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Entry Level Interconnect Reccomendations
Hello all,
I wanted to come here to ask you guys’ advice on some interconnects. This is my system:
Spica TC50 speakers
2x M&K VX-7 II subwoofers
Emotiva XDA-2 digital preamp
Adcom GFA-545 amplifier
Harrison Labs PFMod crossover (soon to be replaced by MiniDSP)
I connect my Emotiva to my crossover via RCA male>male adapter, for the best quality. This means I have only 1 interconnect in my entire system (crossover to the amplifier). I have been using these basic Acoustic Research RCA cables. A friend lent me his Aural Thrills and Tara Labs interconnects and I heard a pretty significant difference when replacing my AR cables with them.
So I now plan to buy my own interconnects, and I wanted to come here for your suggestions. Here are some options I’ve come up with, but feel free to add more:
Cardas Crosslink
Audioquest Diamondback
Audioquest King Cobra (same price as Diamondback right now)
Audioquest Colorado (under $175 right now)
Nordost White Lighting (slightly out of budget, but I can pull it off)
DIY DH Labs Pro Studio
DIY VH Audio Silver Interconnects
Edit: Wireworld Equinox 7
I’d like to keep it under $150USD for 1.0M pair.
Again, if there are any other suitable options, feel free to add them. The above list is just some un-educated guesses I threw out there.
Thanks so much!
I wanted to come here to ask you guys’ advice on some interconnects. This is my system:
Spica TC50 speakers
2x M&K VX-7 II subwoofers
Emotiva XDA-2 digital preamp
Adcom GFA-545 amplifier
Harrison Labs PFMod crossover (soon to be replaced by MiniDSP)
I connect my Emotiva to my crossover via RCA male>male adapter, for the best quality. This means I have only 1 interconnect in my entire system (crossover to the amplifier). I have been using these basic Acoustic Research RCA cables. A friend lent me his Aural Thrills and Tara Labs interconnects and I heard a pretty significant difference when replacing my AR cables with them.
So I now plan to buy my own interconnects, and I wanted to come here for your suggestions. Here are some options I’ve come up with, but feel free to add more:
Cardas Crosslink
Audioquest Diamondback
Audioquest King Cobra (same price as Diamondback right now)
Audioquest Colorado (under $175 right now)
Nordost White Lighting (slightly out of budget, but I can pull it off)
DIY DH Labs Pro Studio
DIY VH Audio Silver Interconnects
Edit: Wireworld Equinox 7
I’d like to keep it under $150USD for 1.0M pair.
Again, if there are any other suitable options, feel free to add them. The above list is just some un-educated guesses I threw out there.
Thanks so much!
67 responses Add your response
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You probably have read this already, but if you want a cable built for mesureable superior electrical and shielding characteristics specific to analog and digital audio, look into canare or belden like recording professionals do, and not only your system will be just fine, but you will save money too. |
i have the Stager's and love them but that's in warmer tube system. That Belden 8402 cable suggestion seems reasonable and what I would try. There is a 1m pair terminated for way under budget and terminated professionally. In fact buy that We16ga speaker cable he has for sale as well and I'm pretty sure that combo would be great at least according to Jeff Day. |
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When Audioquest moved production to China and lowered prices to stay competitive they also changed cable names - Python (that had great reviews) became King Cobra, while Viper became Diamondback. I had Viper (diamondback) and King Cobra. Both are neutral sounding but King Cobra is more refined.Yeah, the King Cobra is available for super-cheap right now on a Black Friday sale at music direct. I might pick it up, as a stepping stone into a better pair. |
i have the Stager's and love them but that's in warmer tube system. That Belden 8402 cable suggestion seems reasonable and what I would try. There is a 1m pair terminated for way under budget and terminated professionally. In fact buy that We16ga speaker cable he has for sale as well and I'm pretty sure that combo would be great at least according to Jeff Day.Yeah, I'm probably going to pick some of the 8402 up, and build some cables. If I don't like them in my main system, they would be right at home in my desktop system. My system tends to lean towards the thinner/leaner side, and that's why I'm a little apprehensive about the stagers ibeing a little too bright/thin. |
I compared the Stager Silver Solids to Kimber Hero and PBJ, Wireworld Equinox 7, and Decware Silver Reference. I liked the Stagers best. I'm using them between a DAC and a tube pre and then out of a tube pre. The Decware cables were very similar sonically, but cost more so I did not keep them. I must be a fan of silver for RCA cables. The others sounded less detailed and some were a little bass heavy compared to the silver cables. That could mean the Stagers will be a little bright in a leaner system. They do have a trial period so it wouldn't cost more than return shipping to try them. They ship in a small envelop because of their DIY homemade nature. Easy to send them back. |
Of the cables you list, I would get the AQ Colorado. You can also get the Columbia, Panther and Jaguar. All 4 cables are very similar in design, and with the equipment you have, you won't hear a difference between any of them. I have a few pairs of all 4 and have them in use on a daily basis. They sound just as good as some other cables I have that cost a lot more, and they are one of very few copper cables that don't have that rough/gritty sound in the high frequencies. You may not notice that now, but if you get more revealing components, you'll hear it (with other copper cables). |
Yeah, at the budget point the OP mentions, the Stager silver solids are a no brainer. I recently picked up a pair, and they were superior to my Morrow MA3 with Eichmann silver bullet connectors, at $400. I was quite impressed, and the Stagers are $150 for a 1 meter pair with free shipping. I'll be buying more of them for sure. |
