A mistake spending too much on amplification?

Tomryan,

FWIW, have you considered the possibility that the high output impedance of your tube amp might be factor in how different cables sound when coupled to a speaker of varying impedance?

When impedances are quite close the combination will tend to behave like a mild crossover/filter, creating some mild equalization. This generally becomes quite audible at low input to output impedance ratios and would make different cables sound different, especially with a 4 ohm load.

All the speakers I had when getting the Cardas & TG cables were pretty much 8 ohm loads. I've only used Cardas & TG with the 4 ohm Dynaudios. I understand the physics involved as regards cables and that is why I've tried different ones with different speakers (and when I had Air Tight and Plinius amps). Fortunately, my current combo works just fine as is. I also know people who love Audience and Kimber Select cables - they probably have beneficial relations with the rest of the gear!

Interesting responses-thanks! I guess I have a bout of "upgrade-itis" and want to try something better, just to see what happens. I purchased some Signal Silver Resolution cables/IC's and it really brought the differences out between my Sixpacs and the DNA-125 (old cables were the Signal Analog 2's, which are nice and smooth, but not as detailed). Still, it is not night and day between these amps, and my wife said they both sound the same. I also had a chance to plug in an HCA-2 from PS Audio, and it was a bit more forward and didn't seem to go as low or sound as liquid, but was still good in it's own right.

I heard a KW500 at the dealer recently, and even though it is a big, powerful unit that retails at $7K (and was running off of a $1500 PC), I wasn't blown away by its sound on an Arial Acoustics 6 (which is a $3600 speaker). It had some of the same attributes as my system, but I wouldn't trade it for what I have. After hearing nice speakers run though cheaper amplification and mid-priced speakers run through high-end amplification the last few weeks, I am inclined to agree with those who think the speaker is where to start, assuming the source is accurate, and assuming one doesn't have an inefficient speaker in a very large room playing at high volumes.

Thanks for the responses. I have learned alot.