Greetings, I have been an audiophile for near 40 years I even had the privilege of working for Spectrum Loudspeakers of Toledo Ohio. Spectrums 108 model was hailed by Peter Moncrieff of IAR as the best budget speaker available in the 1980s. Due to my involvement with spectrum I developed the ability to hear. I was also allowed access to wires in the beginning of this industry. Monster and Kimber were in use for years, The Bigger the Better!
All has been bigger, better. I sought out the biggest wire I could buy. I have tried many cables. Fat wires including the Krell's Path. Two runs the size of a nickel per speaker. The Krell wire was pretty. But I confess it did not sound great. I have tried building cables, I even had a friend make me cables. All of the cables worked. But the sound was never exemplary.
Recently, I tried the Belden 9497 and The Duelund wire. I could hear the difference immediately! The Duelund wire is magical, unfortunately, the Duelund RCAs squealed painfully in my Krell system satellite system. I then tried the Belden 9497 wire single runs. It sounded, stealy but excellent. It is odd to me now considering that, I was unsatisfied with the sound in single runs, I doubled down. I actually purchased another set of the Belden 9497. The a few more feet for my second system.
The Belden cable changed my life! I say this because of post surgical gave me three months to listen. The double runs of BELDEN 9497 has made a greater improvement to my system than ANYTHING. By anything I mean I have been through and heard MILLIONS...
Recently, I attended a local hifi show and talked with the Audiquest Rep. and decided to try their new Z power cord. With the double runs of belden 9497 changes in the system are easy to discern. Ultimately, I purchased all audioquest power cables. Well, I say all, actually. A set of Siltech RCAs and Power cable became available. The Siltech power cable was better than the Audioquest power cables and all of the others that I have tried. I still have a HUGE Pangea AC9 cable on my Krell KSA 80. I can't believe these other skinny cable could be as good.
With the purchase of a Krell KAV 400xi, I decided to go with the Siltech. Due to the Siltech RCAs and Power Cables: Black Background, Detail, Musicality and DEPTH of Image. The Siltech sent my Kimber Silver Streaks packing... Along with my old sweet fat Cardas 300b Hexlinks.
That said, I purchased a pair of Balanced Audioquest Wel for $200. I received the cables put them in the, B&W 803s Oppo 205 to the Krell 400xi, beside the single ended RCA Siltech Cables. Initially, the WELs sound a bit ruff, without the Audioquest DBS system running. No Batteries were provided. After two days, with no DBS, the difference between the Siltech and Audioquest is subtle at best. The Siltech are nearly as good as the WEL cables.
Whether or not the Audioquest WEL cables are legit, I do not know, they rattle when tapped. That is suppose to be good? And these WEL cables are Excellent Sounding. The WEL cables have superb bass, Solid imaging, Full Midrange. The presence presented by these $200 WEL cables, have me twisting looking for things in my room. The sense of urgency and dynamics are startling! With the added bonus of such natural smooth transitions in dynamics, that I don't have to ride my volume control.
Let me be clear, after 40 years of audiophoolery the audioquest WEL cables are the Best that I have heard. Christopher Webbers Duelund RCA cables The Most Magical by FAR. I wish I could run them. The Webber Built rcas and balanced cables excel and out perform everything that i have heard. Instruments appear ALL over the place, DETAIL and MICRO DETAIL is breathtaking. I could consistently hear the air between the microphones, Instruments and Singers.
Over 40 year, I never heard much of a dramatic difference between Audio Cables. Much has improved with cable technology. To the extent that, I can say cables are as important as the electronics that you chose. You may never know, what your speakers and electronics are capable of without CAREFUL SPEAKER SETUP and CAREFUL CABLE selection. I don't think you will find a better speaker wire than the BELDEN 9497. Whether you run single runs with low powered tubes or double runs for higher powered applications.
The $200 Audioquest WEL that are available, may be the Second Best AUDIO bargain out there! BAR none! The WELS are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! Spend the $6 grand on a trip.
The best is BELDEN 9497. Buy it, Try it, Cry-Money it is a buck a foot!
