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Cable confusion

Help. Am replacing my system after 30 years. (Former system Pioneer integrated amp, Alison One Speakers, Thorens turntable, nice stuff in its day). Have chosen speakers - Wilson Audio Watt Puppies 5.1 (got a great price used); BAT Preamp; Sim Audio W-3 amp, CD player TBD (maybe a Sim or a BAT). Hard enough sorting through all these possible choices. Now I have to pick speakers cables and interconnects (interconnects need to be balanced because BAT and Sim amp are balanced). 30 years ago store would just throw cables and interconnects in. If you had driven a particularly hard bargain they'd charge you $10.00 for a 50' spool of copper wire. Now people are paying $1,000 for speaker cable (Geez my Alison Ones, which were considered fairly high end speakers at the time cost less than that). Interconnects can be equally expensive. Silver? Copper? Titanium? Read all the hype and it sounds like, if you make the wrong choice your $20,000 system ends up sounding like a transistor radio. I just want a decent speaker cable and the necessary interconnects that won't sound like crap and will cost under $1,000 for the whole shebang. Am willing to buy used or demos if it will save me some money. Can anyone help me out here? Just want a cables and interconnects that isn't going to change the sound of my pretty expensive components. Isn't that the whole point?
houndog1
unclejeff
1,313 posts
 
You don't need to spend that $1,000.00 for a bunch of cables. The law of diminishing returns does apply in that your first improvement will probably get you the greatest improvement over the stuff you find at Circuit City, Good Guys, etc. The people paying that $1,000.00 are paying that extra 300-500 dollars for perhaps another 10% improvement.

There is a company that will lend you cables. You have to call them to inquire about the lending library. You can find them at www.fatwyre.com
jeffreybehr's avatar
jeffreybehr
805 posts
 
Houndog1, buy AntiCables from Paul Speltz. From everything I've read, they're at least very good and will get you started LISTENING TO MUSIC...after all, that's what it's about, right? If you SEARCH A-goN, you'll find lots of good info.

Months or years down the road, you can try other cables to see just how good the Antis and the new ones are. BTW, I believe the ICs are unshielded; if you live in a metropolitan area with lots of radio-frequency signals in the air, and they're all that way, you might ask Paul about shielding. BTW2, I make a twisted pair of the speakercable to reduce inductance.
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greh
134 posts
 
Try VH Audio Pulsar ic's.
I also have recently started using Alpha Core MI2's and I would without question recommend these speaker cables.
They'll be in my system until Chris(VH Audio) introduces his speaker cable.
Both company's offer home auditions.
Good Luck!
rja's avatar
rja
2,357 posts
 
What ever you buy, try to get a money back guarantee. Many sellers and manufacturers offer at least a 30 day money back program. That way if you don't like them you're not stuck. Remember though to let them break in for a couple of weeks before you make your decision.

Another route is The Cable Company. They offer a loaner library that allows you to try as many cables as you want. You can keep them or return them. I've done this many times with success. Nice friendly folks there. You can also ask them for recommendations as they keep a data base of past customers experiences. Give them a try I'll think you'll be pleased.

I would keep reading this forum for a month or two to identify cables brands that interest you, maybe 5 or 6. Then you could test drive them through Cable Company. Everyone has favorite cables but in the end the only thing that's important is how they sound in YOUR system. A little hard work will pay off!
clio09
3,346 posts
 
I second the Pulsar ICs from VH Audio. I purchased one as a digital connection from my transport to my DAC. I splurged on the WBT silver connectors but if you stick to the Eichmann connectors the price is extremely reasonable. I also purchased a Flavor 4 power cord for the DAC and it is a great value as well. I'll be trying the Airsine next.

I also considered the AntiCables but after reading several threads here I decided they might be too high maintenance for me. I do however like and am looking forward to trying the Paul Speltz Zeros.
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