Looking for really fine cables at really low price

Rob

You have likely heard more live music than most.

I had mentioned on the other thread that live music does not sound separated to me. That is a HiFi term.

Not that this is bad but I think HiFi created a sound on it's own. (little to do with real sound)

I have always agreed with the timbral listening. That is the highest and hardest level.

You need natural tones and the right amount of resonance to make it happen.

The question with wire is the WE wire a better product (and why) or simply adding life to a dead system? (which is not a bad thing)

Or is the wire somehow better?

I like the sound of the vintage Vishay Ero FOL polyester caps for tone. (as good as Duelund or better in the midrange) The problem is they resonate like crazy! They resonate in the mid range which fills out the sound at that freq..

Resonance though gives in the freq it resonates in and takes away elsewhere. Those caps have poor bass and dynamics so become boring to listen to after awhile.

Since I had the day off I also built a digital cable with the WE wire. I did not wait for burn in and just put it into my system. I have already reported the $45 Belden 8402 was as good as my Sablon Audio $650 cable. They were very close really. The Sablon does have better extension in the highs and more air. The Belden wins for overall musicality and "settle into the music" factor.

But wait because the WE 16ga wire is once again showing the more of it in your system the better the system sounds. Some kind of wonderful cumlitave effect that is even better then just using it as speaker cable.
I used two runs for positive and negative on my digital cable. Yeah, I went crazy and doubled it up for a digital cable! Living large today!

No shield this time. I did twist the positive runs together and did the same with the negative runs. I then twisted the double runs to finish the cable. I put a nice gold colored woven cloth jacket over the cable.

The sound with only 2 hours is just fantastic. The best of both worlds has now come together. The highs are open and extended and the musicality is outstanding. Big, rich and vibrant sounding. I sense the cable still needs to settle down a bit and smooth out. I am sure it will based on past experience.

I am looking forward to putting in the newly built WE16ga IC's now burning in on my shop system.

Another reviewer's take on the WE 16g speaker wire and Belden interconnects can be found here:

http://positive-feedback.com/high-fidelity/spec-real-sound-processor-rsp-901ex-loudspeaker-filter-2/

Here are his conclusions:

I compared them to my reference cables: Siltech Royal Signature Series Double Crown Empress IC and Tara Labs Omega Onyx speaker cable. It didn't take me much time to realize that my cables offered significantly better performance. Belden and WE could not compete in terms of resolution, selectivity and they also limited frequency range on both ends (treble and bass). There is a slight emphasis on a mid-bass, and it is not equally well defined. What I found interesting about these cables was that they both acted the same way, like they came from the same manufacturer.

So it is not a universal rule that every "vintage" product sound better than those from current production. If I understood Mr Yazaki correctly he did not claim that these were the best cables he knew, but rather that with these two he found sound features he was after. So apart from comparing their sound with the sound of cables from current production, I wanted to find out what it was exactly they offered, that made them one of the kind for Mr Yazaki.

And again—when I asked the right question it didn't take me long to find an answer. Both cables offered amazingly rich, "mature" midrange—so incredibly good that the only comparison I could think of were the best amplifiers with Western Electric 300B triodes on board. Please notice—it is not about THE BEST SOUND in general, but THE BEST SOUND OF THAT KIND. The one that many of us could live with happily ever after. Sound is remarkably palpable, it is presented close to the listener, it is immersively rich. It's been a while since I heard such an incredibly rich sound here. Mr Yazaki wrote about how "organic" his system sounded like with these cables and now I knew what he meant—it was absolutely remarkable. These cables offer a wonderfully coherent presentation with properly balanced proportion between basic sound and harmonics. They are also phase coherent which results in fantastic spacing effects. Both IC and speaker cable are remarkable, not the best ones there are, but the only ones of their kind.

Agree 100% with this reviewer ..... well said. For me these are far and away the best and certainly one of the very best cables available with personal preference always in play. Just amazing stuff for under $1.50 per foot.

Wonder if the reviewer doubled up on the runs as I found that helped the bass wonderfully. In terms of highs, I have never liked a cable that is too extended. Just too much of a good thing for my ears which are particularly sensitive to upper mids and treble. For the first time in my life my music is glare free for me. My ears heard glare with every other cable I have owned no matter what gear I have had. However the WE and Belden wire removed it. Oh my what a blessing for these ears. That is why they are the best to me. Zero glare combined with all the frequency extremes I hear in live unamplified music.

As Rob has said, some folks have different sonic priorities wanting highs that reach the sky etc....I no longer do as I found that type of sound to be aphile awarded, but in the end just sonically impressive, but musically blunted.

Grannyring, Great to hear that you are having success with the WE 6ga interconnects and digital cable. I cant wait to hear more about your journey as you put more hours on these WE cables.

With about 200 hours my WE16ga Interconnects are regaining that hi frequency clarity that I heard at 150 hours. I have also been trying the belden again and are liking their sound as well. They both have good synergy with the 16ga WE speaker cable. Not going to draw any firm conclusions about any of this at this point since the WE IC's could still be changing.

Salectric, thanks for sending that article. I understand the conclusion he draws. Last night I tried returning the Kondo IC's to its rightful owner but he said just hold on to them...this is great news since they do offer a reference point for a very balanced sonic perspective.