I have not heard all the cables recommended however I believe the AQ King Cobra's at the Music Direct sale price would be a good fit in your system and a good buy.I agree. I think I might pick them up and sell them if I upgrade to something like the Stager Silvers. I think Blue Jeans Cable uses Belden. BJC builds to your order. Good value! They don't have it in Belden 8402 :( |
Anything by, Cardas, Kimber, or Wywires is very good. I would also put Morrow audio MA-2 on your very short list. We have MA-4s and they are excellent. I have also used Audioquest, and Cardas cables with great results, although similar performance tends to be more expensive than Morrow. Quality is outstanding on all of them. It all depends on what you want your end result to be. |
Ocinn 11-25-2016I took a look at the descriptions of the Harrison Labs crossovers. Although detailed information such as a schematic doesn’t seem to be available, it is clear that the PFMod is a passive device, and one that is particularly load sensitive. For example, for the FMod the high pass corner frequency is indicated as varying from +25% relative to its nominal value for a 10K load to -15% for a 47K load. While in itself that might not have a great deal of significance it would seem to indicate that sensitivity to cable differences, such as capacitance, is likely to be both greater in degree and different in character than for most other applications. Probably including the applications and experiences upon which the suggestions made by the others have been based. So my suggestion is to do nothing until you replace the PFMod with the MiniDSP, which of course is an active device, and depending on model may have an output impedance of 560 ohms. Then see if your friend’s cables make a difference relative to the ones you are using. Good luck. Regards, -- Al |
So my suggestion is to do nothing until you replace the PFMod with the MiniDSP, which of course is an active device, and depending on model may have an output impedance of 560 ohms. Then see if your friend’s cables make a difference relative to the ones you are using. I want to point out that when I was doing the cable testing, I was using a "Pointe Series HTX-V2" which is an active two way. I still have it and might bring it out to do an a/b with the Harrison Labs one. I've never done it before. Might play better with new cables. |
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@fourwnds @electroslacker You were the people (along with others, who I couldn't tag for some reason?) who recommended the Stager Silver Solid. How do you think they would compare to another pure silver interconnect, the VH Audio DIY Silver? Thanks! |
I think the VH Audio would be more expensive, at any rate. Stager makes the cables in a .75 meter length which is what I picked up. If your system is in a vertical rack you rarely need a full meter. The .75 length was $125. The thing is, I'm sure you can get more sound quality out of cables, but you'll have to spend considerably more. |
@ocinn I agree with Erik_Squires about the high quality of DIY Connex/DH Labs bulk IC cabling. I’ve migrated from some very high-priced commercial cables(PAD, Audioquest, Synergistics, Goertz, Fono Acustica) to all-Connex BL-Ag DIY silver ICs for a mere $16 per stereo foot plus terminations(Neutric XLRs or KLEI silver RCAs.) If you must purchase commercial cables, at least consider building one pair of BL-Ag for comparison. Constructing them is simpler than the VH and other DIY recipes. Forget about resale value, as the investment is minimal. |
@ocinn, I haven't tried the Vh. I was thinking of buying a new tube amp and decided to first try tweaking everything from cables, to contacts, to fuses, to outlets. I was intrigued by the Stagers construction, cost, and reviews, so i tried them. I tend to judge audio gizmos by watching my behavior more than my thoughts. What I thought was that they removed congestion. Instruments and voices seemed more separated. My behavior was to never remove them or even A/B them with the previous cable. But I didn't try a bunch of cables. Sorry I can't be more help. |
@dgarretson Thanks for the vote of confidence!! But I must admit I splurge on silver connectors from cardas... real bastards to solder... but beautiful. For XLR I go with the silver plated Neutrik's. Pretty much the top of the line in the pro world and still reasonably priced. The silver to silver contact minimizes issues going from one metal to another. |
https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm My go-to for entry level cables, BJC is an excellent company too. Good Listening Peter |
Welll, they are incredibly well made and I like having jewels hidden where I can't see them. :) However I cannot tell you if they sound better or worse than other options. I read a long time ago that mixing metals had possibly deliterious effects, so if I use silver cables I try to keep silver to silver contact from end to end. |
" For XLR I go with the silver plated Neutrik's. Pretty much the top of the line in the pro world and still reasonably priced. The silver to silver contact minimizes issues going from one metal to another. " " I read a long time ago that mixing metals had possibly deliterious effects, so if I use silver cables I try to keep silver to silver contact from end to end. " If you want silver to silver contact, you need to use solid silver. Plating isn't good enough. It can be complicated, and here are different ways to do it. For example, if you wanted to plate silver over copper directly, you can only put an extremely thin plate on before the process stops working. Once the exposed copper is covered by silver, the process stops working electricity. The ultra thin coat of silver will not stop the signal from interacting with the underlying metal. From that point on, if you want a thicker plate of silver, you'll need to plate another metal over the copper, like nickel of rhodium first, and then plate the silver. But even then, there will be some interaction, but now with 3 metals, not 2. You have to also consider the costs of plating. Its probably cheaper to just buy solid silver than plate it over another metal. To do a good job, just having the list of materials on you may be enough to have you detained, or possibly arrested. 90%+ of this type of plating is sent to places like China. There's plenty of audiophile connectors in the market that use solid silver. Furutech, WBT.... |
