2. cables
  3. 131489-102687

Cable Survey

The idea for this thread came from @sautan 904 op titled “Who thinks $ Speaker cable really better than generic 14awg cable?

My reply:

From op:

SO WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK? OR I AM THE LAST PERSON TO FIND OUT THAT EXPENSIVE CABLE JUST A RIP OFF?

Some are, some are definitely not. It really is a matter of discovering what brands out there (and there a lot) offer the best performance for your money. Some are really worth the money and clearly they offer a big increase in sound quality. It seems the dealers you used were not very discriminating about what brands they carry. This does not surprise me since I have found many are not well informed. You really need to seek out somebody who has compared different makes of cable and really believes in what they are selling.

So I thought it a good idea to pool knowledge on this subject and make a list of what people are using and why. This is my current preferences:

Speaker: Hi Diamond 7

IC XLR: Hi Diamond XLR 3

USB: Vovox

Ethernet: AQVOX, Vovox

Power: Belden

The Hi Diamond speaker cable was so much better than other cables I have tried to date. The increase in musicality, depth and detail in bass, increased sound stage and cleaner more detailed top where some of the benefits I had with this cable. The same can be said of their XLR interconnect.

The Vovox I have only been able to compare with some generic cables, and it is much clearer than those. I intend trying some other brands in the near future and I will post my findings.

Ethernet cables I find make a difference and I am currently using both Vovox and AQVOX, compared to various generic makes and the blue Meicord these are both much preferred, opening the sound stage and lowering the noise floor.

Power cables I haven’t so far experimented with a great deal, I’m using heavy Belden cables that are part of a dedicated mains spur arrangement, so that each individual piece of equipment has its own spur. In order to test cable types I will need to introduce a mains block (Shunyata?).

toetapaudio
Post removed 
Post removed 
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
@kosst_amojan - I couldn’t agree more that DIY is the way to go for cables if you are even remotely handy and don’t have a super busy, lucrative career.

Plus, then you can experiment with materials, geometries and conductors. I find it fun and fascinating. The cables you described above.. speaker cables? Otherwise, that sounds like overkill for a pair of interconnects. 😁

I made a couple of pairs of speaker cables from braided CAT 6 cable.. they sounded incredible, but man, pulling all the wire out was a pain. I’d definitely buy some OCC solid copper instead of harvesting it from CAT 6 if I were to do it again. But I won’t, as I’m currently using a counter rotating helix design that sounds even better.

One geometry I never tried that seemed interesting would be a single, large diameter signal with a neutral made from multiple small solid conductors, braided around the signal conductor. One for the future..
toetapaudio OP
474 posts
 
Updates: Sablon USB getting even better with use. Never had a cable that made so much difference.

Furutech NCF IEC plug improves sound quality, fitted to one of the five Spurs I have, which are in effect flying leads all the way from the consumer unit. So no plugs or sockets in the way. Just got one to try and so now intend replacing all of them. First plugged into fidata NAS and the top was smoother and more natural. Bigger change when plugged into Mola pre/dac, better everywhere.

As soon as I’ve finished making the silk thread suspension isolation furniture prototype (to be available commercially) I’m going to try one of Marks Sablon Reserva Elite power cables. He’s only selling direct at this time. I’ve heard really good things about them, they are pricey, although apparently comparable to cables that are ridiculously expensive. We will see.
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@toetapaudio  Which other USB cables did you compare the Sablon to? Findings? Thanks.
More to discover