Interconnect for my little sister


My little sister just won an auction here at Audiogon for a Soundstream DAC-1 for $101. She also got a new AIWA changer for $65.99 at eBay (the one Stan Warren recommends). The AIWA only has optical out, but I figured for what she's paying it's an overall good package.

I was wondering what's your recommendation for a reasonably priced interconnect and Toslink optical cable. She'd never understand (or fall for) why I would recommend a $125 pair of Tice interconnects. She only paid $101 for the DAC and $65.99 for the CD changer--right?

She's got an oldie but goodie NAD 7125 receiver and Yamaha NS-10M speakers.
psychicanimal
Some people just don't get it. It's matter of personal preferences. My sister loves travelling more than audio. She travels twice a year. At this very moment she is on a Caribbean cruise w/ my mother and she paid for the whole thing. She'd rather use Radio Shack interconnects for her cassette deck and have Sean cook them...

Her system is still going to be better than most women's, anyway.
Radio Shack gold makes music sound like it has feet of lead. As a reference, listen to cable that's designed to bring music to life, like something from the Chord Co. (British).

Ed
Based on an earlier recommendation by Sugarbrie, I bought a pair of MAS cables from Stu Wein, Audioparts@aol.com. I got a somewhat more expensive model, MAS Grey, for $80 to use with a Cambridge Audio D500 CD player, and have been very pleased. They made a clearly audible improvement in the sound of my system. The MAS Blue cables at $30 or the MAS Black cables at $50 would probably be a good choice for your sister, since she has spent less than $200 on the CD changer and DAC.
Before I had my Aiwa changer modified, I got reasonably good results using Monster Lightspeed 100 toslink cable with it. For interconnects, I would suggest you check on the MIT closeouts that Audio Advisor is offering and get a low priced pair of MIT interconnects.
Take a look at some the the less expensive Zu Cable interconnects. Kimber PBJ is popular. One fo the cheapest that still performs decent is the Straight Wire Chorus ($39 a meter brand new at AudioAdvisor.com). The SW Chorus is also Purple, if color matters to her (WAF in training, Ha!!).

I really like the MAS cables made by Stu Wein at Audioparts@AOL.COM the best. He sells his Black interconnect for about $50 meter pair. It is more neutral and analog than most other cables I have tried under $100. His Blue cable is pretty decent for $30 a meter (I would pick the Blue over the Chorus).

An inexpensive Toslink may mean a trip to Best Buy??

hosa does a toslink cable you can likely oick up at a music store(mars etc.) for $9-$15. when i had toslink in the system i prefereed this a lot more than kimber's toslink.(it was more detailed/easier on the ear. the kimber was a bit more 'lively' though.)

i'm sure your sister is going to have fun whatever happems with here adventures in cable land. :)
i would recommend phoenix gold interconnects
they sound great and are very resonable in price
check them out on our showcase on audiogon

good listening
stephen