15% of your system. I don’t start working on these until I have the components that sound perfect to me… then I can get another 10 - 20% additional performance out of mt\y system. The better your system, typically the more you can get out of wires.

Agree on the Morrow cables. I’ve gone from level three to level four and five and have heard improvements at each increase. That said, I think your biggest bang would come from power cable upgrades for your source and preamp.  Off topic but the isotech Gaia speaker footers gave me a significant improvement bigger than any cable upgrade. 

@jasonbourne52

I’ve seen your post on many threads and you seem to have a great deal of experience and your suggestions seem well thought out, yet your absolute position on cabling is perplexing. Most people that spend a good bit on cabling do so through listening. I admit that some changes are subtle, but others are not.

@designtaylor I own and like Morrow cables.  It looks like you are using their entry level product, MA1.  If you want to invest in better quality interconnects, I suggest you wait for their Black Friday sale when the better cables will be 65% off (based on previous sales).  Morrow also offers a full refund policy if you are not happy with the product.  

Your wire is fine! No need to spend more $$$. Don't listen to the wire fanatics! 

I’ve upgraded every cable and component minus integrated amplifier and speakers. The greatest improvement was adding the Shunyata Everest and power cables noted in my system description. These were also the most expensive cables in my system.  I did so through a vendor that provided a great price, free shipping and sixty day no questions asked return policy.  This policy actually cost me money, because I found out that within the Shunyata line, more money meant better performance.

@sgordon1 has given you some very solid advice. 

Improving bass presence may mean moving your speakers back.

Experiment with moving your seating position forward, for more fullness to the presentation.

Invest your time creatively, working with what you have, before spending any money.  Make sense?

@designtaylor

I don’t use cables to fine-tune a system, but I will say that upgrading my DAC’s power cord to a monoprice hospital-grade cord ($11 on amazon) (up to 1625w, up to 105 degrees, and 13A with all required/over-the-top certifications improved the performance. But only very marginally. The original power cord was very cheap...not sure why an Italian company would include such a lousy power cord. (obviously the cord was made elsewhere)

I had problems with a trip-lite USB cable: music software froze with large files, jriver), after upgrading to silver - the best conductor of electricity, that problem is totally gone. Plays without a hiccup now. And it’s not because of the laptop...I have a gigabyte Aero 17 that is overpowered like hell...

@mastering92 great question. Overall the system sounds really nice (i've swapped a lot of components to get here) and most of the tubes are dialed in at this point (still working toward the right 300B). I guess I'm just wondering if I'm leaving some performance on the table with my current interconnects and speaker cables. 

The system has (to my ear) a good balance of detail/definition/separation and fluidity/ease. If anything, I'd be happy to have a smidge more fullness to the presentation and a touch more bass presence. 

I read some good things about the audioquest robin hood speaker cables.

What do you think the system is missing in terms of sound quality?